35. Watch a movie at home once a week for a month (1/4)

Let's see if I can start this one again... lol

Yesterday, Taylor and I took advantage of a "lazy Sunday" and decided to stay in. We rented The Goods, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist and Funny People. We didn't get to see Funny People because it would run into the Giant's game, but we watched the other two. The Goods was hilarious and Nick & Norah was cute... It's always nice to have a chill day at home doing absolutely nothing... Hope to do this more!

9. See a Cirque du Soleil show

Yay! This one is done! Thanks to my BFF JLB, we went out and saw Cirque du Soleil Alegria for her birthday weekend. And how appropriate that Alegria is one of my middle names - it's my mom's maiden name! Some of my fave acts:

The Power Track

Manipulation

Contortion

I really liked them all! We all had such a great time... I can't wait to see another one!

33. Visit Taylor's family in Italy & 31. Visit my family in England

I am so happy to say that these two are DONE! And to get them done in one trip was totally fabulous!

I could do an entirely too-long blog with pictures and every single detail of the trip... but that would completely bore everyone! I will say this, the trip was incredibly memorable! We got to go to Rome, Vicenza, Verona & Venice while we were in Italy. All of which are beautiful places. I took a TON of pictures - you can view them here.

I also got the chance to go to London to visit my grandmother, aunt, uncle & cousin. The flight from Venice to London-Stansted was SO cheap, so I really had no excuse to NOT visit them! My grandmother is super-cute - I wish I could have brought her home with me! And it was so awesome to see everyone, to see the old apartment where my parents & I lived 28 years ago... and to see the hospital where I was born! It has been way too long since I was last there and it was so refreshing to see it all! I did get to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey & Piccadilly Circus... but I really just wanted to hang out with my family! The trip was so short, but I hope to make a longer trip sometime soon!

Please take a look at my pix - one day, I will caption them! :p I hope to make a visit back to Europe again very soon! :)

Slacking... again...

I know, I've been totally slacking on the blogs again... and I will be taking a little vacation as well, but I promise, after I get back, I'll have some exciting things to blog about! :) (Namely, #s 31 and 33... lol)

89. Watch 50 movies on the IMDB Top 250 Movies of all Time list (4/50)

Just watched Wall-E - so cute! Gonna have to add this one to my DVD collection! :)

89. Watch 50 movies on the IMDB Top 250 Movies of all Time list (3/50)

Who knew! I was just checking the list today to see what movies I can watch to get this list going, and Up and Star Trek made it to the list - both of which I've already seen in the theater...

I went and saw Up with my sister & my niece... What a great family movie! There were some sad parts though, and I knew my niece was upset because she got up from her seat and sat on my lap for the sad parts... But all in all, it was a great film and I'd see it again!

I've already posted about Star Trek since I got to see the sneak preview for free! It was awesomely action-packed and the sci-fi geek in me loved it!

So I think I'm going to try & see The Hangover sometime soon - it's been out FOREVER, and the BF & I are probably the last people to see it! :p

91. Go to the midnight showing of Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince

I believe this one was a given. :p In fact, I almost consider it cheating by putting this on my list because I'm such a HUGE Harry Potter fan, that it would be almost insane if I didn't see the midnight showing! Especially since I've seen all (but the first) of the HP films the day they are released at midnight. Nonetheless, I had to put it on my list to force myself to go to a midnight showing in my old age! :p

My dad's birthday was yesterday (Happy 60th Dad!), and my family was already planning on being out the night the movie was showing. So I actually had doubts about going, number one, because I wouldn't be able to get in a decent nap beforehand, and number two, I have to be at work at 8am the next day! But after some coaxing from my sister (and staring at my 101 list), I decided I might as well go. I was able to get in a 1 1/2 hour nap before the movie, at my parents house after dinner so that might have helped!

We got to the movie theater around 1115pm to this madness:


Can't really see from the picture, but the line wrapped around 3 times within ropes and then came back to the entrance of the building. This was just for theater 5 apparently. Theaters 4 and 6 didn't have a line - I bought my tix on Fandango (as the majority of my line did) and we all got put in this theater.

My ticket:


Our theater had technical difficulties, so although the movie was supposed to start at 1201am, it didn't start til 1230am - which of course, caused us to get out at 3am! Sigh... They even had the nerve to play the previews after making us wait that long! :p

So after getting another 2 1/2 hours of sleep this morning, I got some coffee and headed to work. My body started to crash at 1pm, and I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes open! But the most important thing was all of this was worth it! The movie was amazing and of course I'm going to see it again, this time in Imax with my dad, who's also a big HP fan! Don't worry - I didn't break out my HP outfit (and I probably never will), although I should have worn my Gryffindor scarf cuz it was frickin' cold in the theater! :p

Please go out & see the movie, even if you hadn't read the books! :)

77. Get a Chesapeake Library card and use it

I did get my library card (finally!), but I haven't had the chance to use it... As soon as Taylor & I are all settled in, I will definitely be taking advantage of it - especially now that I'm that much closer to the library! :p

57, 58 & 59. Organize clothes, shoes & purses; purge & donate

Since Taylor & I are in the process of moving - and into a smaller place, for that matter - we decided it would be an opportune time to start organizing and purging our closets & dressers. Had I known it was going to take 3 nights, I would have saved it for the weekend instead of doing it during the week! :p All-in-all, we came up with 8 33-gallon garbage bags full of clothes! Amazing what we stuffed into our individual closets and even more amazing that we kept clothes we haven't worn in over a year (or more!)... It definitely felt relieving knowing we got rid of so many clothes because we'll be sharing a walk-in closet at our new place as opposed to spoiling ourselves with individual closets at our current residence. Here are some pix - brace yourselves! :p

Here are the 8 garbage bags full of clothes :p All of these bags will be donated, as well as whatever I don't sell in the next pic

These are the clothes I'm going to let my sister peruse thru first, and whatever she doesn't want, I'm going to try & sell at Plato's closet :)

The right side of my closet - Most of the stuff on the top, I'm going to fold & keep in my dresser which is mostly empty now that I've purged!

And here's the left side of my closet - a couple of my jackets & dresses... I really don't have many clothes left now! :p

Slackin...

Hello to those that are following my blog! :p

I've been seriously slacking on the posts, and it's been nearly a month since I've posted anything, but as most of you know, the BF and I have purchased our first home and have been crazy busy renovating it AND packing up our current home at the same time! I haven't had a chance to do much of anything! But as soon as we're all settled in our new home, I will get the ball rolling again on completing some of my 101. I wish I had put "purchase a new home" on my list - then I would have been blogging about that!

In the meantime, you can look at pictures of the progress at our new condo here...

7. Complete a 1000-piece puzzle

FINALLY!!

It only took me forever! :p I'm so glad it's done... I'm going to get puzzle adhesive and frame it. I love it!

12. Chop off my hair

Well, I finally did it. I hadn't gotten a haircut since August 2008, so it has been SO overdue for me to get a haircut. I only go to one person, my favorite Michael James at Amp Studio in Ghent. He does such a great job with my hair and he always knows how I want it! I chopped off about 8 inches of (dead) hair...

Here's a pic - sorry it's kinda crappy, I took it with my cell phone.

13. Take a hot yoga class

I'm on a roll this week despite feeling gross! Tonight, I joined my BFFs Karen & Janice for my first Hot Yoga session and Hot House Yoga in Ghent. All I can say is I tried my best (ha) and I definitely need to go back more to work on my balance and concentrating on my core... But WOW- I have never sweated so much in my entire life! Like serious, dripping sweat! haha... I'm sorry if that's too much information... But I will tell you it was a great work out and I plan on going back again!

80. Take a class at Studio Rio

I just started the Beginner's Series at Studio Rio last night, and let me tell you - it kicked my butt! I guess it doesn't help that I haven't worked out in a while, and the fact that I was grossly sick yesterday probably didn't help either! But I had already paid for the class in advance and I sure as heck wasn't going to waste my money! But geez - I didn't know you had to be THAT flexible! haha... It was a lot of fun! I'm so glad my sister and 2 other girlfriends (Anzen & Charity) were there with me... This series is a 5-week course starting with dancing basics (last night) and continuing with floor dances, chair dances, pole exercises & the final lap-dance routine, which we got to see a preview of last night! I can't wait! I'm also going to take a pole class with Karen, Janice & Cecil on Thursday so that should be fun! Let the stripper work-out begin! :p

7. Complete a 1000-piece puzzle

I'm working on this one right now... I chose a Disney puzzle. It's Mickey Mouse, but it's a mosaic of scenes from almost all of the Disney movies. I can't wait to finish it! Here are some pix of my progress. It's going to take me a while with my busy schedule!

Part of Mickey's face

and mickey's hands/pants

29. Have a dinner-and-a-movie date with Taylor once a week for a month (4/4)

Woohoo! This one is done... I am pretty lucky when it comes to winning sneak preview tix, and I have to thank the Virginian Pilot for giving me the chance to enter contest to win these things... I won tix to see Star Trek before it is released on Friday. So Taylor came out to ODU to pick me up and we headed to MacArthur mall... We decided to eat dinner at Johnny Rockets before the movie - my first time ever eating there! The bacon cheeseburger I got was quite tasty! We waited in line for about an hour (as we do everytime there's a sneak preview), but it was so worth it... The movie had a great plot, the effects were AMAZING, and they managed to sneak some comedy in it as well... I'd see it again!

Here's a pic of my ticket...

Go out and see it if you get the chance!

73. Send 5 postcards through Post Crossing (2/5)

I was at Barnes & Noble last night walking around with Taylor (mostly, to look for my 1000-piece puzzle), and I came across a display of post cards! It's the first place I've come across that sold them! So I jumped at the opportunity and bought 2 for now. I signed into my Post Crossing account and received 2 addresses - one lady in Finland, and one 7-year-old girl in Indiana. I mailed both out today and can't wait to receive some of my own!

29. Have a dinner-and-a-movie date with Taylor once a week for a month (3/4)

One more dinner-and-a-date with Taylor done... We had dinner at Chili's, thanks to an extremely generous gift card from The Bolinas, and we saw Monsters vs. Aliens in Imax 3D... What a super cute movie, and I really wished I could have taken pix of Taylor & me with our 3D glasses on because we looked like PURE dorks! :p But it was a good time, nonetheless...

Next week, we're seeing STAR TREK! Exciting!

17. Host an outdoor BBQ

I have been completely slacking on this thing and I totally forgot I hosted an outdoor BBQ at my place for Taylor & my birthdays!

It was Easter Sunday, so not everyone could make it - but the weather was nice & cool and it was perfect for some Easter egg hunting as well!

Here are some pix...

We had burgers, dogs, an AMAZING homemade pork BBQ (thanks Colleen!), potato salad, cole slaw and even some pancit & egg rolls!

Taylor did an awesome job on the grill...

And my girls had an extremely successful egg hunt in our back yard!

And lastly, we had a GREAT ice cream cake!

Too bad we only had Taylor's birthday candles... but it doesn't matter, I could be 27 again! :p I appreciated everyone that was able to make it out... more pix are on my Picasa site.

6. Ride a tandem bike

I just wanted to post some video footage of me riding a tandem bike with Taylor.

Here is the video of us BEFORE we knew what we were doing :p

and here is the video of us AFTER we figured it out!

35. Watch a movie at home once a week for a month (0/4)

I have been completely slacking on this one and haven't watched a movie at home since the first time. So - I'm going to reset it and try it again next month. Bleh.

29. Have a dinner-and-a-movie date with Taylor once a week for a month (2/4)

Thanks to some awesome birthday presents, Taylor and I were able to do dinner-and-a-movie night for FREE tonight! :) Our good friends Janelle & Mark got us movie passes and then Natalie & Curt got us a Chili's gift card, so we headed to MacArthur Mall to see I Love You, Man and eat dinner at Chili's... The movie was quite hilarious ("I slappa the bass!"), and dinner was delicious... Thanks to great friends, 2 down, 2 to go! :)

36. Get a laptop

Working for LTS definitely had some perks - I was able to build my own super-powered desktop PC which I still use and love. It's like my picture & music server with over 600GB of hard drive space (sorry - the geek in me is about to come out :p)... I was even lucky enough to get a laptop... but it was slightly used and after a couple of months using it, it burned out on me. I vowed at that time to get a replacement because my desktop was SO huge and it held so much priceless data for me that I didn't want to use it for my regular internet browsing. I just wanted it to be THERE. But I didn't want to spend $700-$1000 on a laptop that I just used to surf the web and update my blog and I waited and waited and waited for some awesome sale, but that never came!

One day at work, my team was assigned to setting up some Dell Mini Netbooks for our admissions staff, and I instantly fell in love with them at first site! They're cute & small and are exactly what I needed - an internet laptop! Plus you can get them in all kinds of colors, and a built-in webcam for Skype-ing... So I did some research on the Dell Minis and the BF and I decided to buy one for the each of us!

Taylor settled on a Mini with a blue sticker design
and I of course, had to get a PINK one!

with a matching pink wireless mouse

I'm quite happy with my purchase. The keyboard takes a little getting used to, but it's definitely nice to be able to be completely lazy once in a while and sit in front of the TV with my laptop :)

29. Have a dinner-and-a-movie date with Taylor once a week for a month (1/4)

I'm a stickler when it comes to movies... As I've mentioned before, if it's not Harry Potter or Twilight, I usually wait a LONG time before I see the latest releases. However, if they're FREE, then I am all about it! :p

I am a member of Pilotonline.com, and they offer advanced screening passes to newly released movies before they're actually released to the public. Lucky me, I won passes to see the new Seth Rogen film, Observe and Report.

We decided to have dinner at Lynnhaven Mall before we saw the movie. Granted, it was Chick Fil-A, but Chick Fil-A is DELICIOUS! Then we got to enjoy the movie, which was hilarious! Seth Rogen hasn't disappointed me yet!

I'm hoping we'll be able to do this at least once a week for this month... 1 down, 3 to go! :)

6. Ride a Tandem Bike and 65. Go to the Smithsonian Museums in DC

So I was super excited that my sister and her BF wanted to plan a little family trip up to DC... Not only were we going to see 2 of the Smithsonian Museums, we were going to rent bikes to ride around the National Mall area! At that point, I thought it would only be right to rent a tandem bike! Not only were they super cool, I got the BF to do all the pedaling while I just sat back & enjoyed the scenery! :p

Here's a pic of Taylor and I getting ready to ride off on our bikes

Let me just say, once you figure out how to actually GO on these things, it is really a lot of fun! The BF and I definitely had a routine set up and it was smooth sailing from there. The weather on Sunday was absolutely fantastic, so riding bikes through National Mall was perfect! We did have issues finding bike racks (can you believe that?), but once that got settled, all was ok.

So we set off to the National Mall area to check out the museums. The BF is SO into History, so our first stop was the National Museum of American History.


He had such a field day in there, constantly blessing my sister & I with little facts about famous American wars & their heroes, etc. He knows so much and I love it! I think he took more pictures in this museum than I did - but here are a few:

Taylor and Abraham Lincoln

Here's my sis with a piece of the Berlin Wall

and here's Taylor with the Medal of Honor

We also went to the Museum of Natural History, but I'll stop with the pictures... I took over 150 pics this weekend and the purpose of photo albums is to share them all at once! Click HERE for more pictures.

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend. I had such a great time and I highly recommend renting bikes! I will definitely use the Tandem bike again! :)

21. Have my eyebrows threaded

I've been going to the same place to get my eyebrows waxed for a pretty long time now, and they're pretty good about doing it - but no matter what, I always come out red-faced and my skin irritated. I figured, "beauty is pain" so I just got over it by rubbing some ice over my eyes when I got home from the waxing. But then a couple of years ago, I was in NYC with some girlfriends, and they introduced me to the "threading" technique.

According to Wikipedia: Threading is an ancient method of hair removal which originated in Iran (where it is called Bande Abru), spread to the Middle and Far East, and is now gaining popularity in Western countries. It is equally popular with both men and women in Arab countries. Practitioners use a pure, thin, twisted cotton thread which is rolled over untidy hairlines, moustaches and so on, plucking the hair at the follicle level. Unlike tweezing where a single hair is pulled out each time, threading can remove an entire row of hair, resulting in a straighter line.

I was intrigued by this concept, so I added it to my list. About 2 minutes after I posted my list, my BFF KCB sends me a message letting me know she knew someone locally who did it. Now, I heard they had a kiosk in Lynnhaven Mall that was doing it, but there was no way I was going to get my eyebrows threaded for the first time in front of shoppers galore! Thankfully, she recommended a lady who does it from with a little hair salon, unbeknownst to a rookie like me. You can even set an appointment online! So that being said, I set an appointment for today, and my BFFs KCB & JLB decided to join me as well!

I have to say, it is a bit more painful than waxing (I ended up tearing near the end!)... But the results are just as fab and more importantly - I wasn't red and irritated! I definitely plan on going back - and the lady does eye lashes too... hmmm.... :p

Here's a pic of my experience. Toya did an amazing job. (Thanks to the BFFs for joining me on my first threading!)

35. Watch a movie at home once a week for a month and 89. Watch 50 movies on the Top 250 Movies of all Time list

Watching movies on the regular has never been a strong point for me. When it comes to my obsessions (Harry Potter, Twilight, and some chick flicks), I'm at the midnight showing! :p But otherwise, either I don't have the time, the energy or even the money to splurge on watching a new release. And let's just face it, my schedule is crazy enough without having to plan a movie night at home. It sucks that I have all these DVDs at my fingertips and not any time to watch them. So the BF and I decided to stay in tonight (and thank goodness - after my super-busy weekend last weekend with 4 birthdays, a race & a couples bridal shower, we were MORE than welcome to the idea!)... We figured if we stayed in, we might as well watch Slumdog Millionaire because, not only did it win Best Picture at the Oscars, my sister (among others) was seriously disturbed at the fact that I haven't seen it! And who knew it would "kill 2 birds with one stone" in relation to my list. I stayed at home to watch a movie AND it's on the top 250 list of movies to watch according to IMDB. I have to say - it was definitely worth it! What a great movie! I would definitely watch it again! Sigh... I'm hoping I'll have time to catch up on my movies in the next couple of weeks! :p

61. Get fitted for running shoes

So I've participated in 4 races and a walk so far in my life (2 x Race for the cure, 2 x Shamrock 8k, March of Dimes walk), and I've worn the same running shoes for all of those races. In every single one of those races, my toes & my shins were in SO much pain afterwards! So nearly 3 years later, I FINALLY get fitted for proper running shoes! YAY! The BF and I went to the ever-famous Running, Etc. in Ghent this evening to get fitted for shoes. Things have changed there since the first time I went with my BFF KCB years ago - they have a treadmill now, with video! Let me just say, it was weird watching my own feet on the TV while I did my jog on the treadmill. It turns out that I have a normal gait while running (the BF turned out to be a bit over-pronated). So John at Running, Etc recommended a couple of pairs of shoes in the "Neutral" section. I ended up getting these:

Asics Gel-Cumulus 10

Thank goodness for proper running shoes! I totally felt the difference from my old running shoes to my new ones. My new shoes are a size and a half bigger than my previous shoes! Who would have thought? :p I'm happy with my purchase and am excited to break them in during my next race tomorrow - the Bellator Wounded Warriors 5k. I'm praying for a smooth run without the aching toes & shins afterwards! :)

93. Complete all 365 Origami creations in my Origami-a-day calendar (83/365)

So I've kinda got a head-start on this one, considering it is almost April and I got the calendar in January. I bought the calendar to relieve some boredom at work, however it only eleviates about 10 minutes of my boredom each day! :p Needless to say, I'm learning how to make some pretty cool things with this Origami calendar. I've still got a long way to go, but here are some pics of a few of my most recent creations. :) (Please excuse my messy desk!)

A tulip

An ostrich, a raincoat & a swan.

Gotta start somewhere...

So I'm new to this, I'll admit it. But I have been inspired. Some of my close friends are making the most of their life by doing a 101 in 1001 and so it wasn't hard for me to decide to do the same. Therefore I'm starting this blog to document it. I still have to figure out what my 101 will be, but in case you didn't know what it's about - here's some info:

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.

2. Stay Focused. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.

3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.

4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.

5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.