Important Occassions

The last month has been busy. December always is. My birthday, Christmas, New Years. This Sunday marks my three year anniversary with Joel, and I have a job interview that I'm very unprepared for scheduled on the same day.

It's been hard to find time to sit down, but I've been jotting down ideas and goals in a notebook that I keep in my purse. A few weeks ago, I challenged myself to think of twenty-four things that I want to do before I turn twenty-five. My sister, who also just had a birthday, wrote down fifteen things she's going to do before she turns sixteen. I was a bit jealous of her young age at first, thinking there was no way I'd come up with twenty-four things to do. Turns out...WAY easier than I expected.

My list:

1. start a vegetable garden
2. make a cookzine
3. sell something that i make
4. learn a new card game
5. take spanish lessons
6. ride my bike a long distance
7. make my own soy jerky
8. help someone else accomplish a life goal
9. take a photo every day for a year
10. send more letters and packages
11. knit socks
12. get good at remembering birthdays
13. write a song with my sister
14. paint on a canvas
15. make a fancy cake
16. become a bee keeper
17. sew a dress
18. make a short film
19. make another zine
20. follow a complicated tutorial from ReadyMade
21. have a cookie party
22. make an elaborate costume for procession of the species
23. sew my own underwear
24. barter

I like this list. Individual projects feel realistic and attainable, as opposed to the somewhat ambiguous "loose weight/get organized/be happy" resolutions I've gone with in the past.

Smile for awhile

This summer I have been fortunate enough to see The Olympia Free Choir perform two times. The first time was at What the Heck Fest, and the second time was at The Stretch Pants Summer Party that Kimya Dawson hosted in her backyard earlier this month. The Olympia Free Choir meets on Tuesdays in a gazebo in Olympia. Everyone's welcome and they sing the cutest songs. Here's a video of them practicing one of my new favorite songs:



This song has been the backbone of my summer. It's encouraged me to step out of my skin and reminded me the importance of checking in with myself. It's really been a mantra of sorts. 10 Things was written by Paul Baribeau and I strongly recommend listening to his version in the morning. Especially if you've got a sun-drenched kitchen and a cup of tea.

When you ask someone to make a list of ten things they want to do before you die, you're getting personal. After The Stretch Pants Summer Party, I went to QB with my mom, sister, boyfriend, and one of my close friends. We ate sweet potato fries with cilantro lime aioli and each wrote down our ten things before sharing them with the table. It's definitely my new favorite thing to do with a group of people. You see the nicest part of a person when they talk sincerely about what they want to do with their lives. I learned a lot about all of them and I think we all realized that the things we want to do the most are totally reasonable and attainable. And that's a really good feeling.

My list:
1. write a book of my very own recipes
2. learn how to play an instrument
3. become fluent in spanish
3. go on a cross-county biking trip
4. learn how to decorate a cake
5. sell something that i've made
6. grow the biggest garden on the block
7. brew my own wine
8. make my own marshmallows
9. take a picture every day for a year
10. perfect the art of cutting hair

You should try it too.