#80 Participate in Operation Beautiful for three weeks

Start date: Oct 7, 2010

End date: Oct 28, 2010

This semester has been a complete roller coaster.

I want to get back to doing more things on my list, because it makes me happy and it gives me something other to think about.

So I decided now would be a perfect time to tackle #80, participate in Operation Beautiful for three weeks. If you don't know what that is, you can check it out here. It's just a great little movement where you leave notes in random public places saying things like "You ARE beautiful!" and the like. I've done it a few times before, just randomly. But I wanted to do it on a higher scale.

I made 21 post-it notes to stick in various places for the next three weeks. I also plan on continually telling friends, family, strangers things I value in them as well as telling them how beautiful they all are (and they are, truly beautiful!)

My hope is that on October 28 there is no rain in the forecast and I can go all around my campus with chalk and write "You are beautiful" all over the sidewalks. If it rains, I'll have to think of something else big to do. Any suggestions?

P.S! I forgot that I haven't written a post for #101 yet! I dyed my hair a funky color! Well, parts of it anyway. Purple :)

Long time, No write :)

Hey Blogosphere!

I haven't written in a few weeks, because I've been crazy busy! But I rearranged my schedule a bit and I think it is a lot more do-able now. So that's good.

But, I'm happy to say that while I kind of neglected the blog, I didn't neglect the list!! I have plenty to report! We'll go in order, shall we?

#10. Take a Zumba class. Done! I went last week for a class, and let me tell you, I felt like a complete idiot. The steps seemed ridiculous and I was so worried that someone I knew was going to walk by and see me! But I decided to give it a couple more tries. And so I kept going...and now I love it!! I've gotten past being embarrassed about it (it's a silly thing to be embarrassed about, really). It makes me feel really good about my body. I definitely recommend it.

#36. Take a writing class. In progress! I am currently taking Creative Writing at my college. I love it, but it is so challenging...especially for someone who already considers themselves a good writer. But I'm learning a lot and expanding on a lot, so it's really great.

#81. Finish Charmed. Done! Hahah, this is a kind of silly one, but Freshman year my roomate got my completely addicted to the show. I watched like 5 seasons and then quit...and last year I started at the beginning and started slowly working my way through it. But I finally finished it! It was great :)

#87. Buy funky rain boots. Done! And not a moment too soon, seeing as how it was thunder storming last night! They are black with white polka dots and red trim. They are super cute. Rain boots are one of those things that I have ALWAYS wanted (I really like jumping in puddles...), even since I was a kid, but never had. So this is the year! Puddles, watch out!

And with all that, it means my list is......(drum roll!)..... 11% done. Sigh. Well, I still have 948 days left!

Numbers 68, 91, 6, and 43!

Well, I'm reporting some news from a very hot room! I moved from my tiny and cramped summer apartment into a very spacious (but non-air conditioned) campus owned house with other English majors! It's great...even though I'm still in the unpacking phase. Sooo many clothes to put on hangers.

Anyway, I have some good progress to report. While I was packing, I went through all of my clothes (I really don't even care that much about clothes, but some how I accumulate such a big amount...?) and I stuffed a trash bag full of clothes I don't wear and donated it. It was good to make a little room in the closet...to be filled promptly with new clothes. Sigh, it will never end. Oh well. So, that is #68 crossed off.

Well, the semester has officially started. Which means I am going to try accomplishing #91 Maintain a Healthy Exercise Regimen for a Semester. I have it all down on paper...so I'm gonna give it the good old college try. We'll see in December whether or not I accomplish this one in the first try.

And, I added another recipe to #6 Try at least one new recipe a month for a year. Today, I cooked a big Welcome Back to Campus dinner for some of my friends and (among about a million other things) I tried my hand at fried eggplant. I know that so far, my list of new recipes has been fried...buuuut don't worry, it's not going to become a trend. Next month will be healthier. But the fried eggplant was really yummy! So, it's still a work in progress!

And on that note, I started #43 Bake Ten Different Kinds of Cupcakes. I baked Nutella cupcakes for the dinner party. I never made them before...but oh. my. goodness. THEY WERE DELICIOUS. Seriously. I think this is going to be my favorite task! ;)

#54 Finish A Story and #28 Enter A Writing Contest

So, for those of you who don't know, I not only love to cook, I love to write. But I have this horrible habit of think up this great story and start writing it...only to leave it midway through. I get kind of bored or kind of discouraged and then just never go back to it. So I have a bunch of great starts with no endings. Kind of pathetic. Well, at the beginning of this summer I started a short story called "Lizard" about a young woman who takes on her sister's daughters after a tragedy. It's written from the aunt's P.O.V.; a role which I know very well. I started it, determined to finish in a few days...I was on a writing frenzy and wrote most of it the first day. Then I got busy and distracted and didn't go back to the story until this morning. And finished it just a few minutes ago! I feel really great! Not only am I happy with the story, I'm also really proud that I saw this writing project the whole way through!

So, I decided, what the hell! I may as well enter it in the Undergrad Writing Contest and submit it to see if it is worthy for publishing for the online literary journal Literary Laundry! The story isn't amazing, but I like it and what do I have to lose? But I don't find out results for a few months yet. Lame. Oh well, I'll be in suspense til then :)

Sad News :(

Well, world...I have reason to be sad today. I canceled my kindle order. It was just going to be too much money when I have to spend it on other things...
I just put the status of #79 Buy a Kindle back to "Not started"
This sucks. Oh well though, now I will have more money to do other things....I guess.

Short post today :/

A spontaneous week!

Well, I did NOT end up getting my face painted last Tuesday, so that is still on the list. But that's okay, because I got a bit bored and decided to spontaneously tackle 2 more tasks this past week.

First of all, last Friday was the final day of my summer job! I'm still going to be working a bit this week, but doing different things and not as many hours. Yay sleeping in! Boo less money. Oh well.

So, Friday was the last day and I was COMPLETELY exhausted because I had a very stressful and LONG week. So, I ride my bike home Friday evening...get home and think "I'm bored."

So I decided to ride into town and make a trip to Hobby Lobby to complete #63: Make a Custom Recipe Book! But I ran into a bit of trouble. After riding my bike ALL the way there, Hobby Lobby had nothing even resembling recipe cards or books. I toyed with the idea of making it scrapbook-esque...but decided against it. Later in life, I'm not going to have time to scrapbook a recipe. So I ended up going to Hastings (A book/movie/music store) which was in the same plaza as Hobby Lobby. I walk in, and BAM! There are an assortment of recipe books and recipe cards just waiting for me!! :) I grabbed a really cute one with a mixer on the front and some recipe cards that are really bright and bubbly. On an unrelated note, I also bought a Claude Debussy CD. I have been looking EVERYWHERE for one, and it was the first thing I saw when I wandered into the classical music section. So, over all, very good trip!

Oh, and a little side note: when I got home, I was very excited and started filling out my recipe cards. If you know me, you know that I have lots of Italian family recipes that I love to use. All was going fine (I have been keeping all my recipes stored in my brain) until I got to the recipe I've made the most, but haven't made in awhile. I completely blanked on homemade tomato sauce!! So I called a very close family friend, Karen, who the recipe comes from (but I changed it to make it my own!) to ask about a few specifics. Boy, was she ashamed of me! A good Italian never forgets how to make her sauce!

But, after she gave me the recipe, we chatted a bit. Karen used to live down in Florida but has just moved to...North Carolina? South Carolina?...Sheesh! 20 years old and already having memory loss! Well, one of the Carolinas. She lives in a cottage up in the mountains...completely surrounded by them. She made me really excited to do #93: Visit Karen's New House! I can't wait! I wish I could do it this fall...but with a broken down car and little money...I don't see how it's possible. So, I'm shooting for sometime next spring or summer. It's on the list, so I have to do it!

Well, to get back to what I have done...On Saturday I surprised my boyfriend with a picnic on a grassy, sunny hill in a very big and beautiful park. Picnic basket, plaid blanket and all! It was really fun. We ate delicious food from the Italian Market and were all lovey-dovey :) So that crosses # 62 Have a Picnic off the list!

Drum roll please!!

After months and months of deliberating, I finally did it. Blogosphere, today I check #79. Buy a Kindle off the list!! I decided yesterday that it was finally time for me to get one. I am beyond ecstatic!! But, to ruin my fun a bit, they are sold out and on back order...so I probably won't get it until after September 4th...which is lame, but still soon-ish! I'm hoping that I can get a lot of my books for school on it...most books published before 1923 are free, so that's awesome! But I have mixed feelings about leaving my friend "the good old book" behind. Oh well, it's not like I'll never read another real book again haha!

Oh, and there is something happening at work today where I have the possibility of getting my face painted, which would cross #19 off the list! Yay!