5th try for my 5th decade

It was unending, and thus is starting again. You guys, I'm turning 40 in a week and I feel shitty about my life. I'm generally unfulfilled, have fallen away from any hobby I ever enjoyed, and feel like I have zero friends and motivating factors in my life. So. What's the best way to change that? Another attempt at doing a 101 goals in 1001 days? OK! 

There are some longtime favorites that despite never achieving, I still put on the list. I *think* they are still things that will bring me joy or something.  There are some newish things. We'll see how it all goes, but hopefully, I am slightly more committed to this one than the last one. So here goes:

Begin Date: July 1st, 2022

End Date: March 28, 2025

I honestly can't even imagine being alive in the year 2025; it's so much in the future, but I guess it's nice to have something to look forward to. Some of these things are discrete accomplishments, but others are hobbies I hope to develop over the coming months, which I will be giving myself space and grace to accomplish.

Travel
1) travel to Europe
2) visit 3 new MLB ball parks (0/3)
3) visit Buzz
4) visit Jess✅ (May 23)
5) visit New Orleans
6) visit NYC

Local travel
7) go on a whale watch
8) visit 3 NE towns a year (0/9)
9) visit Brimfield flea/antique market
10) visit Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket
11) visit the beach yearly (1/3) (Aug 2024)

Health
12) be down to a size 6
13) biannual dentist visits (5/6) (Sep 22, Mar 23, Oct 23, Apr 24, Oct 24)
14) complete happiness workbook
15) find a therapist✅(started Oct 23, we'll see how it goes) 

16) get a mammogram✅
17) get a vision exam✅
18) get acupuncture monthly (Started 8/23)(18/33 missed Mar 24, Jun 24)
19) go 1 week each month without drinking for 6 months (4/24) (1/6)
20) go on an ashram retreat
21) replace IUD✅
22) try EMDR✅
23) yearly physical (1/3) (Apr 24)

Physical Activity
24) walk to work weekly in season (2/64)
25) 30 days of 10k+ steps
26) buy a bike ✅ (bought a bike 12/23, assembled 2/24)

27) complete a 30 day fitness challenge each year (0/3)
28) join and go to the gym each year (0/3) (joined for 22-23, 23-24, 24-25)

29) take a dance class
30) take a kickboxing class
31) take a yoga class
32) try rock climbing

Beauty/Fashion
33) biannual haircuts (4/6) (Jul 22, Jan 23, Dec 23, July 24)
34) biannual massages✅ (6/6) (Mar 23, Nov 23, Jan 24, Mar 24, Sep 24, Mar 25)

35) buy new underwear✅
36) complete 100 days of eyeshadow challenge
37) create a capsule work wardrobe
38) fix/sanitize palettes
39) monthly baths (0/33)
40) pan an eyeshadow palette
41) quarterly facials✅ (11/11) (Sep 22, Dec 22, Mar 23, May 23, Aug 23, Oct 23, Feb 24, Apr 24, July 24, Nov 24, Mar 25)

42) shower every other day
43) pan 12 FS beauty products/year + 10 samples/month (31/33) + (47/330)

Social
44) Bruins game each season (0/3)
45) Celtics game each season (0/3)
46) go fruit picking yearly (0/3
47) host the Derby party yearly (0/2)
48) join a club/group
49) Postcross quarterly (1/11) (8/22)
50) Sox game each season (2/3) (2023, 2024)
51) try a new fancy wine monthly (8/33) (2017 Jean-Marc Pillot Rully Premier Cru Les Raclots, Il Mostro Longana Rosato Frizzante, Piper Heidsieck Champagne Cuvee Brut, Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose, Legras and Haas Intuition Champagne, Champagne De Sousa Blanc de Blancs, Pol Roger Reserve Brut, Bollinger Special Cuvee Brut)
52)    try a new restaurant monthly (30/33) (Faccia Brutta 7/22, Mex 7/22, Sulmona 7/22, Colette 8/22, Gepetto 8/22, Giulia 9/22, Coquette 9/22, Daddy Jones 10/22, Vera's 11/22, Nash Bar 12/22, [Riverhouse (Palmetto FL), Sea Salt (St Pete) 3/23] Stoked 3/23, Southern Craft (Johnson City TN) 5/23, Condesa 7/23, Sloane's 8/23, Batifol 9/23, Urban Hearth 10/23, Westland 10/23, Bar Mezzana 11/23, Article 24 12/23, Season to Taste 2/24, Bayside Grill (Ft Myers FL) 3/24,  SeaHag 5/24, Gustazo 5/24, Comfort Kitchen 6/24, ClamBox 8/24, Ruka 9/24, Pappa Razzi 9/24, Amar 9/24, Junebug 10/24, Cook 11/24, Wig Shop Mar 3/25)    

Cultural
53) find three new musicians you like (0/3)
54) go to every ART offering for a season✅ (3/3) (2023 Twilight, Life of Pi, The Wife of Willesden, Evita) (2024 Half God of Rainfall, Real Women Have Curves, Becoming a Man, Gatsby) (2025 Romeo+Juliet, Diary of a Tap Dancer, The Odyssey, Night Side Songs, TBD)

55) go to the aquarium
56) go to the ICA
57) go to the MFA
58) see a show on Broadway
59) see the ballet yearly (1/3)
60) Shakespeare in the park yearly (1/3) (8/22, missed 2023, 2024)

Educational
61) do a crossword each Sunday (0/143)
62) get a certificate in project management
63) get physical Somerville✅ (7/22) and Boston library cards✅(4/24)

64) read 33 books (3/33) (Where the Crawdads Sing, Atomic City Girls, Circe)
65) take a French class
66) take a Spanish class

Spiritual/Self-care
67) 100 days of gratitude on IG
68) buy self flowers semi-monthly (12/17) (10/22, 4/23, 7/23, 12/23, 2/24, 4/24, 5/24, 8/24, 9/24, 12/24, 1/25, 2/25)
69) cook dinners semi-weekly 
70) create a self-care schedule/routine
71) fill a journal
72) find 10 new go-to dishes (0/10)
73) get 7.5 hours of sleep/night for a month
74) get my fortune read yearly (0/3)
75) go to bed by midnight Sun-Thurs
76) one day each month w/o social media (1/33) (7/28/22)
77) pan 10 candles (0/10)
78) practice Wicca

Financial/Organization

79) buy a car or scooter
80) cats to the vet yearly✅(3/3) (N 9/22, C 4/23, N&C 10/23, N&C 10/24)

81) contribute 5% of salary to Roth IRA or bump 401k to 10%✅(bumped to max 2023, 2024, 2025, opened Roth IRA 2024)

82) create a monthly budget (and stick to it) (doing poorly as of 12/24)
83) donate/recycle/throw out old shoes/clothes yearly (0/3)
84) file taxes each year✅(3/3) (Fed/MA 23, Fed/MA 24)

85) get rental insurance
86) hang all pictures
87) organize 2nd floor room
88) pay off school loans✅
89) renew passport
90) save $10,000✅(10000/10000)

91) shred papers yearly (0/3)
92) update and keep track of accounts/pwds

Hobby/Fun Shit
93) buy an original piece of art✅
94) buy one piece of unique jewelry yearly (1/3) (earrings 11/24)
95) collect all 8 Four Roses blends (2/8) (OBSF, OESK)
96) color monthly (0/33)
97) do one puzzle monthly (0/33)
98) finish 6 liquor bottles yearly (9/18) (Bombay Sapphire, Redemption Rye, Bitter Truth Violet Liqueur, Luxardo Maraschino, Green Chartreuse, Campari, Noah's Mill, Sauza, Four Roses)
99) have an urban food garden
100) make a fun new dessert each year (0/3)
101) volunteer (with BBBS/the Children's Room)

viale outing

i'm excited because i finally made it to a new restaurant. i checked out viale with the swede and the boat engineer. we pretty much tried everything on the cocktail list (minus a hot toddy) and then had some small bites. i tried a mezcal/beer cocktail that wasn't too smokey buho mezcal); also tried a scotch cocktail that was good (pig's nose scotch). i tried a cocktail with denizen rum that was delicious. it was their white rum, which is much less funky than their aged rum. the boat engineer had an amazing cocktail with oloroso, green chartreuse, and lime. and my favorite of the evening was the 1919; rittenhouse rye, old monk rum, punt e mes, and benedictine. we just got some small bites: a cheese plate, fried polenta, roasted beets, some pasta. it was a good night.

the boat engineer and i continued the night and stopped by curley's. we did a lot of experimenting. i had a drink with batavia arrack that didn't suck, which is kind of amazing to me. anyway, hopefully i can continue checking out at least one new place a month on thursdays. we shall see!

bars/restaurants i need to check out!

-alden and harlow
-bastille kitchen
-belly wine bar
-besito mexican (MAYBE)
-brass union
-cafe art science
-canary square
-clio
-fairstead kitchen
-giulia
-kirkland tap and trotter (6/17/15)
-la brasa
-loco taqueria and oyster bar
-loyal nine (7/1/15)
-myers and chang
-ostra
-puritan and company (7/1/15)
-ribelle
-sarma

-select oyster bar
-spoke wine bar

-sycamore
-tres gatos
-viale (2/19/15)
-westbridge

and if/when they open
-brewer's fork (3/1/15)
-townsman

places that weren't on my list:
-sams (8/5/15)
-hojoko (8/19/15)

update #2

surprise, surprise, i have not been keeping up as i should. i don't even know what i have been doing for the last 3 (ahem, 4) months.

i know i have been sad a lot and completely unmotivated to do anything. which sucks. but i should focus on what i have been able to accomplish.

i voted. woot. sadly, i don't think many of my candidates ended up winning.

without even really focusing on it, i have been able to do karaoke monthly. twice at highland and once (maybe twice) at abigails.

i kind of fell into a monthly wine tasting with one of my regulars. i've made it to 2 out of the 4 so far. the first being bubbly and the second being cabernet sauvignons from around the world. the next one up is syrahs, so i will keep that on my radar.

i was able to make it home to colorado and arizona for christmas, thanks to the boat engineer's mom buying our plane tickets. it was stressful seeing family and things were kind of crazy, but i guess that's to be expected. on a more positive note, i refrained from drinking starbucks while i was away, so yay! also went ice skating with my nephew (despite it being a disaster). checked out a pretty awesome restaurant with my aunt and unlce, called argyle. it has an amazing whiskey list and the food was delicious. i got a pedicure and manicure with my aunt while in colorado, but it's definitely time for another.

boat engineer took my car in to get fixed and the oil changed, etc. but now it's been a few weeks since i have driven it, so i'm sure that's not good for it. and now we have like a million feet of snow, so i doubt i'll be driving it in the near future. ugh.

the diner holiday party happened, but before that my yang and i went to barcelona wine bar, their new spot in the south end. had some delicious cheese and wine.

the work log definitely faltered at the end of the year, but i've been pretty good about keeping up with it in the new year.

i reapplied for healthcare. woo hoo. that kind of feels like the biggest win of all so far.....

things to concentrate on:
-tickets to florida
-tickets/hotels for kickball wedding
-START DOING YOGA!
-do some stretching, do some dancing
-update my passport
-check out alden and harlow or viale
-postcross in february
-apply for dental insurance
-join the y
-schedule a facial and massage (this should not be a chore....)


things on the horizon:
-ne trip for the late winter/early spring
-check out csas for the spring
-taxes (blech)

update #1

so i've done a few things, maintenance as i like to call it for the things that need to be done on  fairly regular basis.

-i danced, somewhat drunkenly with a friend after we got home from work. she was feeling bummed; i have been feeling down lately, so what's the best way to get that out of your system? dance like a fool. but i'm definitely out of shape and couldn't dance for that long. hopefully things will improve if i do it semi-often.

-i stretched before going to bed. once. maybe that will become a nightly thing.....

-i hit up karaoke at the courtside with my old karaoke buddy who is moving away. it was kind of bittersweet because we've grown apart a bit, but it's nice when you can just fall back in to fun. i sang culture club's karma chameleon, pretty poorly, but whatever.

-got a couple of goals with one outing. my sister's wedding was 2 weekends ago (the start of this quest) and it was in gloucester. we went up early to catch lunch downtown, which is where we discovered cape ann's brewpub (new bar for the month). the food was decent for pub grub and we were able to try a sampler of all the beers they had on tap. walked a bit along the waterfront and then checked out hammond castle because that's where the wedding was. it would have been nice to do a beach walk, but it was kind of cold out so we didn't (that and we were kind of pressed for time).

-i also realized it's been a while since i've been to a starbucks, and that i have 4 good local cafes that i regularly pass in my travels, so i should clearly be able to avoid coffee from a chain. until the boat engineer and i were talking and he brought up the fact that sometimes a starbucks is the only place still open when we are traveling. so i decided that i'm adding a caveat to my no starbucks for a year thing, and that is it doesn't count if i'm traveling because sometimes there is no local, non chain option. and starbucks isn't the worst chain coffee place out there, so c'est la vie. but i'm really going to try not to go to one at all....

-donated to the breast cancer research foundation. so that's one down, two to go.

things i need to do before the week is over:

-dance some more
-laundry (the duvet and one load of clothes for sure)
-read like crazy, or at least regularly.
-buy christmas tickets home
-update work log

things to be on the radar:

-oil change
-yoga
-date night
-acupuncture
-wine tasting
-pedicure
-paper journal

postcrossing tracking

sent off my first of hopefully 33 postcards. ideally, i'd like to do one a month, but as long as i get 33 total by the end of the 1001 days, i'll be happy. so here's the (growing) list:

us-3027611 (10/9/14) received (10/15)
us-3067628 (11/3/14) received (11/21)
us-3196018 (1/23/15) received (2/13)
us-3196020 (1/23/15) received (1/28)
us-3217311 (2/4/15) received (2/17)
us-3260309 (3/2/15) received (3/17)
us-3325060 (4/8/15) received (4/25/15)
us-3428317 (6/9/15) received (6/21/15)
us-3428326 (6/9/15) received (6/20/15)
us-3486927 (7/14/15) received (8/1/15)
us-3529308 (8/6/15) received (9/3/15)
us-3602312 (9/16/15) received 

4th attempt, new blog!

local travel
 1  visit martha's vineyard or nantucket 0/1
 2  have a beach day once a month june, july, august 0/7
 3  go to a water park every summer 0/3
 4  day trips in NE quarterly 1/7 (gloucester 10/14)

serious travel
 5  go to the kentucky derby 0/1
 6  spring training yearly 1/3 (15, 16, 17)
 7  travel abroad 0/1
 8  visit VT(Nov) 1/3, ME (Jul) 1/2, CO(Dec) 1/3, AZ(Dec) 1/3, FL(Mar) 1/3, yearly; MD once 0/1
 9  attend a cocktail festival 1/1 Thirst Boston 2014

 10  visit autumn 0/1
 11  visit becca 0/1
 12  romantic getaway with boat engineer 0/1

things to do (in boston)
 13  st patricks day in southie 0/1
 14  cyclorama for world aids day 0/1
 15  see one movie nominated for best picture each year 0/3
 16  see shakespeare in the park yearly 1/2

things to buy
 17  buy every season of supernatural 0/9
 18  buy one unique piece of jewelry a year 1/3
 19  buy one investment piece a year 0/3

sporty/exercise
 20  learn to sail 0/1
 21  do yoga twice a month 0/66
 22  go snowboarding each winter 0/3
 23  run a 5k each year 0/3
 24  ride bike to work weekly may through september
 25  (belly) dance weekly 4/143
 26  take weekly flamenco classes for a season (3 months) 0/36
 27  be able to do the splits with either leg in front
 28  go ice skating each winter (dec/14) 1/3

organization/to do
 29  update the 101 list monthly 8/33
 30  write in paper journal monthly 0/33
 31  marzibox cleaned 2x week 52/286
 32  do laundry every other week 16/72
 33  perform regular maintenance on car
 34  maintain paperwork in an organized manner
 35  throw away/donate clothing/shoes yearly 0/3
 36  develop old film rolls
 37  create a contact list
 38  digitize cds/get music from computers
 39  update my ez pass
 40  subscribe to the magazines i want and refrain from buying them in the store
 41  update passport

fun:crafty
 42  redo an old piece of furniture
 43  go through wardrobe and create/photograph outfits
 44  frame all prints and hang them
 45  start and maintain an herb garden

fun:social
 46  host a tea party
 47  check out a  new bar/restaurant each month 13/33 (cape ann brew pub 10/14, argyle (denver) 12/14, barcelona 1/15, viale 2/15. brewers fork 3/15, ward 8 3/15, kirkland tap and trotter 6/15, loyal nine 7/15, puritan and co 7/15, sams 8/15, hojoko 8/15, baseball tavern 8/15, brick and mortar 8/15)
 48  go on a real date each month 9/33
 49  be a regular at one bar I love
 50  go to karaoke once a month 11/33 (10/10, 11/12, 12/3, 1/23/15, 1/30, 2/13, 3/6, 4/21, 5/14, 6/17, 8/10)
 51  have a really awesome nye?
 52  have afternoon tea at a fancy hotel or tea house
 53  get a real christmas tree and have a decorating party
 54  have a pumpkin beer tasting

 55  participate in postcrossing monthly 6/33 (10/14, 11/3, 1/23(2), 2/4, 3/1, 4/8, 6/9(2), 8/6, 9/16)

communication
 56  send birthday cards each month 0/30
 57  send christmas cards yearly 0/3 missed the first year :(
 58  visit james/andrea/matt 3x a year 0/9

health:well-being
 59  get wisdom teeth removed/dental work done
 60  lights out by 3am
 61  get acupuncture monthly 0/33
 62  eat at home at least 3 nights a week
 63  take marzipan to the vet yearly 1/3 (3/31/15)
 64  go to the doctor yearly 0/3
 65  go to the dentist yearly 0/3
 66  have and maintain health insurance 1/3 (i applied for 2015)
 67  return to therapy
 68  maintain weight below 130lbs
 69  become a member at the ymca
 70  be living in an apt that is comfortable and i love

pampering
 71  get a facial quarterly 0/11
 72  take a bath quarterly 0/11
 73  buy flowers seasonally 1/11 (2/28)
 74  get a bra fitting and get new bras
 75  get a manicure quarterly 3/11
 76  get a pedicure once a month 4/33
 77  get a massage quarterly 0/11
 78  go on an ashram retreat

education/betterment
 79  become fluent in french
 80  read a book monthly 12/33 (dare me, the girl you left behind, the interestings, my horizontal life, midnight in europe, the vacationers, the shadow of the wind, 2 am at the cat's pajamas, the paris winter, cupcakes and cashmere, throw out fifty things, adultery )
 81  go to a monthly wine tasting 4/33 (11/13, 12/11, 2/5, 7/1)
 82  join a csa
 83  go starbucks-less for a year (caveat, while not traveling) (started 10/5/14, still going as of 9/16/15)
 84  take a cheese class

financial/job stuffs
 85  have one school loan paid off
 86  take care of outstanding debts
 87  be back on track with loans payments
 88  have $10,000 in 401k
 89  have six months living expenses in cash
 90  have a job i really love
 91  maintain cc's in a way that they can be paid off within 6 months
 92  create a budget and stick to it
 93  maintain precise records on work hours and wages
 94  update resume yearly 1/3

good vibes/volunteering
 95  donate yearly to breast cancer research/prevention in october 1/3
 96  volunteer yearly 0/3
 97  donate my hair
 98  buy a coffee or pay a toll for stranger once a year 0/3
 99  vote yearly 1/3
100  consecutive seasons of mlu volunteering 0/2
101  attend a charity ball each year 0/3


beginning date: oct 5, 2014
ending date: july 2, 2017