Here's a little recipe I tried out today and loved! It was quick, easy, and delicious. Adapted by yours truly from the original (which is made with chicken and mascarpone instead of shrimp and cream cheese), found here.
Yield:Serves 2-4
Prep Time:20 mins
Cook Time:25 mins
This pasta dish is a complete meal in a bowl!
Ingredients:
1 Cup Light Cream Cheese At Room Temperature
Zest & Juice of 1 Lemon
1 Teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
1/2lb of Medium Shrimp (raw, deveined and shelled)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Cloves Garlic, Peeled & Minced
Salt & Pepper
1/3 Cup Chopped Sun-Dried Tomatoes
1 (9 Ounce) Bag Baby Spinach
1/4 Box Angel Hair
To Serve:
Sauteed Garlic Breadcrumbs or
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano/ Pecorino Cheese
Directions:
Combine the zest, lemon juice, cream cheese, and pepper in a bowl, and whisk to combine.
Bring a pasta pot of salted water to boil.
While waiting on the water, heat the oil in a large skillet or saute pan, and cook the shrimp and garlic for 2-3 minutes or until just turned pink and opaque.
Cook the pasta until al dente, taking it off the heat about 1 to 2 minutes before you would
normally remove it.
Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
Pour the pasta into the shrimp skillet and set the shrimp to medium heat.
Stir in the cream cheese and lemon mixture, sun-dried tomatoes, and spinach.
Loosen the sauce with about 1/4 cup of the water and toss all over the ingredients together until the spinach has wilted and everything is piping hot, adding a little additional pasta water if needed. Lightly salt and pepper to taste.
Serve immediately, topped with grated cheese or sauteed breadcrumbs
I forgot to take a pic before I dug in, and my phone camera is kinda broken so the pictures aren't great quality. But here's what I got:
This goal is something I've been meaning to do for a long time. I love music, I love live theater, and I love crazy costumes. All of which are things I associate with opera! Why, then, have I never attended a performance of one? Well, the answer is simple. The cheapest tickets (that you can actually see anything on stage from) are $88. The good seats are anywhere between $200 and $400. And having never been to one before, I didn't want to buy an expensive ticket to something that I might not even like.
As Richard Gere's character says in Pretty Woman, "People's reactions to opera the first time they see it is very dramatic; they either love it or they hate it. If they love it, they will always love it. If they don't, they may learn to appreciate it, but it will never become part of their soul."
Luckily, The Metropolitan Opera has started to have certain performances of their operas shown live in HD at select movie theaters. So, LoveMuffins and some freinds and I decided to take advantage of a world premiere show, "The Enchanted Island" this past weekend.
This was an interesting choice to be my first opera experience. The premise of the opera is that the- now married- lovers from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream are shipwrecked on the magical island from Shakespeare's The Tempest. The description from The Met Opera's website: "In one extraordinary new work, lovers of Baroque opera have it all: the world’s best singers, glorious music of the Baroque masters, and a story drawn from Shakespeare. In The Enchanted Island, the lovers from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream are shipwrecked on his other-worldly island of The Tempest. Inspired by the musical pastiches and masques of the 18th century, the work showcases arias and ensembles by Handel, Vivaldi, Rameau, and others, and a new libretto by Jeremy Sams."
To begin with, the set was absolutely fabulous. Magical and fantastic, even. It was a traditional proscenium combined with projections and 2D set pieces. Completely unreal looking- which is perfect for an opera called "The Enchanted Island," and was so entrancing to watch.
The lovers' ship sinking:
Neptune's undersea home:
Ferdinand's Ship sailing to the island under Neptune's direction:
And I've decided that I need to get into performing in operas (ok... maybe just operettas, which are what I think of as opera "light," haha) so that I can wear costumes like this:
Sycorax (Caliban's mother and Prospero's spurned ex-lover): Yes, that is a full-length feather cloak.
Miranda (Prospero's daughter and the lovers' and Ferdinand's love interest):
While I was not completely pleased or impressed by the plot and the character development, this opera was fascinating to watch. I can honestly say I've never seen anything like this onstage before. It was sometimes beautiful, sometimes creepy, or sometimes magical- depending on the scene. And the moods created by the combination of the music, set, costumes, and lighting was unbelievably good. Check out some of the looks they created in this teaser video:
Have you ever seen anything onstage that looks like that monster's mouth at the 7 second mark? It was amazing. Our entire group that went kept saying "wow" and "that's so cool" and "amazing" throughout the performance. We unanimously thought it looked fantastic.
Now, about the plot. There were holes to say the least. And I have to say that I was a bit disappointed by the lack of emotional depth in much of the acting and libretto. The lovers, for instance, were completely shallow. While they were the comedic relief, I still expected them to be at least a bit convincingly in love.
Then there was Prospero, the tyrant magician of the island. He was the lead male in the opera and supposed to be very domineering and threatening. When he opened his mouth to sing the opening number in the show, I was completely shocked to hear a woman's voice coming out. He is a countertenor, which I now understand is a characteristic of baroque style opera. However, it didn't work for me. Maybe I'm just uncultured, but I find it hard to accept that a man singing in a female style voice is scary, sad, or anything serious, in fact. Plus he wasn't even a good actor aside from that. Here is a video of him singing an aria not from this opera, to demonstrate my point:
I believe the most frustrating plot point was the ridiculous deus ex machina moment. The god Neptune, who had a good reason to be in the first act of the show, randomly shows up and resolves the primary conflict of the show for no apparent reason. Sycorax, the classic "woman scorned," has been plotting vengeance on Prospero for all the wrongs he has committed against her for the entire opera. Then finally when she is about to get it, Prospero begs for forgiveness and Neptune pops up out of nowhere to tell Sycorax that mercy is godly. And so she forgives him. Just like that. It was weird... and I didn't like it. We think it happened because the singer playing Neptune is famous, and so they wanted to give him another aria. That's the only thing that made sense to us.
However, several of actors and characters were fantastically developed and acted. Sycorax, for example, was unbelievable. I was happy when the bows at the end showed her to have top billing for the opera. And her son, Caliban, was also fantastic. But my favorite by far was the actress who played Ariel, the enslaved spirit of the island. She was interviewed at intermission, and she said she drew part of her inspiration from Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream. I had been thinking the same thing myself, and I think it worked wonderfully for her character. Plus, she was a wonderful singer and stunningly gorgeous. I would love to see her again in something. Here is a recording of one of her arias:
All in all, I enjoyed my first opera experience very much. But I will be going to a more traditional and less "cutting edge" opera the next time I do this, in April, La Traviata. I'm excited to continue to broaden my cultural horizons!
Thanks to the craziness of the holidays- throwing parties, traveling, time with family, and rehearsing for the musical that I'm in- I fell way behind in my blogging about my accomplishments. That doesn't mean I wasn't achieving goals, though!
#20 - Host a theme party
My mother and I absolutely love to go to high tea. So we decided to host a Christmas Tea party!
We told everyone to dress cute and wear a funny hat if they'd like to. Every lady had her own special place setting with her own party favor. Everyone got a different fancy tea cup to drink out of and take home with them. We served a savory and then a sweet course with all kinds of tea. Including, of course, a Christmas tea blend. We also gave out a door prize to the lady who wrote the best poem about what she loved about Christmas. It was a wonderful time with great food (if I do say so myself!), yummy tea, and beautiful company.
#20 - Host a potluck dinner
I love the idea of a potluck dinner. The host doesn't kill his or herself by cooking a full meal for all their family and friends, and you get an awesome variety of food to eat! We hosted a Christmas Eve Eve potluck dinner this year, and I hope that it becomes a tradition.
Our table was packed with food and we got to dress up all fun and festive. We sang carols around my piano and smoked cigars on the balcony. We laughed, hugged, and enjoyed the hell out of each other. All in all, it was a comfortable and lovely evening spent with the people I love most in the world. I look forward to hosting it again next year!
#27 - Visit a state or country that I've never been to
For New Year's Eve this year, I took a trip to Canada!
I've always thought it was a bit ridiculous that I've been to all kinds of exotic destinations but never visited my country's closest neighbors. I visited friends who live north of Toronto, and I had a wonderful time. I learned several valuable lessons when I was in Canada, like the fact that you should always ALWAYS bring your coat, even if it doesn't feel that cold when you go outside. Also, I learned the definition of the word "snowsquall." Google it.
We stayed in Niagara Falls over New Year's Eve, and this is what we saw from our hotel room:
It was an awesome time. I can't wait to go back.
December was so productive for my day zero list! I have crossed 8 things off within 7 weeks, with 6 other goals currently in progress. I look forward to continuing to get exciting things done in January!
I figured this one would be on the easy side of my goals. But surprisingly, condensing an entire day's worth of feelings, activities and accomplishments into 6 words is not as easy as it sounds. Often as I sat down to post my 6 words blog entry at the end of the day, I discovered that I had either too little or too much to say. How can I fit a wonderful Thanksgiving into 6 words? And conversely, what do I really have to say about a day spent being totally lazy?
Looking back over my entire month's worth of blog entries, I notice several themes. The first one I noticed is that I'm a positive person. There are very few entries in the entire blog that are sad, depressing, or negative. I am very proud to think that I'm a glass-half-full type of person, and seeing documented proof is encouraging.
Another theme of the blog is that I am so overwhelmingly blessed by the people in my life. My family and friends are mentioned many times and always in the most positive light. Clearly I got incredibly lucky with the ones I didn't pick (aka family). And I chose rather well the ones that I did pick (friends).
Since this is a project based on words and numbers, I thought it would be cool to look at the final result in terms of frequency of word use. Here are some of my most frequently used words in the blog and how many times I used them:
Great/good/best/awesome/wonderful/delightful - 8
Friends - 7
Love (d) - 5
Laughter / laughing / smile - 3
Feel (s) - 3
Family - 2
Exciting / excited - 2
To sum up this goal achievement in 6 words:
If you're interested, the link to my entire 6 Words blog is here.
Completing this goal felt soooooooo good. Yesterday, my wonderful mother took me to get a massage while she got a facial at Massage Envy, where she's a member.
I have this goal listed under "health" on my goal list because of the many physical and mental health benefits associated with massage therapy:
Increases circulation, allowing the body to pump more oxygen and nutrients into tissues and vital organs.
Stimulates the flow of lymph, the body's natural defense system, against toxic invaders. For example, in breast cancer patients, massage has been shown to increase the cells that fight cancer.
Increased circulation of blood and lymph systems improves the condition of the body's largest organ - the skin.
Relaxes and softens injured and overused muscles
Reduces spasms and cramping
Increases joint flexibility.
Releases endorphins - the body's natural painkiller - and is being used in chronic illness, injury and recovery from surgery to control and relieve pain.
Decreased anxiety
Enhanced sleep quality
Greater energy
Improved concentration
Reduced fatigue
I can safely say that I went into this appointment needing some of the benefits above. I love Christmas, but no one can deny that it is a stressful time of year. Plus, I decided to complete two of my goals to host events within a week of each other. (What kind of crazy person does that?!) So clearly I was in need of some stress relief.
This massage definitely did the trick. My masseuse was AMAZING. I've had massages before, and they're always good. I think this one was the best yet. I left the appointment feeling refreshed, relaxed, and ready to take on the Christmas season once more!
This is going to be such a fun goal to complete! I love food, going out, and trying out new places. I've been looking forward to getting a start on this one and my husband and I kicked it off with Jaleo, a spanish tapas restaurant in Bethesda, MD.
About Jaleo:
Under the direction of famed chef José Andrés, Jaleo offers an impressive assortment of tapas, the traditional small dishes of Spain, as well as savory paellas, superb sangrias and a fine selection of Spanish wines and sherries in a festive, casual atmosphere. Created in 1993 by Rob Wilder, Roberto Alvarez, and José Andrés, Jaleo has become a DC institution.
What we ordered: Cava sangria- Sparkling wine sangria with Cava, Liquor 43, strawberries and mint
$18 for a half carafe
This was delicious and VERY strong. We got about 3 drinks total out of the half carafe size which makes it $6/glass. Pretty normal price for Bethesda. This drink was worth the price and I would order it again.
We decided to split the $20 for three tapas lunch deal, and I think it was a great value for what we got.
"Gambas al ajillo- The very, very famous tapa of shrimp sautéed with garlic" About $6.50 for 7 small shrimp
Wow these were good. They were moist, garlic-y, buttery, and so very tasty- pretty much like a shrimp scampi.
"Cordero a la brasa con salsa de romero- Grilled lamb T-bones with rosemary sauce"
About $6.50 for two 1 oz steaks
We ordered these medium and they came out well done. Still, they were tender and had the most delicious light barbeque and rosemary sauce. Despite not being prepared to order, they were very yummy.
"Croquetas de pollo- Traditional chicken fritters"
About $6.50 for 5 croquettes
These were little croquettes filled with what tasted like Thanksgiving-style chicken stuffing. They were frickin amazing, like Thanksgiving just exploded in my mouth.
Final bill:
$40 not including tip
Service:
Very good. When we walked in, we were seated almost immediately. Water glasses were always full, our sangria and food arrived promptly, and he asked us how the food was. When we asked for the check we got it quickly and were able to get in and out of there in less than 45 minutes. Which probably could have been even less if we had been trying to have a quick lunch.
Overall impression:
I loved everything about eating here. The decor was pretty and fun, the service was great, the food was amazing, and value for our money was decent. I will most definitely be going back. Though next time I think I'll get a group together and try out their paella. They are served in a traditional paella pan, and take over 30 minutes to cook. Maybe I'll go for my birthday dinner and sit at this cute private curtained-in table... buen provecho indeed!
The first two that we had in common and were also readily available to us were All About Eve (1950) and On The Waterfront (1954). Since LoveMuffins already wrote a review that nearly mirrors my thoughts about the movie, I will not bore our shared readers by writing one of my own. I will simply direct you to hers here.
All About Eve (1950)
Now, I hadn't looked up anything about this movie before seeing it. And looking at the poster for it, you would think it was another histrionic drama (like, ahem, On The Waterfront). But this movie turned out to be hilarious!
The basic plot is that a seemingly naive young girl wants to become her just like her actress idol. Having the background in theatre that I do, I greatly enjoyed all of the poking fun that it does at the theatre world.
However, I found it troubling that women seem to be consistently cast in a bad light in these older movies. Margo, the big time actress, is portrayed as having low self esteem, and she's often crazy, jealous, weak, manipulative, dependent on men, vain, rude, and paranoid. Not a very pretty picture.
Meanwhile the aspiring actress, Eve, is portrayed as young, naïve, and stupid until ultimately proved grasping, scheming, and manipulative. Even the women with smaller parts are portrayed as stupid, manipulative, greedy, and vain. Here are a few quotes that stuck out to me as particularly offensive:
MissCaswell (played by Marilyn Monroe): “Now there's something a girl could make sacrifices for: sable.”
Max: “Sable? Did she say sable or Gable?
Miss Caswell: “Either one.”
Ugh!
The only things she can make sacrifices for are expensive possessions or handsome men?
Margot: “That's one career all females have in common - whether we like it or not - being a woman. Sooner or later we've all got to work at it, no matter what other careers we've had or wanted. And, in the last analysis, nothing is any good unless you can look up just before dinner or turn around in bed - and there he is. Without that, you're not woman. You're something with a French provincial office or a book full of clippings- but you're not a woman... slow curtain. The end.”
Double ugh!
Careers are pointless because without a man, you're not a woman and life is meaningless?! I couldn't believe that that monologue was for real. But not only was it for real, it was one of the most serious parts of the entire movie.
Aside from all this, there were great parts of the movie as well. Margo's boyfriend is the perfect balance to her craziness. He is kind and understanding, but he doesn't put up with her nonsense. He tells her how he feels and listen to her when she rants. Yet he doesn't hesitate to tell her to stop when she has crossed the line. And when the beautiful young Eve tries to seduce him, he tells her off in no uncertain terms.
And, the scheming and grasping Eve does get what's coming to her in the end. That part was very satisfying.
All in all, a hilarious movie- especially for theatre people. Despite its downfalls, I think I will probably watch it again sometime!
When I set out to accomplish this goal, I thought it would be difficult to come up with 101 favorite songs. Now maybe that thought was silly, considering that my music library has 27,675 songs.
My first pass at my music library turned up 176.
Admittedly, I probably had just thrown a few in there that I only really like and don't qualify as a "favorite." But I was pretty sure it was going to be incredibly difficult to narrow down my list. I mean, I had to kick off 75 beloved songs!
I decided to make a separate "Favorite Musical Theatre Songs" list. That got me down to 138. Not bad! Now I only had to get rid of 37 more. I sorted it by artist to see if maybe I had too many by one artist. My first pass had turned up:
Billy Joel (10)
Maroon 5 (7)
Anberlin (6)
Frank Sinatra (6)
Green Day (5)
Michael Buble (5)
Aerosmith (4)
And many with 3 or less. Clearly I had gone a little nuts on the Billy Joel, at least.
So, I set to trimming it down. Then of course, as I was trimming it down I kept remembering songs I had forgotten to add to the list. And I had this irrationally intense fear that I would forget a song or artist that I loved. Perhaps because I identify myself with music so much, it was incredibly important to me to make a list that was truly representative of my favorites.
Due to my irrational fear of screwing up my list, I decided to let it sit for a few days then revisit the list. Immediately I started cutting songs. I mean, could I really have "Buttons" by the Pussycat Dolls on the same list as "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen? No. So now the list was down to 84.
I trimmed and added and trimmed and added some more and I am satisfied with the final result! Here it is, with every carefully chosen song (alphabetical by title). Link to it on Spotify here. Whew!
21 Guns - Green Day
Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
Alice, Who The F**k is Alice? - Smokie
All You Need is Drums to Start a Dance Party - Piebald
And So It Goes - Billy Joel
Angel - Aerosmith
Apologize - OneRepublic
Awkward Game - Gabriella Cilmi
Back At Your Door - Maroon 5
B*tch - Meredith Brooks
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen
Boyz in the Hood - Dynamite Hack
Brick House - Commodores
Buddy Holly - Weezer
Bullets in the Gun - Toby Keith
Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Candle (Sick and Tired) - The White Tie Affair
Chicken Fried - Zac Brown Band
Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing - Sufjan Stevens
Today I set out to watch "The Broadway Melody," as a part of goal #54 (see every movie that's won a “Best Picture” Oscar, rewatch ones I've already seen 1/85). Now, I thought, this one has to be right up my alley- the poster itself says "Talking, Singing, Dancing!"
And true to its word, it was full of talking, singing, and dancing.
I have to admit, I kinda liked this movie, even though the bad stuff was really bad. I think it's best if I just list the pros and cons, because I had a lot of differing thoughts through this one.
Cons:
TERRIBLE musical numbers- My husband and I were trying to figure out why they were so bad. Was if that the sloppiness in the dancing and singing was the style left over from Vaudeville acts? Was it because film was expensive to shoot back then so they "dumbed down" the performing so they'd have to take as few shots as possible? Or worst of all, was that actually what passed for good back then?! Whatever the reason, it quite seriously was worse than any high school show I've ever seen.
Awful cutaways- It was painfully obvious and even jarring every time they made a cut to a different take of the same scene. I know, I know, it's an old movie. Obviously they were still getting the hang of things. But even so, as a viewer it was distracting.
The portrayal of women- The women in the movie were often weak-willed, submissive, and subservient. When they broke those conventions, they were portrayed as little girls throwing temper tantrums. And of course once one of the female leads gets married, she quits her career immediately. It rubbed me the wrong way, but I supposed it's to be expected for this period of time.
MORE AWKWARD KISSING- Seriously what is with this? Was this a thing back then? People kissing other people on the mouth that they really shouldn't be?
Exhibit A- Dude kissing his girlfriend's sister (yes that's also an awkward subtitle for it):
Exhibit B: Same sisters kissing:
WTF is all I have to say.
Pros:
Funny- The satirical view of broadway politics had us cracking up. There's a hilarious catfight and the heroine stands up for herself and gets in the producer's face like a little wildcracker. And yes, some serious parts that weren't meant to be funny had us laughing as well. It was obvious to me that these were actors that were used to "big" (aka "over") acting. There were always huge expressions and gestures. Overall it was entertaining.
Touching- At the climax of the film, the heroine performs a very generous and selfless act by convincing her boyfriend that she really doesn't love him and that if he loves her sister he should go for it. She really is in love with him, yet, knowing how much it will pain her to see them together she urges him to go after her sister. I was moved by the scene, even through all the overacting and exaggerated gestures.
Costumes- They were sometimes outrageous, sometimes fantastic. I have to admit I would like to do this show with an amazing costume director just to get to wear stuff like the costumes in this movie.
All in all, I enjoyed the movie. Not the best I've ever seen, but it was fun to watch. And I'm glad I have seen it, given that it was the first musical to win an Oscar. Cross this one off the list!
Last night I began on goal #54 (see every movie that's won a “Best Picture” Oscar, rewatch ones I've already seen 0/85) with the movie Wings. I got the movie all ready to go on my computer and got ready to press play.
I was super excited- I've always wanted to see more old movies and this was the perfect opportunity to do that while beginning on a Day Zero goal!
I was unstoppable, an Oscar-winning-movie-watching Day-Zero-goal-achieving HERO.
I started the movie and settled back to watch. I had tried to convince my husband to watch with me and was surprised by his reaction:
Me: I'm going to begin on my day zero goal to watch all the best picture winners tonight with the movie "Wings." It's a war movie, you'd probably like it.
Him: I think my mom made me watch that. Isn't it in black and white and several hours long?
Me: What? No. I mean... the poster is in full color. They wouldn't do that if the movie was black and white... right?
Wrong.
Ok, I thought, so it's in black and white. That's fine, black and white movies have a certain romantic quality, and I'd wanted to see more of those anyway!
A couple minutes more into the movie the characters starting talking but I couldn't hear the audio. I started fiddling with my sound settings, trying to make the voices come out.
Then I realized that it was a silent film as well.
Um ok... ok, that's fine. After all, I'd wanted to see more silent films too! I even have that listed as goal #56!
About a half hour in, the ever-present pipe organ music started grating on me and I turned the sound to half. But the movie was kinda cute so far- a couple cutesy romantic scenes had caught my interest already, and a love triangle was forming. Jack and Dave were in love with Sylvia but Sylvia loved Dave. Meanwhile Mary is in love with Jack and Jack has no idea!
Then the war part set in. Both young men decided to become fighter pilots for WWI and the next 45 minutes was all pilot training, flying, and shooting things with very little actual plot progression.
Now, I'm not opposed to war movies. And I'm sure this movie had a lot of resonance for people who were watching it only ten years after experiencing WWI.
But dear God, if I had to watch another hour of fighter planes swooping around in the sky and shooting at one another, I might actually chuck the computer out the window.
I looked at the time left on the movie. Relief! There was only 15 more minutes left! I finished the 15 minutes and thought that it was weird that the movie had cut off and ended without any resolution and right in the middle of a scene.
Then I realized... that was Part 1.
I took heart- Part 2 couldn't be that long, right? I mean how many more shots of fighter pilots shooting at enemy planes with bad pipe organ music playing in the background could they possibly have afforded in 1927?
Turns out, lots.
Maybe I should have watched the trailer before starting on this goal so that I would have known what I was in for:
"Whopping air spectacle," indeed.
I started Part 2. And five minutes in...
I was out cold.
So this morning when I woke up, I vowed I would finish the damn movie if it killed me.
And I did. I made it through. Despite the cheesy "oh gee golly mister!" moments, awkward mother-son and bromance kissing scenes, I made it through.
And I have to say, I was impressed by the amount of feeling these actors were able to portray without speech. I even shed a tear when one of them died.
I'm proud of myself for enduring and finishing "Wings." But here's hoping that the next one isn't a two and a half hour long... black and white.... silent.... WAR MOVIE!
Other goals in progress: 51. Make a list of 101 things that make me happy (7/101) 63. Make a playlist of my 101 favorite songs (83/101) 74. Hug at least one person every day for a month (4/31) 94. Keep a “my day in 6 words” blog every day for a month (4/31)
Of course I complete the weird and slightly morbid one first.
I kept scouring my list for something I could easily complete in a day so that I could complete at least one goal in the first week of this blog, and my eyes kept catching on this one! So I decided to bite the bullet and get to it.
The reason this goal is on my list is because my last living (natural) grandparent, my grandmother, just passed away this fall. It continually amazed me how easy my grandmother made everything for us. Not only did she have her will in order, she had complete lists of how she wanted everything done upon her death. To say she was meticulously organized would be an understatement. In our moments of profound grief, we did not have to make any important decisions because an elderly woman with severe arthritis in her hands sat down and hand wrote every tiny detail out for us. It was an incredibly thoughful gift that she was able to give us, even after she was gone.
As I started writing it, I was bored by all the legal mumbo-jumbo. Then I got to the part where you write down what you want to leave to whom. At first I was at a loss... I mean, I don't really think I have much of value. Then I began to imagine what belongings of mine might mean something to my loved ones, should something happen to me. Ideas came pouring out onto paper, and I had to add several sections for more people after the allotted 4.
The end result was that I realized how much I love my family and friends and how much I believe they love me. If something happened to me, I think they would want things of mine that meant something to them and that they could remember me fondly by. Imagining them smiling and thinking of me every time they wear a piece of my jewelry was quite an experience. Morbid? Maybe. But the fact is that death is a part of life and something that everyone will face eventually. I love the idea that even when that moment comes for me, I might still give my loved ones a reason to smile.
I did this because I aspire to be as thoughtful and generous a person that my Grandma Bray was. So this goal completion is dedicated to her, Julia Frances Bray, a woman who accomplished anything she set her mind to.
If you're like me, you come across several things on a daily basis that make you think "I'm going to do that one day," or the more pathetic version, "I should do that some day... but I probably won't."
With inspiration from my dear friend LoveMuffins, I've decided that today and the next 1000 after it will be the days that I finally do those things. It's called the Day Zero Project and the idea is to make a list of 101 things that you will accomplish in 1001 days. Sort of like a bucket list... but to be completed in less than 3 years.
When she told me about it, I thought that it sounded like a lot to take on. Huge (not to mention expensive) life goals popped into mind... like visiting every country in Europe or buying a house. Then I looked at her list and others and found things like "kiss in the rain" and "make ice cream from scratch." And even better, many goals to improve your community or random acts of kindness like "volunteer for Earth Day" or "put change in someone's expired parking meter."
So here's my list, to be updated as I achieve my goals:
