This week I get to go see the Buffalo Bills with BF!
I believe that things happen for a reason.
I’m addicted to blogging. For real.
I wish for a lifetime of happiness!
I’m jealous of people who get to sleep in… still.
Soundtrack/Mantra for the week: Happy Birthday to me!
{Photo: The birthday cake my parents got for me yesterday! Dairy Queen Pumpkin Pie Blizzard Cake! More to come on this weekends events!!}
Some crucial updates to my list!! BIG updates! Oh… and PS… I go home to Ohio after work tomorrow to see BF for my birthday weekend!
101 in 1001 List.
Completed
In Progress
Not Yet Completed.
34. Go an entire year without swearing. {Began 8/19/09. Still going strong!}
36. Send at least one hand-written note/card each month. {3/33}
52. Become an official resident of NY state. {Completed as of today, 9/30/09!!}
53. Meet a blog friend in real life. {I met Sara from Stumbling in Stilettos!}
Start date: Monday, July 13th, 2009
End date: April 19th, 2012
Travel:
1. Visit Niagara Falls.
2. Go on a wine tour at a vineyard.
3. Go whitewater rafting.
4. Visit a foreign country.
5. Get a passport.
6. Visit the beach.
7. Go on a cruise.
8. Travel to Las Vegas (and take a lot of pictures).
9. Visit New Orleans again.
10. Go camping.
11. Rent a cabin in the woods for a weekend (at least).
12. Visit New York City.
13. Visit Denver.
14. Go to Ben & Jerry’s in Vermont.
15. Go to Cedar Point.
16. Go to a Buffalo bills game. {Tickets are purchased for October 11th 2009 game}
17. Go skiing.
18. Rent a house on the beach for a weekend.
19. Visit Toronto.
20. Go sky diving.
21. Go to Dinosaur BBQ with BF.
22. Visit Portland, Oregon.
23. Go to the New York State fair.
24. Go to Boston.
25. Go horseback riding.
26. Go to Walt Disney World.
Personal/Social:
27. Get married.
28. Buy a house.
29. Buy nothing but food for 30 days.
30. Get a mani/pedi.
31. See Ani Difranco live in concert.
32. Watch the sunset. {BF and I watched the sunset at the wedding on 8/15/09}
33. Volunteer a whole weekend to a charity.
34. Go an entire year without swearing. {Began 8/19/09. Still going strong!}
35. Attend a music festival.
36. Send at least one hand-written note/card each month. {3/33}
37. Host a dinner party.
38. Host a board game night.
39. Donate to Locks For Love.
40. Paint a new piece of pottery.
41. Drop a dress size.
42. Go skinny dipping.
43. Waste less by using only canvas bags for shopping during this entire 1001 days. {This isn’t working out how I expcted…}
44. Get at least 2 new tattoos.
45. Register a domain name. {itsahero.com Yay!}
46. Donate blood.
47. Buy (and drink) a $50 bottle of wine.
48. Purchase an apron.
49. Record a song.
50. Swim under a waterfall.
51. Join a sports league.
52. Become an official resident of NY state. {Completed as of today, 9/30/09!!}
53. Meet a blog friend in real life. {I met Sara from Stumbling in Stilettos!}
54. Reorganize my photos (both digital and prints). {This seems to be a very long process}
55. Reorganize my music.
56. Plant a tree.
57. Say ‘yes’ to every social event I’m asked to attend for 4 weeks.
58. Update emergency information (and emergency contacts) post-move.
59. Attend an art festival.
60. Attend an NHL game.
61. Try an exotic food.
62. Go on a picnic.
63. Join a book club.
Financial:
64. Pay off half of my debts.
65. Buy a new car. {New to me! Purchased 8/4/09}
66. Pay off my credit cards.
67. Re-evaluate and re-do my current budget. Then, sixty days after, reevaluate to determine if it works for me.
68. Sell unused electronics on Craigslist or Ebay. {I sold two items! I think this will remain in progress for a while.}
69. Increase my percentage contribution to my 401k.
70. Write a will.
71. Donate $150 to a non-profit.
Work/Education:
72. Start an online Etsy business.
73. Find a new job. {I start at my new job on 8/10/2009! Yay!}
74. Take a cooking class.
75. Take a foreign language class.
76. Begin grad school.
77. Get a promotion at work.
78. Take a dance class.
79. Become certified in CPR.
80. Read at least 25 new books. {1/25: Sloane Crosley, “I Was Told There’d Be Cake”}
81. Learn (um, re-learn) French.
82. Learn to sew.
83. Begin yoga teacher training.
84. Get a second job that I like (this is both work and financial).
Health/Wellness:
85. Go on a 30 day detox.
86. Run a 10k.
87. Get a massage.
88. Go on a weekend yoga retreat.
89. Perfect my forearm stand (yoga pose).
90. Go on a 30-day caffeine detox.
91. Eat nothing but raw foods for 30 days.
92. Workout 5 times a week for 6 weeks straight.
93. Get my eyebrows waxed at least 3 times.
94. Drink nothing but water for 30 days.
95. Take vitamins every day for 30 days.
96. Visit the dentist two times a year.
97. Take a spinning class.
98. Go kayaking.
99. Learn to rock climb.
100. Go without alcohol for 30 days.
101. Run a 1/2 marathon – and finish!
When I got home from work yesterday , I gave him a giant gift bag. He seemed really confused because he knew that his ‘gift’ is the upcoming whitewater rafting/camping trip. Little did he know that I had arranged a gift bag full of camping supplies. So one by one he opened Tiki Citronella candles, wind resistant lighters, First Aid survival kits, travel water bottle with carabener (so he could attach it to himself as we rock climb!), and, of course, the hand-crafted birthday card. He LOVED it. I think he was surprised that I actually took the time to put together a card for him. Which is good, I suppose.
Last night I took him out for all-you-can-eat crab legs for his birthday. I dropped him off at the airport this morning so he could head to Denver with his mom, so I had to take him out for his “birthday dinner” the night before.
I. Was. EXHAUSTED. last. night. The last things I remember from last night were: a) dragging myself to bed; b) BF came to bed and I started to cry (because I don’t want him to leave for Denver). He handled this very well, might I add. He knew I was upset and he knew that he just needed to hold me. How sweet.
So now he’s gone. For a full week. And I know I’ll be able to get SO much done, but I still hate it. I only hate it because I’ll be without my best friend for a WHOLE week. So, I’ll be keeping myself busy in every way possible.
So happy birthday, BF! Hope you have a great trip and a lovely birthday!
Here we go again…
So I can’t help but feel so cliche when Monday morning hits. Why is it that we ALL tend to feel like Monday is the worst possible day of the week? I mean, I get it. The weekend has ended, but why does Tuesday feel so much better? It usually equally sucks.
Anywho…
So I took a look at my little ‘to-do’ list for the weekend, and I accomplished a LOT!
–Star Trek was AWESOME. For real. Loved it! And BF bought some (greasy) popcorn, which I enjoyed thoroughly!
-After Star Trek we went out to Cheeseburger In Paradise, where I got a DELICIOUS drink and a GREAT burger (yummm to mushrooms & swiss!).
-We rushed to All Fired Up! to pick up the gals pottery before they closed! We JUST made it! I was semi-h
appy with the results… but it wasn’t my best work.
-We finally got home around 11PM Friday night and we pretty much went straight to sleep. We were exhausted.
-Saturday morning I had to drag BF’s butt out of bed so we would make it to our yoga class. My favorite teacher would be leading the class so missing it was not an option… We made it and we had a wonderful practice. BF really seems to like it. I am thrilled that he is taking an interest in something that means so much to me already.
-After our practice, I convinced him to run into the mall with me. Yes, we were sweaty, but there is only ONE mall in all of Northeast Ohio that has a MAC makeup counter and I am usually not near it. So we dragged our sweaty selves to the MAC makeup counter. I (quickly) made my purchases and headed out of the mall.
-Our next stop: Whole Foods Market! One of my favorite places! We were starving for some lunch, so we grabbed some delicious takeout.
-Before I knew it, it was Saturday evening! I headed with BF and his dad to get some dinner to celebrate BFs upcoming birthday (which is this Wednesday)! We went to a gourmet pizza place that we had never been to before. The pizza was good, the wait was FAR too long. For real. Seated and then waiting 45 minutes for our pizza to come?!? WTF. But they did sing BF happy birthday, so that was sweet.
-Post-birthday dinner we went to A&Bs to watch the CAVS game. Turns out the gals didn’t watch the game at all! We were busy gossiping, laughing and drinking wine! BF hung out with the guys (I am SO grateful he already mostly knows my friends and that he gets along with them so well). I drank just a little bit of wine 😉 It was a really good time and it was great to be able to blow off some steam. Plus I arranged to have A&B pick up an Ice Cream cake that I had ordered for BF. So he was very surpirsed about the singing of Happy Birthday and his very delicious Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake!
-Sunday morning I celebrated mom’s day with the fam. We went out to breakfast and then my sister and parents went to see the Cleveland Indians game. This left me with a lot of time to get my own stuff done, uni
nterrupted. I cleaned my car (woo
hoo! For those of you who have seen my car, you know why I am so happy about this) and I began some laundry. I also finished BFs birthday card. Which I don’t think I have mentioned is a Bday card/scrapbook card. I basically made a mini-scrapbook birthday card. I’m crafty like that. And I like to show him how much he means to me (I know, so lovey-dovey). So that is finished and I’ve posted some pictures of the final product!
-I did not have a chance to go to White House Chocolates and I was super bummed that I did not get my TigerButter fix! But BF got some for his birthday and shared some with me last night. When he leaves this week I’ll be home more and have time to stop by White House Chocolates myself!
-That being said, this week will be busy. I’m taking BF and his mom to the airport Wednesday morning. I am not at all thrilled about him leaving. I am feeling the first stings of jealousy (of my life!). That’s for another post tho… And I will be crossing my fingers regarding that job (that I STILL have not heard back about… GRRR.).
So here’s to another week.. and another Monday.
So I’m ironing out the final details… but I was so excited to share this! Some of you may have heard that I am planning a trip for BF for his birthday. He’s actually going to Denver the day of his birthday and he’ll be gone for a week (which I am super bummed 
about, but oh well). But after he gets back, we’re going away for the weekend — our FIRST weekend getaway, by the way. 🙂
This is what we’ll be doing:
Friday morning we 
will leave for West Virginia. We will be staying at ACE Adventure Resort. When we arrive, we’ll set up our campsite! I’m so excited to camp! It has been ages since anyone has agreed to go with me. After our arrival we’ll be going to the Whipple Company Store and Museum, which is this old 
coal mine museum. Yes, we are starting the weekend out very mellow! But this is about as mellow as it gets! Hopefully the weather will be beautiful for the weekend, because throughout the weekend I hope to get some sun and be able to swim at the camp resort.
The plan is to take a Canopy (zip line) Tour Friday evening (at dusk). Which I am SO excited about! I’m hoping to get a beautiful view from the treetops while attempting to conquer my fear of heights!
Saturday morning we’ll wake up bright and early and head out on an 8-hour whitewater rafting trip. The last time I went whitewater rafting was a few years ago, so I’m definitely due for an adventure! I plan on being pretty exhausted come 6-ish Saturday night, so I’m prepared to lounge near the fire, s’mores in hand, of course! Sunday will not fall short of excitement either. Sunday we are going for a 1/2 day trip of Rock Climbing.
I haven’t decided if we’ll be staying Sunday night or not… He knows about the trip already because I had to get him to take some time off work, but I’m JUST as excited either way! Only problem is… what do I GIVE him on his birthday?? I. need. suggestions. HELP!
-practicing more yoga! I have severely deprived myself lately and let my busier than usual schedule dictate my life!
-sleeping in with BF this weekend. SIGH. For 
this I cannot wait!!
-planning birthday celebrations and gifts! BTW-I need help thinking of a creative gift for BF. Any ideas and/or suggestions?
-COFFEE. lots. of. coffee.
-getting outside to do fun things!
-picking up my beautiful work of art at the pottery place.