To-Do Today:

Oh boy, am I behind...but it's for good reason: I'm away on vacation in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Weddings, family time, overeating, sleeping, wine drinking and exploring, have taken over my normal schedule, so my apologies for ignoring my usual responsibilities like blogging. I have missed out on quite a few challenges, so here's my official catch-up to-do list:

1. Video chat with a faraway friend (Does Fanne count because she's back home in Mass?)
2. Give 5 high-fives (I'm already 3 into this one)
3. Call someone you haven't talked to in years
4. Say hi to 3 strangers (easy since I don't know too many people here in Ann Arbor)
5. Make something for someone (this may have to wait until I get home, we'll see though)
6. Leave someone a thank-you note
7. Teach someone something (simple considering I'm surrounded by small children)
8. Cook dinner for someone
9. Send a friend 3 links they'll love
10. Give 3 compliments
11. Leave a positive comment on a strangers blog (any suggestions for cool blogs to check out?)
12. Ask for someone's advice and take it (hmmm...)

Time to get to work (and also enjoy the last official day of summer)!

Challenge #10: Feed a Homeless Person

There’s a little quote on my lululemon lunch bag that reads “Do one thing a day that scares you”. While I can’t say that I consistently accomplish this, I have always believed that if something scares you or pushes you out of your comfort zone, that it’ll somehow be beneficial in the long run (barring some obvious things, of course).

When I read GOOD’s #10 challenge, feed a homeless person, I was definitely a little bit uncomfortable—so much so that I immediately started brainstorming modifications that would allow me to stay within my safety bubble (bad Danne!). I brought the challenge up to Dan last night over dinner at Pizzeria Regina to see if he had any insight on the situation. We went back and forth a bit, talking about experiences that we’ve had when we’ve seen homeless people angrily deny gifts of food, saying they only wanted money (the scenario I was dreading), and trying to determine what would be a comparable challenge. What if we bought scratch tickets and passed them out to the homeless people camped out in Harvard Square? What if we paid $20 for a Spare Change Newspaper instead of the suggested $1 donation? We settled on the scratch ticket idea, and even though I thought it was a pretty good compromise, I still felt a little bit like a slacker.

But then, out of nowhere, this miracle happened:

We’re leaving the restaurant with a big box of leftover margarita slices when a woman sitting outside on a bench stopped us and asked “Hey, could you spare a slice?”

Now, I have to interject here and say that NEVER in my life, literally never, has a homeless person asked me for food (and living in a city, I see homeless people all the time). They have ALWAYS asked for money. Also, I’ve been to Pizzeria Regina about 10,000 times and there has NEVER been anyone outside, begging for food, never. In sheer disbelief that this was actually happening, especially in such close proximity to the conversation that we just had, Dan and I quickly opened our pizza box and offered the very grateful woman whatever she wanted from it.

Call it coincidence, call it the law of attraction, or call it the universe really hooking it up, but whatever it was, it was awesome, and I was more than happy that I was actually able to complete this challenge in its original form.

Uni, you never cease to amaze me.

The First 7

I'm 7 days into the GOOD 30-Day Challenge: Connect With People, and I have to say that I'm actually doing pretty well keeping up so far. Here's what my first 7 challenges were:

1. Send someone a postcard: Even though this was the first challenge, it took me a minute to round up some postcards, so I'll be writing mine tonight (I'm doing 2—and I won't say to who, surprise!).

2. Talk to a service employee: This was sort of a no-brainer since I do this all the time anyway, but I did make an effort to go a little bit past "How are you?" and I was as smiley as could be.

3. Share an old photo with a friend: I posted this cute little thing to my BFF Sondra's Facebook page:




4. Ask a family member about their day: Well, it did help a lot that I was visiting my family on the Cape this weekend, but I went out of my way (in a very sisterly way) to interrogate my brother on his workday, so much so that after I asked him what his favorite part of the day was, he looked at me dumbfound and said "I don't really know how to answer this, no one's ever asked me that before". Hehehe...

5. Plan a group outing: I've been trying to but this seems to be a busy week for people, so let me just ask the internet—who wants to go swing dancing with us this Saturday night at the Armenian church in Watertown? Any takers?

6. Ask a co-worker out for coffee: Does tea count too? I still have to do this one, time to (wo)man up...

7. Buy a friend a gift under $5: This gave me a great excuse to go to Target on my lunch break today, and buying fun little presents is just that: fun. I've been known to play the $5 present game on long road trips too and some of my favorite possessions have come from it.

On to the next 7!

Sayonara Summer and September’s Challenge from GOOD

Really? Already? Sigh…I’m afraid it’s true. Even though I don’t feel the impending doom of the start of a new school year anymore (thank the lord), Labor Day weekend always feels bittersweet because it marks the beginning of the end of those magical summer months. Sigh again. Although the official end of the season doesn’t come until the 22^nd,  I’ll always consider September a fall month—no matter how many beach days I can still squeeze in. So, with this change of season will also come a change of lent, as I officially close out my summer bucket list challenge.

I can’t say that I checked everything off, but I got pretty close, and even though I won’t be taking a formal tally after this weekend, I still have plans to do a few of the things that are still outstanding. All in all, I have to say that I had a pretty quintessential summer, full of beach days, BBQ’s, fair rides, boat trips, farmers markets, and bon fires (and don’t forget bridal showers, bachelorette parties, weddings and moving), and I really do have my bucket list to thank. Sayonara summer, you certainly were sweet.

Moving on to September’s challenge, where I’ll be participating in The GOOD 30-DayChallenge: Connect With People.

I had an entirely different idea for what to do this month, but when I got my Daily GOOD email yesterday and saw their 30-Day challenge focused on connecting with people, I decided to jump on board. I’d been concocting a similar challenge on my own which was focused on going out of my comfort zone to connect with strangers, but I hadn't gotten around to working out all the details. Looks like the good (ha) folks at GOOD did all the work for me, thanks guys!

I’ll write more later, but I’ll leave you with the video from their website describing the challenge. Wishing a happy and safe Labor Day weekend to all!

 

#3: Ride My Bike

And by bike I mean this beast (see below), or as I like to call her "RoadMaster" (you'd be able to read that on the frame if my sweet helmet wasn't blocking the view). Me and Roadmaster have been together for a while now, I'd say since, oh...1992? 1993? My parents were big proponents of teaching me the value of a dollar by having me save up my own money to buy things that I wanted, and Roadmaster was one of those things. I scrimped and I saved (Christmas and birthday money from relatives, of course) and bought her all by myself. A proud moment for little Danne, let me tell you...

While Roadmaster got plenty of use in my middle school days, she's spent most of her time since then never seeing the light of day, being schlepped around from garage to garage every time I've moved. Summer bucket list to the rescue! Last Friday I decided to take her out for a spin to take care of #3 on my list: Ride My Bike. Since city biking makes me a little (a lot) nervous, I wasn't really sure where to go until the universe pointed me here: The Watertown Greenway.

Seriously, Watertown, you never cease to amaze me. First the Deluxe Town Diner, then Underground Studios, and now this? The internet didn't offer me too much information when I tried to get the greenway scoop, but from what I can tell, 1.) It's new, 2.) It connects to the Charles and Fresh Pond, and 3.) It's on the old MBTA tracks that used to belong to the A branch (yes, it's true! ever wonder why there isn't an A line when there's a B, C, D, and an E? There was until 1969 and it went all the way to Watertown yard!).

Since a portion of the greenway picks up a few blocks from my house, I decided to dust Roadmater off, pump her (tires) up, and take her out on the town–Watertown that is. I wish I could say that we had a glorious reunion ride together, but it wasn't quite as majestic as I had envisioned. While it was fun overall, the air that was rapidly escaping from my 10-year-old tires, and the 2% incline on the trail really made for a lot more physical exertion than I was bargaining for. After I trudged home on flat bike tires, and collapsed with exhaustion onto my couch, I decided that maybe Roadmaster had made her final journey. Although it'll be sad to see her go, I think it's time. Alas, every good thing comes to an end, just like summer I suppose...

Next Up: My summer bucket list conclusion and the introduction of my brand new lent for September. Stay tuned and enjoy these last few beautiful weeks of summer weather.

#19: Pick Berries and Make Jam

After last summer's foray into the art of jam making (I made batches of strawberry, peach, and blueberry, mmmm...), I vowed to make canning my own a summer tradition. Making your own jam is definitely one of those things that you think only kitchen connoisseurs can take on, but it's a whole lot easier and less time consuming than you think—really, anyone can do it.

I use this super simple recipe that I found on...you guessed it: Two Blue Lemons. It only uses 3 ingredients (fruit, sugar, lemon), and takes under an hour to make. Check it out here if you're interested in trying your own batch.

Although my bucket list specified that I had to pick the berries myself, I just wasn't able to fit a berry picking trip into my schedule this week, so I decided to settle for the next best thing: the farmers market. I picked up some lovely pints of strawberries and yellow raspberries, mixed them with some blueberries that I already had in my fridge, and voilà, my lovely batch of tri-berry jam was born (which didn't quite full up the entire ball jar, whoops!).

Next up: My bike journey on the Watertown Greenway (who knew that existed?!)

Irene, We Need to Talk...

Excuse me, Irene? I really don't have time for this. You see, I'm on a tight deadline here and I really need to go night swimming, take a roll of film, go to the Wellfleet Drive-In, run through a sprinkler, and make a sandcastle this weekend—none of which are fun in hurricane conditions. Sorry for the short notice, but I'm thinking that your visit just isn't going to work out after all.


Image from www.bbc.co.uk

Looks like I'll be working on sewing my sundress all weekend instead of doing all the fun things that I had planned, boooo. Maybe I'll at least be able to catch a little bit of Saint Anthony's Feast in the North End so I can wish for a sewing miracle...

#17: Pack a Picnic, #20: Play a Game of Badminton and #25: Fly a Kite

There's only about a week and a half left of my summer bucket list challenge and I'm definitely scrambling to get as many things crossed off as I can. I have a busy week of summer fun ahead of me indeed, but here's what I managed to accomplish in the last few days:

On Sunday, Dan and I met Marissa and her friend Kate at the beach where we took care of #17: Pack a Picnic, and dined on a tasty lunch of pesto tortellini salad, strawberries, granola bars, and cream soda, mmmmm...



After our picnic, it was time for my jazzy homemade kite to make it's debut—and boy did it! Quickly nicknamed "Zippy", this little devil not only flew, but maniacally darted through the air in nauseating patterns. Totally Awesome. I'll post instructions on how to make your very own Zippy below, it's well worth the effort...


Me and Zippy


Zippy was the first kite that Marissa had ever flown, yay Zippy!

I topped off the weekend's spree of summer activities tonight by playing a fierce game of badminton with Dan on the elementary school lawn across from our house. My new $9.99 set from Target didn't disappoint, and it'll certainly make a few more appearances before cold weather season arrives (although who said you can't play badminton in the house?).



Homemade Plastic Bag Kite
From Whole Living Magazine

1. Cut a bag in half on the side seam and then into an elongated diamond. Lay thin dowels in a T, tape to bag, and tape and trim ends.

2. Cut and tape 3 streaming tails (the length of the kite) to the underside.

3. Tape a small triangle (the bridle) to the other side; poke fishing line through its loose tip; knot to secure.

4. You're ready to fly!

UPDATE: #22: Try Something New From the Farmers Market and #25: Fly a Kite

#22: A follow-up on the cranberry beans, my "new" purchase from the farmers market last week. I looked around a little bit online and found this site, The Heart of New England, which has some great tips for preparing them. I chose to boil them and serve at room temperature with olive oil, lemon, fresh parsley, and black pepper. The verdict?

DELICIOUS! Um seriously, I was spoon-feeding myself beans like they were vodka soaked gummy bears (my new favorite alcohol saturated snack that I tried at Jocelyn's Jersey Shore party a few weeks ago). Really though, I'm not sure how long they're in season for, but definitely pick some up if you get the chance, I couldn't believe how delicious they were.

#25: I finally got around to making my kite tonight so I can get #25 crossed off the list this weekend. I have to say that I put in some serious effort and it definitely looks like a third grader made it (feel free to laugh out loud, I know I did haha).

Hopefully I'll be posting photos of it majestically soaring through the air in the next few days...

#27: Go to the Fair

When I was a little girl, my parents would tuck me in each night and ask me what I wanted to talk about before bed. No matter what time of year it was, the answer was always the same: the fair. Even in the depths of winter, my mom and dad were forced to recount every single detail of this childhood wonderland to me as I lay in bed, drifting off into a blissful, fair-filled slumber.

For my friends and I, the annual Barnstable County Fair was the event of the summer, if not the whole year. Cotton candy, fried dough, rides that made your stomach turn, tents full of awesome stuff (total junk) to buy, crafts galore (hello sand art and your name on a grain of rice), face painting, pony rides, barns full of baby animals...do I need to go on? It was pure heaven.

Although it'll never be as exciting to me as it was when I was 7, going to the county fair is definitely a summertime essential, so I made sure it had a spot on my bucket list. Since I couldn't make it down for the fair in my hometown (I think I had some sort of wedding related something that weekend, surprise surprise), I found a Groupon for the Bolton County Fair and decided to check it out. I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but it was a lot of fun and exactly how I remembered it (I think these things are essentially the same in every town in America).


Sorry Fanne, no pets allowed


Dan and Mister Baby Goat


Piglets! Awwwwwwww


The world champion "LumberJills" in the middle of a heated log rolling competition


The prize winning vegetables


Blue ribbon apple pie mmmm...


The fair's best corn


Some things never change


Best fair food ever: "Mister Kielbaski" haha


Both were delicious


Dan trying his luck


We got these great stickers from the local cheese vendor


And what trip to the fair is complete without going on a ride? Definitely almost hurled on the kid next to me but it was totally worth it

Thanks Bolton Fair!