Keeper of the List

Ideally in my mind I would have a rugged leather notebook with beads hand-sewn from a faraway land that I only wrote in perfect penmanship, evenly spaced at all times with turquoise felt-tipped marker. And there would be glitter somewhere in there because there's ALWAYS glitter in my fantasies. I would never lose this notebook & it wouldn't have any scribbles or ink bleeds.

Now if you've ever met me, you'd know this is complete hogwash. I lose at least two cell phones a year, have ripped my way through more pants than I care to admit, (Most times while WEARING THEM- which either means I buy super poorly constructed clothing or my ass is The Incredible Hulk. None of my shirts have this issue so I'll let YOU decide.) and the glitter falling out of the pages would piss me off within a week.

This means that I have my Life List scattered throughout random notebooks, scraps of paper, my computer's bookmarks folder & buried deep within my brain. This is not good. How many goals do you think you'll accomplish with a half-hearted, "Hmm that seems fun, I should do that someday." I think laying it all out somewhere that you can easily see and be inspired is best. So here's some ideas & suggestions for WHERE to organize your Bucket List.

Your Computer:
Admit it. You're on this thing WAY TOO MUCH right? I'm not judging sista, my mac is currently snuggling in bed with me as.we.speak. So why not start a file called "Places I Want To Go" or "Things I Want To Do". (OR something infinitely more interesting- don't let my lack of imagination stop you.) It's so much easier to just throw inspiring websites in that folder as you're surfing. Then set a monthly date on your online calendar to peruse those links & update or plan as necessary.

• LaterThis sounds helpful for people like me just bookmark willy-nilly without any labels or folders.
• Use SUPER specific labels. Within my folder, I have labels like "road trip", "experiences", "travel", "business", "personal growth". Some of them overlap.

Inspiration Board:
Throw up some corkboard or go old-school & use tape. Either way find a corner or entire wall where you can stick photos, articles, doodles, lists, WHATEVER that will be your visual road map to the life you want. I personally plan on putting one in my bathroom. I'm in there at least a couple times a day right?

• Inspiration for your Inspiration Board... of Inspiration (Maybe I can get that word in here 8 more times?)
• Their Flickr group if you're the 'Less Words More Photos' type.
• An online version.

Traditional Pen & Paper Route:
Mini Notebooks you can throw in your purse or backpack:

I love how these are Land, Sea, & Air themed!

LARGE notebooks that you couldn't miss if you tried:

Seriously, what scribbles are you going to notice when you have a big-ass leather Pegasus on your desk?

and... oh. my. goodness. This is PERFECT. I need this & a sparkly turquoise pen STAT!

Maybe I CAN have my dream afterall...

Where do you keep your life list?

Make It Happen May- Embrace the sun!

From we heart it

Summer. SUMMER SUMMER SUMMERRRRR. I am in love with/obsessed with this season. I walked around today in a t-shirt. TEE SHIRT AND NO JACKET. It was weird, I felt naked. And you know what? I LIKED IT. The point of all this is that now I can start knocking things off my life list that are really best done in the warmer months.

So why not let that inspire you to add a whole new passel (I've been trying to slip that word in somewhere for MONTHS) of bullet points in your 'Things to do before I die' collection? And then throw on some flip flops (Apparently there are people out there that don't like flip flops. To that I say RIDICULOUS. Are your toes THAT sensitive? Do you also hold them during the scary parts in movies and tuck them in at night? Tell your precious tootsies to man up and BE FREE.)

So I'll be adding things like going to the farmer's market, water parks and a teddy bear picnic with my baby brothers. So I'm posting the summer-only portion of my LIST here for everyone to see. Now you can yell at me periodically if I haven't made enough progress.

*Go to the Cloisters
*Tailgate BBQ & minor league baseball game
*SplashDown Water Park
*Beer-b-que with friends
*Try at least three new fruits (Just had blackberries yesterday so 1/3 down!)
*Coney Island Mermaid Parade
*127 Sale (I need a partner for this one HINT HINT)
*Go lose my mind in this art store
*Beach bonfire
*NYC Street Fairs
*Make my own popsicles
*Camp in the backyard with my brothers
*Get an amazing tan without half my face peeling off two days later

That's all for now but I'm sure I'll add more the warmer it gets. What are you going to do this summer?

Make It Happen May

Yikes it's already May!

I had grand plans of creating a great blog-wide web Life List project where we all joyously held hands and celebrated life and adventures by posting our goals in life. There would be singing, chocolate ice cream and peace on earth forever and ever AMEN.  Then I went gallivanting across the South and got distracted by a grand quest for Tennessee BBQ, (BB-Quest as I like to call it) and slacked off. But I'm back on track kids!

So May will be the month of planning for our grand Life List adventure. I'll be posting once a week on ways to get your list o' dreams going, inspiration to beef up your list and photos & links to others who are knocking things off theirs. Here's a couple to get you started:

...sending postcards A lovely couple who sold their house & belongings to go wander the globe and take amazing photos of it all.

Vagabonding Begins! Check out homeboy's life list and be jealous. Then go get a piece of paper and steal some of his great ideas- I'm sure he won't mind!

If You Never Did, You Should Jodi's blog oozes positivity, fun and adventure. If we lived closer I'd totally bribe her with candy and stickers to be my friend.

Yes and Yes Surely Sarah Von won't think it's creepy that I consider her my fairy godmother of travel dreams?

Read away and get out your pen & paper because June 21st is on it's way!