Goals for 33!

So after my successful completion of all 32 goals by my 32nd birthday last February I decided I would make a new set of goals... only this time, I would NOT do 33 for this year. :) I think 10 might be a more feasible number given how busy I am now. And since I have been so busy, it's taken me 4 months to put together the list and post it on this blog. Better late than never though, right? ;) So here is the big list for this year:

1. Read 6 Books
2. Visit Sarah in North Carolina
3. Paint my Bedroom
4. Take a Hot Yoga Class
5. Go to the Beach this Summer (more than 1 time hopefully!)
6. Visit Becky in NYC and finally meet precious little Maelee!
7. Go Rock Climbing
8. Take a Brewery Tour
9. Take Guitar Lessons
10. Take a Weekend Get-Away this Summer
11. Re-Do my Bathrooms: This is a stretch and I put this on there as a bonus goal that I'd really like to accomplish but I think the chances of it happening are very slim.

I have actually already done some of the things on my list and will enlighten you on those accomplishments in another blog post. :)

The End of the Challenge!

It's now February 14 - 14 days past the deadline for the end of the 32 by 32 challenge. But I had to wait to do this final update until the last item was complete, which it now is!

It's been a great year. It was a lot of fun doing this challenge - I highly recommend it to all of you out there. It forces you to do things you always say you will do but never get around to doing, or to do things that are outside your comfort zone, or that are totally not you, or to do things that you would otherwise never make time for. So go for it! Make a list - and then make a blog so you are held accountable to other people to complete the list :)

So I guess we'll start with the items that I had left to complete from the last blog.

2) Read all the books by the Bronte sisters - which got updated to read 4 others books since I gave up on the Bronte sister books. I read 3 of the 4 books and have started the 4th book. I finished "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert, "The Prince" by Machiavelli, and "Utopia" by Thomas More. I am about a quarter of the way through Henry James' "Portrait of a Lady"... I just couldn't finish it in time. Almost...

12) Randomly tell people I care about them - Finished doing this.

26) Take Ella ice skating. Unfortunately, time just wasn't in my favor on this one, so I changed it to "Go to a Celtics game" since it is something I've never done before and I did this in December for my sister Erin's 30th birthday. Here is a picture from the game (Celtics won by the way):



5) Give a recital - DONE! Yay! Recital took place February 12 at First Unitarian Church in Worcester. I was very pleased with how it went. I didn't get many pictures, but here is one of my woodwind quintet:



And here is a video from the recital. This is the first movement of the Sonata op. 77 for flute and piano by Joseph Jongen. If you'd like to hear more of the recital, you can visit my YouTube channel - my channel is sarahkflute.



32) Lose 32 pounds: Total weight loss was 43 pounds. Yay! Here are some before and after pics for you (pics are in reverse order for some reason - current pics at top, last 2 are from last Feb):







And last but not least, here are some pics from my 32nd birthday to finish off the year. I made myself a yummy dinner for myself..cheese stuffed chicken with a baked potato sprinkled with a little cheese (totally no no foods for me, but it was my birthday!), and a very yummy french vanilla cake that I made for myself. Then my sisters got me a Ben & Jerry's ice cream cake for when we celebrated the following weekend - yummy!






So there you have it! The 32 by 32 challenge is now complete! Thanks for following along on this journey! I think I'll make more lists for myself each year - although maybe not 33 for next year... 10 might be more realistic giving how busy I am now.

Thanks again and I hope you've enjoyed this journey too!

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! :)