MY LIFE LIST

Here is my life list--a compilation of everything I'd like to achieve or do during my lifetime. This list contains everything from simple to-do's that I hope to knock off in the next year or so, all the way up to my biggest Mondo Beyondo dreams that seemed to just pop into my head. This list is of course open to changes and edits as the years go by and tastes and attitudes transform.

TRAVEL
• Visit countries including: Greece, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Morocco, Turkey, India, Thailand, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Canada, Mexico, UK: England and Northern Ireland. [Already visited, as of 2010: Costa Rica, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, UK: Scotland]
• Visit all 50 states [Already visited, as of 2010: Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, New York, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Iowa, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, California, Oregon, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Minnesota]
• Travel somewhere for a time-span of greater than 2 weeks [Done 3/8/12, Ireland]
• Host an exchange student from another country
• Go on another art retreat
• Spend Christmas in another country
• Take a volunteer vacation
• Travel somewhere completely on my own
• Go see an Olympics game
• Take a spur-of-the-moment weekend travel trip by plane [Done 4/27/12]
• Eat at the restaurants of the following famous chefs:
1. Rick Bayless (Frontera Grill; Chicago) [Done 8/28/10]
2. Art Smith (Table 52; Chicago)
3. Bobby Flay (Mesa Grill; New York, Vegas)
4. Susan Feniger (Street; Los Angeles)
5. Alice Waters (Chez Panisse; San Fransisco)
6. Ken Oringer (Clio, Toro or Uni; Boston)
• Spend a week at Kripalu
• Road trip along the California coastline
• Stay at a Bed & Breakfast in New Zealand
• See the Aurora Borealis
• Visit a winery

SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE
 • Get another Master's degree
• Do yoga teacher training
• Become conversational at Spanish
• Take an in-depth/multiple-session cooking class
• Take a letterpress class
• Learn proper canning techniques for jam and pickles [Done: 12/20/10]
• Take a class about Buddhism
• Learn about gardening and keep a backyard vegetable garden
• Teach myself HTML/CSS
• Take a wine tasting class
• Learn to make my own tea blends

CAREER & CREATIVITY
• Set up an Etsy shop for paper goods [Done: 7/18/11]
• Design custom wedding invitations for couples
• Teach a workshop on art journaling at a teen/youth center
• Write a book
• Mentor someone
• Sell a piece of my artwork or photography
• Start or join a creative/expressive arts group
• Have my work published in a magazine [in progress as of 3/2012]
• Display my artwork in a cafe
• Write my Personal Mission Statement [Done: 12/2011]
• Write a Personal Manifesto
• Build my own website
• Teach a college class
• Organize a creative retreat
• Create a line of artwork or crafts that blends typography and hand-painting/hand-crafts
• Design my own cookbook and have it printed through Blurb
• Fill an art journal within a year
• Make a quilt
• Complete "The Artist's Way"
• Take a storytelling class with Jen Lee
• Take an illustration class at an art school
• Take a letterpress class
• Take workshop led by Sabrina Ward Harrison
• Attend a TED talk/conference
• Attend a PechaKucha event
• Attend ALT Design Summit, Creative Connection Conference, and/or Blissdom
• Film and edit my own video

FINANCES
• Move to Portland, Oregon or Seattle, Washington
• Buy a house
• Pay off student loan debt before 30 [July 2010]
• Buy a mint or gray Prius
• Sponsor one entrepreneur in a developing country through Kiva each year [Done: 2011, 2012]
• Contribute to at least one Kickstarter project each year [Done: 2011, 2012]
• Become a regular donor to at least two different charities
• Develop multiple income streams
• Meet with a financial planner
• Help pay for a child's college education

RELATIONSHIPS
• Write written "love letters" to all of my friends
• Become a mom
• Go on a trip for our 5th, 10th, etc. anniversaries
• Read "7 Principles for Making Marriage Work" and "5 Love Languages"; have open discussions
• Make 5 new friends in Chicago [in progress...]
• Meet 5 blog/Twitter friends in person [2/5; Stephanie - 8/2009, Katie - 7/2010]
• Start a weekly "check-in" discussion with my husband
• Successfully learn to strike up a conversation with a stranger
• Have 10 meals with people I admire
• Write appreciation letters to some of my high school and college teachers
• Find "my tribe"

PHYSICAL & ADVENTURE
• Eat a vegan diet for 30 days
• Complete the Couch to 5K program
• Run a 5K race
• Run a 10K race
• Run a half marathon
• Go white water rafting again
• Go on a yoga retreat
• Get a massage at a real spa
• Go skinny dipping
• Do approximately 30 of the hikes in the "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Chicago" book [1/30 completed]
• Develop an at-home yoga/Barre3 routine
• Go kayaking
• Go ziplining
• Take a hot air balloon

EXPERIENCES
• Go out for coffee or dessert and leave a $20 tip for the waitress/waiter
• Give $5 or $10 to a kid-run lemonade stand
• Get a tattoo
• Get a 2nd tattoo
• Get a dog
• Bake cookies and deliver them to my neighbors
• Read 40 books over the course of one year
• Pay for someone's dinner anonymously
• Buy a vintage bicycle [April 2010]
• Throw a themed dinner party [Done 12/10/11]
• Make homemade French macarons
• See Mumford & Sons in concert [Done: 10/31/10]
• Attend a book club for a year
• Get a pixie haircut
• Be published in a magazine [Done: 2/2010 - The Knot Chicago]
• Attend a free concert at Millennium Park
• Visit all major Chicago museums before we leave the Midwest:
1. Museum of Science and Industry [Done: 2/2010]
2. Art Institute of Chicago
3. Museum of Contemporary Art
4. Shedd Aquarium
5. The Field Museum
6. Adler Planetarium
7. The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum [Done: 5/28/11]
8. Chicago Botanical Gardens
• Rent a Vespa
• Make homemade pasta
• Go to a Universal Unitarian service