Down to the finish line!

It's been a few months since the last post and now 2010 is almost over, which means soon I will be 32... Feb. 1 is almost here! So it's time to see what I've managed to accomplish since the last post and how much I still have left to do in roughly a month. Here goes!

1) Open the doors to my music school. DONE :)
2) Read all the books by the Bronte sisters. This very well might not happen. I read the 2 best books and have diligently made my way to book #4 of 7. I'll try my best on this one. UPDATE: I gave up on this. I just couldn't read the rest of the books. There is obviously a reason why the other Bronte sister books are not as famous as Wurthering Heights and Jane Eyre. So instead I replaced the unread books with other books I wanted to read. I re-read Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat Pray Love", I read Machiavelli's "The Prince". I am currently reading Thomas More's "Utopia" and then I will finish up with Henry James' "Portrait of a Lady". Hopefully this will get finished in time.
3) See the Boston Ballet (or a ballet in any city). DONE
4) Go to a concert at Tanglewood this summer. DONE
5) Give a recital. Recital date set for Feb. 12! Couldn't get it scheduled before my bday because I have too many people involved in my recital and it got complicated, but it's ok if this is a few days after the fact - it's still happening!
6) Learn to make 1 new vegetarian recipe ever month. Well, we're going to say this one is done as I can no longer cook new meals as a result of my new food allergies. We'll just take the "once a month" part out. Up until the food allergies came along I was doing well with this one. So...DONE
7) Do a full on spring cleaning - this time make sure things actually make it to goodwill! DONE (items still not to Goodwill, but are going soon)
8) Take advantage of Boston Restaurant Week. DONE
9) Be bold and ask someone out on a date. DONE
10) Explore a new town/city. DONE.
11) Learn a new fact every day. DONE. The site I was going to for new facts stopped updating their facts, but in running your own business you learn TONS of new things every single day, therefore I consider this one done as I have and will continue to learn new things every single day!
12) Randomly tell/show people that I care about them. In process. ALMOST DONE
13) Go on a mini-vacation (ie. visit Mieke in London, Steph in SF, or go someplace I've never been - like Montreal). DONE. No real vacation happening, but did go to NY several times, and went to Maine for a day, and also went home to MN several times.
14) Learn a piece of music I don't like and see if I still don't like it after learning it (I stole this from Becky's 30 by 30 list). DONE. I was going to play this on my recital (Jolivet Chant de linos), but I think I'll pick another piece I don't like since I don't think I have the time to practice this piece enough to perform it on a recital (nor do I like it still! haha)
15) Get together with my sisters once a month. DONE and still doing
16) Go on a nature walk. DONE
17) Spend a day at the beach this summer. DONE
18) Host a dinner party or a holiday dinner. DONE
19) Get new plants for my home and see if I can make them live this time! DONE (and so far still alive)
20) Enroll in an adult-ed class (I stole this one from Elizabeth's 32 by 32 list). DONE
21) Return to my natural hair color (this is contingent on my stylist letting me do this!). DONE
22) Learn a new hobby - I've chosen guitar. sooooo not happening. However, I have decided to change this from learn guitar to.... decorating on a budget (or doing anything on a budget for that matter) :) DONE
23) Go to Worcester Restaurant Week. DONE
24) Go to a jazz club. DONE
25) Go to a non-classical concert. DONE
26) Take Ella ice skating. Not yet...hopefully will happen. If not, then will try to replace it with something a little more accomplishable.
27) Put my car back in its original condition. DONE
28) Go see a comedian. DONE. I actually did go see a comedy troupe called Irish Comedy Tour after my birthday (a really bad date, but the comedians were awesome)... I was going to try and see another comedian but seeing as I have no money and no time, I think I'll count this for #28. Highly recommend this group - hilarious, but only if you're not easily offended. :)
29) Go on a picnic. DONE
30) Go to a sporting event (this is so not me, so I'll need friends to help me make this one fun!) :) DONE
31) Watch all 8 seasons of 24 - this one is for Kayla. DONE (except season 8 which I will watch when it comes out on DVD)
32) Lose 32 pounds - seems like a good # to end the challenge on. DONE. So far I've lost 39 pounds so I've exceeded this goal and still losing weight. Woohoo!

So I guess I've pretty much finished my list of 32 things to do before I turn 32!! Just a couple things left to accomplish - hopefully I can get these taken care of in the next month! No pictures to post this time around... perhaps I'll post a few for the last blog to wrap up this journey.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season and has a very Happy New Year!

End of the Summer

Labor Day usually signals the end of the summer, so while I sit here waiting for a headache to subside so I can continue in my enjoyment of this occasion, I will update my list!

I've crossed a few things off my list and/or made some changes to my list (and crossed those things off the list).

10) Learn to say "please" "thank you" and "I love you" in 20 different languages. -- In a previous post I mentioned that I wasn't going to do this because I was too lazy. So I changed this one to: Explore a new town/city in MA. I went to Lowell with my friend Kari this Labor Day weekend and we went to the American Textile Museum which was very interesting - I had never done anything like that before. We then went to the Western Avenue Art Studios which were also very neat. I don't think I'd hang out in Lowell again as the city does have a bad rap and probably for very good reason. But I can say I've been there and don't need to go back again :)

16) Go rollerblading on the Charles River. -- I really wanted to do this, but unfortunately it just didn't happpen. So this got changed to: Go on a nature walk. So I went to the Habitat in Belmont today (Labor Day). Here are some pictures from my nature walk:






17) Spend a day at the beach this summer. This I did! I went to Crane Beach in Ipswich with my friend Sarah. It was the most perfect day for the beach. In the 70s and no humidity - awesome! And this beach was absolutely gorgeous! Here are some pictures from our beach day:









32) Lose 32 pounds - seems like a good # to end the challenge on. Still doing. So far I'm at 29lbs - just 3 more to go to meet this challenge, but I'm sure there will be many more pounds lost.

Ok, I think that's it. I've pretty much accomplished everything on the list - a few more yet to go, some are on-going challenges that I'm still doing. There may be some I might conceded defeat on (reading the Bronte sister books - so I may need to change that one too)... but I'll keep updating as I go.

Happy Labor Day and Happy End of Summer! :)

I was going to try and wait til the end of August.....

I really was going to try and wait to the end of August to post my next blog, but I was bored at work (I know, kinda crazy to say, but I'm overly efficient and get way too much done....) so I decided to write my latest blog update in order to give myself something to do today!

So where are we.... well, I've gotten a few more things crossed of the list:

4) Go to a concert at Tanglewood this summer. I went with my friend Sarah Beck and we heard Yo-Yo Ma play Elgar's Cello Concerto - he was amazing! I also was able to check off #29) Go on a picnic at the same time. We had a lovely picnic on the lawn as we listened to the concert. Here are some pics from our day at Tanglewood:





23) Re-do at least one bathroom without any professional help. So this one got changed to: Go to Worcester Restaurant Week. I found out that Worcester has a Restaurant Week and decided to take advantage of it and try out one of the restaurants I had wanted to try out, so I went with my friend Sarah for a girl's night out to a great restaurant called Tribeca. If you live in or near Worcester, I highly recommend it. www.tribeca92.com YUMMY! No pics from that evening, but a good time was had by all!

25) Go to a non-classical concert. So I went to this show called "The Donkey Show" - it's not technically a concert, but it's non-classical music :) I highly recommend this show if you are ever in Cambridge - it's awesome! Come prepared to dance, sing and be crazy! I went for my friend DJ's 30th bday and it was quite the evening. Here are just a couple pics from the evening: (and FYI, the first one is my sister Erin and DJ dancing with an almost naked guy from the show - haha)





27) Put my car back in its original condition. OK, so I said I wasn't going to do this in my last update, but unfortunately I didn't have a choice in the matter. When I went to turn my car in (I was leasing it), they said I couldn't turn it in with the big dent in the bumper. They were nice enough to take it to the body shop for me and get a quote for the repairs (luckily it just needed a bumper cover instead of a whole new bumper). I don't have pics to show you as they were going to take care of it for me after I paid for it by either sending the car back with the $ for repair work, or doing the work and then sending the car back. Either way, I didn't get to see the "after". Oh well.

30) Go to a sporting event (this is so not me, so I'll need friends to help me make this one fun!) :) I did go to a sporting event! I went and saw the Worcester Tornadoes, which is a minor league baseball team, and for those of you who know me well, you know that I really do hate baseball. haha..... But the tickets were $6... and I went with my friend Sarah, so that made it lots of fun. But I have to admit that it was more fun to be in a smaller stadium (unlike Fenway which is so big and commercial), which is much more intimate and personal. I still don't like baseball, but I'd go to another game. :) Here are some pics from our adventure that night:






So there you have it... that's my update for now. Just a few weeks left of the summer and I hope to cross a few more things off my list before it's over. Then I just have a few more things left to cross off my list and I still have over 5 months left until I turn 32 (sigh....)!

Uhhh, What month is it????

So, needless to say it has been a little bit crazy, and therefore not much more has been done on the list. BUT....I have a very good reason why....

1) Open the doors to my music school. I AM OPEN FOR BUSINESS!!!!! WOOHOO!!!! Well, technically I officially open to the public on Monday...details details.... After a year of planning, organizing, searching for buildings, etc., I finally got this school up and running!!!! I can't tell you how excited I am! Now all I need are the students to start signing up for lessons and classes :) Please check out my website (www.worcesteracademyofmusic.com) and refer people to the school if you live in the area.

So obviously MOST of my time has been spent working on this and making this happen.

That being said, I've decided to re-post the list and do some re-evaluating of the remaining items left to do. I have a feeling there are certain items that will definitely not get completed.


1) Open the doors to my music school. DONE :)
2) Read all the books by the Bronte sisters. This very well might not happen. I read the 2 best books and have diligently made my way to book #4 of 7. I'll try my best on this one.
3) See the Boston Ballet (or a ballet in any city). DONE
4) Go to a concert at Tanglewood this summer. Will definitely do.
5) Give a recital. Will do. Must start practicing again :)
6) Learn to make 1 new vegetarian recipe ever month. Well, we're going to say this one is done as I can no longer cook new meals as a result of my new food allergies. We'll just take the "once a month" part out. Up until the food allergies came along I was doing well with this one. So...DONE
7) Do a full on spring cleaning - this time make sure things actually make it to goodwill! DONE (items still not to Goodwill, but are going soon)
8) Take advantage of Boston Restaurant Week. DONE
9) Be bold and ask someone out on a date. DONE
10) Learn to say "please" "thank you" and "I love you" in 20 different languages. Not going to happen - basically, I'm just too lazy to do this :)
11) Learn a new fact every day. DONE. The site I was going to for new facts stopped updating their facts, but in running your own business you learn TONS of new things every single day, therefore I consider this one done as I have and will continue to learn new things every single day!
12) Randomly tell/show people that I care about them. In process.
13) Go on a mini-vacation (ie. visit Mieke in London, Steph in SF, or go someplace I've never been - like Montreal). DONE. No real vacation happening, but did go to NY several times, and went to Maine for a day, and also went home to MN several times.
14) Learn a piece of music I don't like and see if I still don't like it after learning it (I stole this from Becky's 30 by 30 list). DONE. I was going to play this on my recital (Jolivet Chant de linos), but I think I'll pick another piece I don't like since I don't think I have the time to practice this piece enough to perform it on a recital (nor do I like it still! haha)
15) Get together with my sisters once a month. DONE and still doing
16) Go rollerblading on the Charles River. will do
17) Spend a day at the beach this summer. will do
18) Host a dinner party or a holiday dinner. DONE
19) Get new plants for my home and see if I can make them live this time! DONE (and so far still alive)
20) Enroll in an adult-ed class (I stole this one from Elizabeth's 32 by 32 list). DONE
21) Return to my natural hair color (this is contingent on my stylist letting me do this!). DONE
22) Learn a new hobby - I've chosen guitar. sooooo not happening. However, I have decided to change this from learn guitar to.... decorating on a budget (or doing anything on a budget for that matter) :)
23) Re-do at least one bathroom without any professional help. soooo not going to happen
24) Go to a jazz club. DONE
25) Go to a non-classical concert. will try to do
26) Take Ella ice skating. will try to do
27) Put my car back in its original condition. not going to do
28) Go see a comedian. DONE. I actually did go see a comedy troupe called Irish Comedy Tour after my birthday (a really bad date, but the comedians were awesome)... I was going to try and see another comedian but seeing as I have no money and no time, I think I'll count this for #28. Highly recommend this group - hilarious, but only if you're not easily offended. :)
29) Go on a picnic. will do
30) Go to a sporting event (this is so not me, so I'll need friends to help me make this one fun!) :) still hoping to do this
31) Watch all 8 seasons of 24 - this one is for Kayla. DONE (except season 8 which I will watch when it comes out on DVD)
32) Lose 32 pounds - seems like a good # to end the challenge on. still doing - so far I'm down 20 lbs (thank you food allergies for that - at least you are good for something!)

So I will try to come up with 3 new things to replace #10, #23 and #27. I would come up with something now but I'm honestly too tired right now. :)

5 Months Down 7 Months To Go!

I'm a few days late on the May post, but here we go on what I did in May:

1) Open the doors to my music school: Doors are not open yet, but I *finally* signed the lease on a building for my school, so I am ALMOST there. The biggest obstacle is out of the way - now I can move forward and make this actually happen. YAY!

6) Learn to make 1 new vegetarian recipe a month: So I was diagnosed with a whole bunch of food allergies this month which is going to make this challenging for the rest of the year. I had to add fish back into my diet in order to get some protein since I can no longer have dairy or soy. So no pictures of anything I made this month, but I have become a pro at making steamed salmon and scallops.

30) Go to a sporting event (this is so not me, so I'll need friends to help me make this one fun!) :) I went to a horse race - now, I'm not sure that *I* consider this a sporting event, but the person I went to this with considered it a sporting event, so if I don't end up having time to go to a *regular* sporting event, then I'll use this one for #30. :)

31) Watch all 8 seasons of 24 - this one is for Kayla: I finished all 7 seasons that are out on DVD. I'm going to wait on season 8 until next year (or whenever it comes out on DVD)...so this probably won't get done until after I turn 32.

32) Lose 32 pounds - seems like a good # to end the challenge on: So far I've lost about 14 pounds...so I'm almost half-way there. This is mostly thanks to the fact that I can't really eat much anymore due to the food allergies :) Who knew food allergies would be a good thing! :)

So not too much happened in May, but the list is definitely getting smaller. Happy Summer! :)

3 Months Down and 9 More to Go!

Well, April has come and gone (or pretty much so), and it's time for another update...

2) Read all the books by the Bronte sisters: This month I finished "Agnes Grey" by Anne Bronte...you can skip this one. Nothing exciting at all.

3) See the Boston Ballet (or a ballet in any city): I went and saw the Boston Ballet's Copelia by Delibes. It was beautiful. I would definitely go and see the ballet again, although next time I might try a Tchaikovsky ballet.

This one actually got combined with #9) Be bold and ask someone out on a date. Although the date went well (it was actually date #3 for us), it ended up being the last date for us. Note to single women reading this - do not ask a guy out on a date - it changes the balance of power. So if you want to see the guy again, do not ask him out.

6) Learn to make 1 new vegetarian recipe ever month: This month I went with a theme and made some mexican recipes. I made quacamole, which unfortunately wasn't great. I followed the recipe to a T, but it was missing something. I also think I should've used fresh cilantro instead of dried cilantro. I also made wild mushroom quesadillas with this amazing salsa. The quesadillas were a bit weird because the mushrooms called for thyme on them. The salsa was this amazing BBQ, black bean and corn salsa that could seriously be eaten alone...but the salsa with the thyme mushroom quesadillas was a strange mix. So I tried it again with cheese quesadillas and it was amazing! And last but not least, I made avocado boats, which are avocados with scallions, tomatoes, hot sauce of choice, lemon, olive oil and a little salt. Yummy! Here are some pictures:





7) Do a full on spring cleaning - this time make sure things actually make it to goodwill!: Well, the spring cleaning is done, but items haven't made it to goodwill yet - they are going next week though :)

18) Host a dinner party or a holiday dinner: I hosted Easter at my house this year with my sisters and my friend Sarah B. This also covers #15(Get together with my sisters once a month). Great time was had by all. Here are some pics:




19) Get new plants for my home and see if I can make them live this time!: I got 2 new plants for my home - let's see if I can make them live! :)

24) Go to a jazz club: My friend Sarah B and I went to the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston to listen to a jazz trio as part of Jazz Week in Boston. We had some really yummy french fries and fabulous drinks while we were there...the jazz was good too :)




31) Watch all 8 seasons of 24 - this one is for Kayla: I've seen the first 4 seasons so far. I won't get all 8 in this year since the 8th season is currently playing, but I'll definitely get in 7.

So I think that pretty much covers it for April....the list is getting smaller and smaller - yay! :)

2 Months Down and 10 to Go!

Well, March isn't over yet....but it almost is and I probably won't accomplish any more in the next few days, so here is what I've done this month:

2. Read all the books by the Bronte sisters: I finished "Wurthering Heights" by Emily Bronte. I did enjoy this one..not so much because the story was great, but because of the author itself. Her story made this story remarkable. I won't say more incase you haven't read the book....if you haven't, you should. Apparently this is a love it or hate it book. Read about the author first and then read the book - then I think you'll love the book. :) Only 5 more books to go!

6. Make a new vegetarian recipe every month: this month I decided to make Baked Leeks. It sounded better than it ended up being. It ended up being very bland. But I'm putting a picture in just so you can see it - it at least looks nice. I also made a poached egg salad (which I've made before) and is quite good, so I've posted a picture as well.





Since this meal didn't turn out to be so yummy, I decided to make a new recipe for St. Patrick's Day. This time I decided to make irish food - potato leek soup and something called colcannon (it's like mashed potatoes with cabbage in it). These both turned out to be much more tasty. I did however end up steam-burning myself in the process of making these - oh well. Cooking is definitely NOT my thing :) Here are the end results:






8. Take advantage of Boston Restaurant Week: I went last night with my sisters (combining this activity with #15. Get together with my sisters once a month) to DaVinci's in Boston. This is my favorite restaurant in Boston - if you haven't been, you should definitely check it out...beats any italian restaurant I've been to in the North End. They served their entire menu instead of having a special menu which is why we chose this restaurant (all 3 of us are vegetarians). Needless to say it was most excellent as usual. Here is a picture from our evening out:



11. Learn a new fact every day: I've been pretty good about doing this. Here are some of my favorites:

~In 1923, parts of China's rural Heilongjiang province experienced a severe thunderstorm during which thousands of cobras fell from the sky.

~The pope's official barber, who only cuts the pope's hair, earns an annual salary the equivalent to $250,000 US.

~The US Military spends more money on condoms than on bullets for US troops stationed in South Korea.

~An ounce of pickled ginger can temporarily raise your IQ by as many as 10 points.

~Four leaf clovers are caused by the same mutation that causes conjoined twins.

13. Go on a mini-vacation: I haven't really been on a vacation per-se, but I've been to NYC a lot this year. I've been to visit one of my best friends, Becky (who I went to grad school with in San Francisco), a couple times. The first was for her final DMA recital (she is a fellow flutist) and the second was for her baby shower (her first baby - a little girl named Maelee!- is due next month). Here are some pictures from those visits:




14) Learn a piece of music I don't like and see if I still don't like it after learning it (I stole this from Becky's 30 by 30 list): I've chosen Jolivet's Chant de Linos...so far not liking it any better. We'll see if it gets any better - not holding my breath! :)

21) Return to my natural hair color (this is contingent on my stylist letting me do this!): Ok, so I finally convinced my stylist to let me return to my "natural" hair color - and by this I mean, the colored version of my natural hair color - or thereabouts :) I am naturally a dark or dirty blond (although the roots growing in look like a very ashy blond now, so maybe I'm getting lighter!). I decided to color my hair reddish brown and then chocolate brown over the last 2 years and really loved it, but then I missed being blond. Unfortunately my stylist preferred me as a brunette and I had a very difficult time convincing her to let me go lighter again, but I finally won! :) So here is what I look like now. Also, attached is a pic of the darker hair so you can see brunette Sarah. Which do you prefer?? :) I'll probably keep it for the summer and then go dark again - go figure! :)





I think that about covers it for now. More to come next month! Happy Spring! :)

1 Month Down, 11 To Go!

Ok, so February is coming to a close and it's time for an update on my list. Here's how things look so far:

2. Read all the books by the Bronte sisters: I just complete "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte today. I must say that I did enjoy it. 1 book down, 6 more to go.

6. Learn to make 1 new vegetarian recipe a month: I made Leek, Mushroom, Lemon Risotto....it was quite delicious! I think the next time I make it I will add artichokes...yummy! Here are some pictures of my yummy meal:




11. Learn a new fact everyday: I've been pretty good about this. I would say I've learned a new fact almost every day. :) There is a great website for random facts: www.factropolis.com

15. Get together with my sisters once a month: I got together with my sisters earlier this month for my birthday. We had a lovely dinner at DaVinci's - one of my favorite restaurants in Boston.

20. Enroll in an adult-ed class: I enrolled in the class...it's called Introduction to Dreamweaver (or something to that effect) - it's basically a website design class. Classes start Monday and last 7 weeks. I'm very excited :)

Those are the biggest ones so far....more to come! :)

The Big 32 by 32 Challenge!

So I've decided to embark on a challenge to accomplish 32 things by the time I turn 32. Here is the list:

1) Open the doors to my music school.
2) Read all the books by the Bronte sisters.
3) See the Boston Ballet (or a ballet in any city).
4) Go to a concert at Tanglewood this summer.
5) Give a recital.
6) Learn to make 1 new vegetarian recipe ever month.
7) Do a full on spring cleaning - this time make sure things actually make it to goodwill!
8) Take advantage of Boston Restaurant Week.
9) Be bold and ask someone out on a date.
10) Learn to say "please" "thank you" and "I love you" in 20 different languages.
11) Learn a new fact every day.
12) Randomly tell/show people that I care about them.
13) Go on a mini-vacation (ie. visit Mieke in London, Steph in SF, or go someplace I've never been - like Montreal).
14) Learn a piece of music I don't like and see if I still don't like it after learning it (I stole this from Becky's 30 by 30 list).
15) Get together with my sisters once a month.
16) Go rollerblading on the Charles River.
17) Spend a day at the beach this summer.
18) Host a dinner party or a holiday dinner.
19) Get new plants for my home and see if I can make them live this time!
20) Enroll in an adult-ed class (I stole this one from Elizabeth's 32 by 32 list).
21) Return to my natural hair color (this is contingent on my stylist letting me do this!).
22) Learn a new hobby - I've chosen guitar.
23) Re-do at least one bathroom without any professional help.
24) Go to a jazz club.
25) Go to a non-classical concert.
26) Take Ella ice skating.
27) Put my car back in its original condition.
28) Go see a comedian.
29) Go on a picnic.
30) Go to a sporting event (this is so not me, so I'll need friends to help me make this one fun!) :)
31) Watch all 8 seasons of 24 - this one is for Kayla.
32) Lose 32 pounds - seems like a good # to end the challenge on.

So there you have it! I'll update you on my progress. Here's to 2010 and accomplishing these goals! :)