101 in 1001

I spent some time over the week pulling together a 101 in 1001 list and decided to share it here for the sake of accountability. These goals are presented in no particular order and I decided to lump them all together in one post (even though it’s a bit lengthy) so I can update as I tick things off the list. I found that my goals are a combination of personal, professional and blog-related and I look forward to the great things the next 1001 days will bring even if I accomplish only half of these tasks. After a long, quiet, lazy weekend, generating this list was just the ticket to getting me fired up and motivated for the new year.

The following guidelines are borrowed from Brooke’s 101 in 1001 list at Claremont Road:

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 (ie. 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.

Start Date: January 1, 2010
End Date: September 28, 2012

1. Reach my goal weight (a work in progress since 1/16/2006 – currently down 110 lbs)
2. Take a photography course
3. Transition to being completely vegetarian (my current pseudo-vegetarian status does not count)
4. Run a 5k (no walking allowed)
5. Learn how to knit
6. See Trans-Siberian Orchestra live
7. Visit NYC for pleasure (business trips, which I take regularly, do not count)
8. Take a floral design workshop
9. Travel to California for the first time
10. Buy a house
11. Adopt another doggie
12. Increase The Sweetest Occasion blog traffic by at least 10x
13. Write my first book
14. Get all of my belongings in one house (currently strewn between our rental and my parents’ homes)
15. Spend a week in a cabin in the Adirondacks
16. Start and complete Project 365
17. Meet the one and only Darcy Miller
18. Renovate a kitchen
19. Build a brick fire pit
20. Buy a pair of Christian Louboutin pumps
21. Take my husband to Lake Placid for a weekend
22. Pay off my last credit card (a hangover from my grad school days when Citibank occasionally had to buy the groceries)
23. Establish a regular yoga practice
24. Clean up my potty mouth
25. Take a weekend trip with my mom
26. Quit chewing my fingers
27. Ice skate at least once per winter
28. Go snowshoeing
29. Buy a pair of kayaks
30. Take another trip to Maine
31. Successfully cook lobster (must be not only edible, but also tasty)
32. Go Christmas caroling
33. See my brother and his family at least twice a year
34. Book 15+ weddings between the 2010 and 2011 seasons (not sure I could handle more with everything else going on…but it’d be fun to try!)
35. See a musical at my high school alma mater for the first time in years
36. Feel and look hot at my 10 year high school reunion
37. Fly to visit Cheyanne and Eric in Washington
38. Submit weight loss before/after photos to People’s Half Their Size issue
39. Get a blog mention in a major print publication
40. Write a business plan
41. Block out a five year plan
42. Take an Adobe Illustrator class
43. Volunteer at the SPCA
44. Have a wedding album made
45. Establish an LLC
46. Watch Mike coach a game (sadly I’m always too busy to make this a priority)
47. Play golf with my dad
48. Babysit for little Madelyn
49. Plant flowers in memory of my grandmother
50. Host a Thanksgiving dinner
51. Go to a taping of Martha Stewart
52. Go the the NYS Fair
53. Successfully get Bella Figura and/or Smock featured in Martha Stewart Weddings
54. Establish a meaningful freelance career
55. Develop better flossing habits
56. Write all of my best friends a random letter for no good reason and mail it
57. Eat vegan for a month
58. Watch a Syracuse basketball game at the dome
59. Foster a greyhound
60. Learn how to make a margarita as good as my  mom’s
61. Print our wedding photos; hang them in our house
62. Get anniversary photos taken with Mike
63. Blog about my true feelings regarding children and marriage
64. Work another wedding with Megan Dailor (because it’s always the shit)
65. Spend time in the print shop learning how to print on a windmill
66. Blog for Elizabeth Anne Designs Living weekly for a year
67. Build a snowman
68. Eat at a Bobby Flay restaurant
69. Install a toilet (nothing sounds quite as independent as installing a toilet, don’t you agree?)
70. Buy and keep a Five Year Diary
71. Get a buyer to pick up Smock for a major national chain (I have a specific one in mind…)
72. Donate blood (my first and only experience was years ago and it sucked so I’ve been avoiding it ever since)
73. Start an IRA
74. Hike Whiteface Mountain
75. Go to the ballet
76. Host a board game party
77. Buy crayons and a coloring book; spend an afternoon doing nothing but coloring
78. Take a sewing class
79. Organize a family photo with entire family for my grandmother’s birthday
80. Take a cooking class with Mike
81. Have a yard sale
82. Start sending birthday cards to all close friends and all family
83. Get life insurance
84. Cancel all extraneous credit accounts that are inactive but show up on credit report
85. Go to a taping of Oprah
86. Buy a good lens (or two) for my DSLR
87. Art direct a photo shoot
88. Prepare a Barefoot Contessa recipe without feeling guilty for how bad it is for me
89. Stop using paper towels (undoubtedly my worst earth-unfriendly habit)
90. Cut out 100% of processed sugar and artificial sweeteners from my diet
91. Teach a workshop
92. Improve my credit; achieve a FICO score of 760+
93. Update my voter registration
94. Visit Christina in Kansas
95. Submit photos of renovated house to design*sponge
96. Complete “All About Us” with Mike
97. Make a meaningful charitable donation
98. Watch the sunrise over the ocean
99. Make The Sweetest Occasion a profitable blog
100. Get my husband to take me to see a musical
101. Put $5 in savings for every completed goal

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