31 in 301

Instead of making one New Years resolution (that I’ll likely break by January 5th), I figured I’d take a cue from some bloggers I love, like Dana of Pink Champagne Problems and Mackenzie Horan of Design Darling, and write a list of things I want to accomplish over a period of time. I like the idea of this because then even if I accomplish only a handful of the things I write down, I’ve still done more than I would’ve if it hadn’t of been for this list! I couldn’t possibly think of 101 things, so I went with 31 things I want to do in the next 301 days. Mike and I had actually created a to-do list the first 2 years we were dating and it was so much fun turning to it when we couldn’t decide what to do that day. I figured writing all this down would provide me some lasting motivation. Let me know if any of you have a list like this; I’d love to see what is getting each of you out of bed in 2015. I’ll be updating this list as I go through the tasks so by October I will have visual proof of what I’ve done this year!

Start date: January 1st, 2015

End date: October 29th, 2015

1. Eat dinner at home Monday-Thursday for one month straight

2. Make 5 meals out of our Newlywed Cookbook

3. Do another clothing swap then donate the rest to charity [11/15/15]

4. Drink 100 oz of water a day for a week [week of 4/27/15]

5. Donate $100 each to water.org & St. Jude’s [10/28/15 — better late than never!]

6. No soda for a month

7. Visit the Taj Mahal (I’ve been to India 10+ times and have never seen it!) [2/18/15 – see the post here]

8. Treat myself to a full spa day after an accomplishment (massage, facial, mani/pedi)

9. Invest in a lens for my camera for better blog photos [upgraded to Canon EOS Rebel XSi]

10. Write at least one piece of snail mail once a week for a month [sent 4 cards in March]

11. Surprise my parents by going home to see them for a weekend [April 2015]

12. See 5 movies in the theater [1) Inherent Vice (1.9.15), 2) Gone Girl (1.31.15), 3) It Follows (3.28.15) / 4) Age of Adaline (4.21.15) / 5) Pitch Perfect 2 (5.17.15)]

13. Finish another series on Netflix (we already finished OITNB and Breaking Bad) [Walking Dead]

14. Get our backyard landscaped & put in our patio and fire pit [May 2015]

15. Organize the horrendous mess that is our basement

16. Be featured in a magazine

17. Do a weekend getaway with my husband [Gatlinburg, TN – Oct 23-25. See the posts here, here, + here]

18. Go to the gym at least 10x in one month [June 2015]

19. Attend a destination wedding [3/13/15 – see the post here]

20. Don’t shop for clothes/accessories/shoes for one whole month

21. Unplug for 24 hours straight [no phone, iPad, TV, laptop]

22. Donate blood

23. Give someone I love a gift for no reason at all

24. Try 5 new Cincinnati restaurants/bars [1) Horse & Barrel // 2) Washington Platform // 3) Sundry & Vice // 4) Pasquale’s // 5) Strongs Pizza]

25. Get business cards for my blog [check them out here]

26. Go see a play/musical at the Aronoff [tickets bought for White Christmas, November 2015]

27. Get professional photos taken of Mike & I for our 1 year wedding anniversary

28. Go on a weekend trip with girlfriends/my sister (no boys allowed!) [Minneapolis, MN – August 2015]

29. Throw our dogs a birthday party (complete with bacon & chocolate) [4.11.15]

30. Spend an afternoon volunteering

31. Once this list is completed, make a 101 things in 1001 days list.