Half Way There

1. Eat in all 4 Bryan Voltaggio restaurants in Maryland (Volt, Family Table, Lunch Box and Aggio).

2. Visit at least 5 other states – and not just the other ones I always go to (i.e. PA, DE, NY)

3. Master the art of the chopstick.  Why is this so difficult?  I swear a trained monkey would have an easier time than I do trying to eat with these pointy little suckers. - Yeah, I've decided this is a lost cause...

4. Take more photos.  I have the camera, why am I not using it more. - Loving doing this!

5. Grow my Etsy shop into something wonderful.  I know I’ll never get the chance to make it a full-time career but if it gets me a bit more money so I can travel more, I’ll be a happy girl. - Still trying to figure it all out.  I'm not so good at the marketing piece just yet..

6. In addition to the ColorRun in May, complete at least one other run – preferably one for charity. - No charity run yet, but I did do the Color Run and had a blast!

7. Get back to the theatre.  I’ve already got tickets for Cabaret on Broadway with Alan Cumming, and there are about a dozen other shows opening this year in NYC that I’d love to attend.  But there’s also a great deal of fantastic theatre coming here to MD as well, on top of what CenterStage has to offer.  Let’s put the goal as at least 3 shows by 2015. - Cabaret was great, and I have tickets to Hedwig and the Angry Inch for next month.  Also, I'm so working on seeing It's Only a Play but seriously this cast sells out quick : )

8. I will travel somewhere by myself.  My London trip has been postponed until next year so I have a little bit extra in the travel budget this year.  I haven’t quite decided where yet, but it’ll be a weekend thing.  I’m not exciting enough to keep myself entertained for a whole week…- So far only to DC for a meeting and I accidentally walked into the State Dept. building...seems like I could be a danger t myself.

9. I will read the classics of travel writing.  In every article I’ve ever read on the best travel writing, 4 books always seem to come up: “A Year in Provence”, “A Year in the World”, “Under the Tuscan Sun” and “Eat. Pray. Love”.  All of these, I actually own, but I’ve only ever read “A Year in Provence” (which, in case you were wondering, is as fabulous as everyone says it is).  If I want to become the traveler extraordinaire, I really need to get the ball rolling on these. - I've been reading a ton but not these books actually...

10. Somehow, I don’t think this is ever going to happen, because each year I put it on my list, and each year it goes incomplete but let’s give it another shot.  I’ll eat authentic Ramen and Dim Sum. - Ramen down, and hoping for some Dim Sum at next month's Emporiyum.  Love me some Ramen!

11. Get organized.  I have a plan in my head for some re-vamps to my house.  I already started and finished (90%) the craft room.  Up next is the hall closet, then on to the kitchen. - Craft room done and hall closet complete.  I'm about 80% complete on my kitchen.

12.   Submit at least one craft project to a website.  Each month, websites like Creating Keepsakes make cattle calls for submissions, I always avoid thinking my stuff won’t be good enough.  This is the year I’ll shut that little voice down. - Nope, not yet.

13.   Try to take my little nagging idea somewhere.  I’ve had a small plan for a project ruminating in my head for the last 9 months or so, that I think could be really cool if I can get people involved.  I think that the Etsy shop has to open first before I can act on it, but I’m going to try to turn it in to a reality somehow. - If I can't tackle the marketing on Etsy, I can't really make the project into something.  I really need to figure this out.

14.   Visit 2 exhibits at 2 different museums.  I am in some serious need of culture in my life.

15.   Attend one event at Brooklyn Craft Camp.

16.   In NYC, go to the ShakeShack and Smorgasburg.  (Hmm, I’m thinking #s 8, 15, & 16 could be accomplished all in one weekend…) - I did the Shake Shack thing at Nat's stadium and it was awesome!  I can't wait to try the real one!

17.   Learn to make macarons. -  Complete!

18.   Throw a real actual dinner party with wine and sitting… 

19.   Decipher Letter-Press. I’m not sure why I can’t quite figure this out, but it’s one of those elusive talents I haven’t quite deciphered yet.  It seems like it would be semi-simple to do, and cards always look pretty after they’ve been pressed but I haven’t a clue how it’s actually accomplished.

20.   Be more decisive.  I can’t make a decision to save my life.  Literally, it’s ridiculous how much I avoid making decisions. - I may or may not have completed this - see what I did there? : )

21.   Take a day trip to Philadelphia.  This city seems like it has so much to offer, and I’ve never even seen the landmarks.  Also, I hear there are some serious eats as well.

22.   O’s and Capitals Games.  Ordinarily I’d add the Ravens too, but for one they stunk up M&T last year and for another, tickets are just too dang expensive! - Did the O's thing, and the Nat's thing.  Hoping to win some Caps tickets this season.

23.   Attend the District Flea which certainly sounds like the coolest Flea Market ever – also there’s food!

24.   Be a bit more patient with everything.  I have no patience whatsoever.  I’m always irritated with things taking too long or having to wait for someone or something.  I need to cool it.

25.   Take a beach day.  This has something to do with the patience thing.  I get a little bored just sitting on the beach so I tend not to go very often even though, I’m within 3 hours of a pretty nice one (the crazy big bridge that needs to crossed to get there is another reason I avoid it.)  I need to slow down and relax and learn to enjoy the beach time instead of wondering what to do next.

26.   Learn French.  It's not going as well as I'd hoped but it's going and hopefully by the time I finally get to move to Europe, I will be able to speak without making a fool of myself. - Still working on it.  I have some serious accent issues.  I don't think I'll ever sound as romantic as the French do in movies, but I'm getting there.

27. Fall in love with something besides food, i.e., a tall dark and handsome Prince Charming per se...

28. Stop being so judgmental.  I can be a bit judgy, I really have to stop doing that.  It's just not nice...

29. See a classic on the big screen, preferably on a giant screen up on FedHill, but either way, it works.

30. Geek and Italian Festivals in Baltimore.  Even more food, yum! - Complete!
31. Make it to 29 + 3 having accomplished something fabulous.

So it would seem, seeing as there's not so much pink on this list, that I still have a lot of work to do before April.  Better get started!

Friday Five

I never see movies.  Friends have stopped starting sentences with "Have you seen...?" because they know it will end with, "yeah, not so much.".  Literally, the last movie I saw was "Frozen."  However, every once in a while, some awesome movies come out that I just have to see.  Apparently, this is one of those times.  I'm dying to see these 5 - yes I realize 3 of them are kid movies.  But honestly, these days, the kid movies are just so much funnier than adult movies!

1. Big Hero 6: I've been waiting for this one since the little teaser came out a few months ago.  Such a cute idea!
              

2. Book of Life: I've been itching for this movie to come out for almost a year.  I was a little perturbed that the creators tried to trademark "Dia de Los Muertos", but now that they've wisened up and changed the name, everything is fabulous again.  This movie looks gorgeous! I'm hoping it lives up to my VERY high expectations!
              

3. Inside Out;  This movie has 2 giant things going for it.  One, it's a Pixar movie and everyone knows that Pixar movies are the BEST.  And two, it's pretty much about the psychology of emotion which is perfect to satisfy the psych major geek in me.  Should be fabulous!
           

4. Hector and the Search for Happiness: I read this very short book and fell in love with it.  The story of a doctor setting off on a world wide search for what makes people happy, is sweet and funny and was just itching to be made into a movie.  Casting Simon Pegg as Hector was just icing on the cake!  Only issue I see: I'm fairly certain it will never come to a theatre near me. 
          

5. What we Did on our Holiday: A Scottish flick starring David Tennant, how could you go wrong? Apparently, most of the dialogue was adlibbed and it was filmed on location in Scotland.  I'm in love already!  Of course, seeing as it's a British flick, I'll probably never see it until I see it in Great Britain.  Ugh!
          

Broccoli Cheddar Bake

After a truly terrible day that included nasty emails, an unexpected sweet tea (instead of my usual unsweet), a broken underwire and spilling tea on my laptop, this Broccoli Cheddar Bake (from A Beautiful Mess) was my win.  I've never made something this pretty and this delicious and this easy before.  Thank goodness for small miracles! Usually I completely botch at least one of those elements.  I needed something to go right today.  I'm glad it was dinner because I was pretty darn hungry : )

Best of the Best

Every Wednesday on Twitter, Lonely Planet does a chat.  They ask one question and everyone who wants to gets to answer.  Usually it's about a special places or perfect trips, which are fun.  But today's was pretty much the best and most perfect topic: The absolute best food you've ever tried while travelling.  I was pretty excited.  

Then I realized, just how not adventurous I was when it came to eating and travelling.  Even with all my work to try new things, I don't think I'll ever live up to the likes of these travelers. They were eating things like bugs, crazy sushi, & foie gras, in places like Mogadishu, Sichuan Province and Pnomh Penh Cambodia  Now don't get me wrong, I don't really want to eat bugs and I don't really want to go anywhere that requires several vaccines just to enter the country.  But that's beside the point.

My offering was seriously never going to measure against some of these crazy meals.  Mine was delicious, and fabulous and I've never had anything so sweet and yummy before in a restaurant (and I still crave it today) but somehow I don't think the intense travelers on Twitter today would have appreciated the Banoffle sundae I had in Stratford upon Avon, just saying... : )

 Bananas & Toffee & Fudge & Gelato & Waffles, oh my!

Spoiler Alert!

So premiere season, is supposed to be all sunshine and daffodils.  I understand sad and unhappy endings in May when the shows are going off for the summer.  I expect unexpected deaths, crazy cliffhangers and couples breaking up forever in pretty much every finale I watch.  In every premiere I watch, after 3 long months of waiting, I assume beautiful births, lovely weddings and fun surprises, not to mention the return of beloved characters we've missed for the last 9 weeks.  But here's the thing, after a week of premieres, I've gotten nothing but depressed.

Bones killed off the beloved Sweets.  Vance had a cancer scare on NCIS.  Castle had a memory lapse.  Cary wound up in prison on The Good Wife. And Dean is a demon (on next week's episode, so I'm told.)  WTH?!  What's with the killing, mangling and hurting all the wonderful guys that fill our television screens each week?

Don't get me wrong, I have to applaud the show's writers for not trotting out the "beat up the poor woman" storyline that has become common place in the last few years.  But I'm also not all for beating up the guys either.  I know you can't have a good story without some drama, but can we at least agree, that you also need a little happiness too?

All I'm asking is no more deaths of beloved characters and no more scary diagnoses.  I tend to cry at the drop of a hat.  I'm not sure I can handle any more sad stories - Let's bring on the sunshine and daffodils for the rest of the season, shall we?  At least until finale time again...

Travel Tip

I'm a fairly regular traveler.  I'm great with packing.  I'm fairly organized and I always have a schedule.  This is why I thought it was hilarious when a friend told me that somehow she managed to book a flight out of Dulles Airport back into Reagan National, when she meant to be flying into and out of BWI.  How could she have done something so ridiculous?

Then of course, Karma bit me in the butt, and I did the exact same ridiculous thing.  Somehow I managed to get a steal on airfare ($100 less than I originally thought it would be - I should have known, right?); was on top of the world thinking I was the queen of travel.  Then, realized about 10 minutes later, that instead of the queen of travel, I was just an idiot.  I had thought I was flying out of BWI when I had actually bought tickets out of Reagan.  Smart move, I know.

Which brings us to the Travel Tip.  If I wasn't already head over heels in love with Southwest's philosophy and rates, their flight change policy made me fall even harder. Within 5 minutes and completely for free (minus the additional cost of flying out of BWI, of course), I had changed my flight, with very little effort.  My friend was not as lucky, as she had booked on a budget site and couldn't change without paying a whole bunch more.

So the moral of this story, and today's travel tip: Always, Always, Always, Fly with Southwest!

A Beautiful Day for a Wedding!

Whenever I go to a wedding, I can't help being judgey.  I just can't help myself.  I have a very set idea of what I want my wedding to look like some day, and pretty much, no one else's measures up...however, I always get super cool ideas to add on to my wedding plan.  Today's was no different.  It was a gorgeous ceremony held outside (which I'd love to have but the whole Catholic thing prevents that) with only about 100 guests, which is the perfect size.  

The reception was held indoors after a cocktail hour that included crab dip, fruit, cheese, and a dozen other little yummy finger foods.  Dinner was just ok (aren't wedding dinners always just ok?) and the music was pretty good.  But I have to say the coolest part was the wedding program. Not only was it a cool format, but the wording was just adorable.  She laid out the whole wedding process in the cutest way possible.  I really must use it one day.

Congrats Ry and Jess!  Hope your marriage is as awesome and fun filled as your wedding was!