liz does dayzero

As I mentioned in my last post, I really have not been focusing on my goals very well.  Over the summer, I sort of lost touch with what I was doing, and with vacations and work and trips and just relaxing, my 101 in 1001 Days project kind of fell by the wayside.

But now I’m back.  And I’ve made some changes to my list.  After thinking about it, there were a few things that I know would not be accomplished, and there were a few things that I wanted to try/do/make/experience that I wanted on my list.  And then there were the few things that fell into multiple categories on my list that could really be consolidated into one goal.  So, I have removed the following from the list:

20.  Read “Gone With The Wind.”
Since I also had a goal of reading all of the books on my bookshelf, why would “Gone With The Wind” need its own goal?  Sure, it’s a long book and everything, but it’s still a book from my bookshelf.

46.  Participate in the Infinite Summer Challenge.
OK, I gave it my best shot.  Well, not really my best shot, but a shot.  I just couldn’t get into Infinite Jest. I’m still planning on reading it (see note from above), but at that time, I wasn’t reading anything, and I just feel like I kind of bit off more than I could chew.  So my new plan is to get back in the habit of reading daily, get a few books under my belt, then hit up Infinite Jest at full force.  I’m thinking maybe in January?

69.  Open a Health Savings Account.
I’ve been working on creating (and sticking to) a budget, and right now, I am pretty happy with my health insurance situation.  As far as an HSA goes, I’m not sure that it is going to be the best option for me right now.  Once I get some savings built up, which is another goal, I may revisit this idea.  But right now, I’m going to stick with what works.

76.  Make a toast to Lilly and Matt at their wedding.
This didn’t happen.  I went to the wedding, went to the reception, attended the dinner the night before the wedding, but there really was not an opportunity to toast to the bride and groom.

87. Scavenger hunt with friends. This sounded like a fun idea, but the more I thought about, the less I want to do it. I would like to do a scavenger hunt, but planning it first really doesn’t make it sound fun anymore.

100. Make a quote book like in college.
While it would definitely be funny to read over in a few years, it just sounds like a lot of work.  And when I think about it, I was not good at doing the quote book anyway.  I just wrote down what Kristin would tell me to, and even then I didn’t do so great.

And here are the replacements:

• Go to the Rothbury Music Festival in Michigan.
• Make at least one piece of jewelry each month.
• Go kayaking on Folly or James Island.
• Get both of my bikes in working order.
• Host a dinner party with recipes from Julia Child’s cookbook.
• Take an Oyster Shot at Pearlz.

Now that I have made these changes, I am getting excited about my project.  It’s going to be a fun ride!

…and I am totally sucking at my list.  Sure, there are plenty of things that I am doing regularly (leaving the office at lunch at least once a week—#49, for example), but nothing is getting documented, and lots of things are not getting accomplished.  I really need to get focused.  That being said, I need to focus on one thing, starting immediately.

So, I have decided that my first “focus” will be on number 4—losing 50 pounds.  That is one of the things that will take the longest, so I might as well start now.  And with that, I’m thinking I should be able to knock out a few more things in meeting that goal—not eating out at restaurants, participating in Meat Free Mondays, eating a pescatarian diet for a month, etc.  We’ll see how it goes.

Also, I need to figure out a way to best update my progress.  I guess it’s just something to determine as I go along.  So, with that being said, it’s time to get moving.  I have a lot to do, and only 942 days to get it done!

everythinglovely:

justbesplendid:

happy

julie911:

1. Carry a small notebook or tape recorder for sudden inspirations. Record your thoughts into more formal written work at a later time.
2. Rest in an atmosphere of quiet or surround yourself with noise. Sit in a forest or stand on a busy street corner.
3. Listen to a variety of music, such as jazz or folk music.
4. See a movie and write a review based on the setting in time or an elicited emotion.
5. Read a variety of literature and write a report of comparison.
6. Write about a craft, such as pottery. Focus on its history or a particular aspect.
7. Search the internet for a topic. To be a writer, you must love to read.
8. Reference old material. Reread your first-grade story that describes how you lost a mitten.
9. Freewrite. Choose a subject and write continuously for a set period of time; while disregarding spelling, punctuation or grammar.
10. Expand a topic in several different directions; similar to adding different ingredients to a recipe.
11. Create several solutions to a problem. Write three pages that focus on two solutions.
12. Write convincing pros and cons about the same subject, such as a boyfriend.
13. Play a game to stimulate your mind with strategy.
14. Choose a word and quickly associate it with another. Example: yellow may lead to sunflower, then to summer, then to winter, then to snow, then to a day off from school, etc.
15. Write in a journal. Focus on events or emotions throughout the day.
16. Record an event or adventure in your life. Reflect upon your insights.
17. Record emotion. Write with descriptive detail of anger, compassion or grief.
18. Create a world of fantasy.
19. Write about a passion in your life such as gardening or your children.
20. Utilize writing as a means to escape.
21. Write about a cause that is of interest, such as global warming.
22. Record several aspects of a story on small pieces of paper. Mix them together. Choose a setting, characters and plot.
23. Create a rough draft and return to it in a few days to allow for other ideas to surface.
24. Sit and observe. Observe people without judgement, attempting to look into their past for character development.
25. Listen to conversations for an idea. Imagine what occurred prior to overhearing a conversation or what will occur thereafter.
26. Imagine a story about someone’s life based upon their appearance, attitude or the book they are reading.
27. Describe a person’s actions while riding a bicycle or preparing a meal.
28. Create a series of conversations between two characters. Conversation creates a story that is more realistic.
29. Write descriptive detail about a main character, focusing on their thoughts that have been influenced by past experience.
30. Write a description about an object, such as a family heirloom.
31. Remain open-minded. Give yourself a set period of time to devote to a subject before considering a new idea.
32. Walk in a park. Your mind may be more creative and free to associate in times of leisure or while occupied with other activities.

via wikihow

My new recipe for this week was inspired by the corn that I bought at the Daniel Island Farmers’ Market on Thursday, as well as by a meal that I had on my trip to L.A. this past March.  The dish, from Martha’s 22nd Street Grill in Hermosa Beach, is called the “White Corn Scramble,” and it contains fresh white corn, eggs, havarti cheese, and herbs, all scrambled up and served with a side.  It was AMAZING!  Well, after having tasted the corn and buying more than I would be able to eat off the cob, I figured that I would try my own take on the recipe.  It was wonderful!

Ingredients:
1 t. butter
1 ear of white corn
2 eggs
Splash of milk or water (whatever you put in scrambled eggs)
1 wedge Laughing Cow swiss cheese
Sprinkle of dried parsley
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Cut the kernels off the ear of corn with a sharp knife
2. Over medium heat, melt the butter and put the corn in to saute for a few minutes.  Let the kernels start to brown around the edges.
3. In a bowl, scramble the eggs, milk and salt and pepper, then add to the pan.
4. Break up the cheese and add it to the pan.  Sprinkle in the parsley.
5. Scramble all together, then enjoy!

I served my white corn scramble with a thick slice of whole-wheat toast with butter and a drizzle of honey.

#10:  Read all of the books on my bookshelf.

I have a problem with buying/borrowing/finding books that I totally intend to read and never get around to doing so.  Instead of reading what I have, I’ll go to the library or the bookstore, borrow something else, or go to Amazon.com to find another one.  I decided that I want to read all of the books on my shelf within the next 1001 days.  When I am done with them, I will be able to pass them along to other people who might enjoy them, rather than moving them with me, like I have done for the past few years.  Here’s my list to read:

The Sleep-Over Artist—Thomas Beller
The Catcher in the Rye—J.D. Salinger (I’ve read this several times, but I want to read it again.)
Sea Glass—Anna Shreve
A Redbird Christmas—Fannie Flagg
In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz:  Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu’s Congo—Michela Wrong
East of Eden—John Steinbeck
Intruder in the Dust—William Faulkner
The Beach—Alex Garland
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter—Carson McCullers
The Firm—John Grisham
To-Do List—Sasha Cagen
Where is the Mango Princess—Cathy Crimmins
Freakonomics:  A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side of Everything—Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
The Cider House Rules—John Irving
Loves Music, Loves to Dance—Mary Higgins Clark
The DaVinci Code—Dan Brown
Great Expectations—Charles Dickens (I was supposed to read this in high school, but opted for Cliff’s Notes instead)
The Big Beautiful—Pamela Duncan
The Poisonwood Bible—Barbara Kingsolver
One Hundred Years of Solitude—Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Survivor’s Club—Lisa Gardner
Equivocal Death—Amy Gutman
A Good Man—Judith Henry Wall
Their Eyes Were Watching God—Zora Neale Hurston
A Bend in the Road—Nicholas Sparks
Fake Liar Cheat—Tod Goldberg
Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All—Allan Gurganus
Blue Christmas—Mary Kay Andrews
The Runaway Jury—John Grisham
A Million Little Pieces—James Frey
Contemporary American Prose—edited by Clarence W. Wachner, Frank E. Ross & Eva Marie Van Houten
Eclipse—Stephenie Meyer
Breaking Dawn—Stephenie Meyer
Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea—Chelsea Handler
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas—James Patterson
Wicked—Gregory Maguire
The Time Traveler’s Wife—Audrey Niffenegger
Jane Austen in Scarsdale, Or Love, Death, and the SATs—Paula Marantz Cohen
Stolen Lives—Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi
Mirror, Mirror—Gregory Maguire
Evening—Susan Minot
Even Now—Karen Kingsbury
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister—Gregory Maguire
The Stepford Wives—Ira Levin
Into The Wild—Jon Krakauer
Autobiography of a Wardrobe—Elizabeth Kendall
The Dress Lodger—Sheri Holman
Tropic of Cancer—Henry Miller
The Awakening and other Selected Stories—Kate Chopin
Heart Song—LaVyrle Spencer
For Whom The Bell Tolls—Ernest Hemingway
The Alchemist—Paulo Coelho
Hide—Lisa Gardner
The Strange Death of Vincent Foster—Christopher Ruddy
Gods of Death—Yaron Dvdway and Thomas Hughes
Style—Kate Spade
Candide—Voltaire
A Confederacy of Dunces—John Kennedy O’Toole
Fiction:  A Pocket Anthology
Apartment Therapy:  The Eight-Step Home Cure—Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan
Happier:  Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment—Tal Ben-Shahar
The First 30 Days:  Your Guide to Any Change—Ariane de Bonvoisin
Then We Came to the End—Joshua Ferris
Something Borrowed—Emily Griffin

And of course, Infinite Jest and Gone With The Wind…

I better get to reading.

I haven’t really been focusing on my list as much as I had hoped that I would, which is evident by the lack of posting on this blog.  However, although I haven’t been actively thinking, “I need to do this because it’s on my list,” I have still done some things to work towards my goals.  Just the other day, I was getting a little scared that I was going to fail at my 101 things, but then I realized that even if I don’t accomplish every single thing on it, I will have learned from the failure just as much as the success.  So, that being said, I promise to update more frequently with the things that I am doing to reach my goals.  I better get with it…I only have 987 days left!

I am now on day 5 of my 1001 days (only 996 left to go!), and I have started to make some progress towards marking some things off the list. Here’s where I am:

# 46: Take the Infinite Summer Challenge:
I read the introduction a couple of days ago, but actually started reading last night. Finished the first chapter or so…up to page 17. So far, I am intrigued. The only thing I am not loving is that I do a lot of my reading on the beach, and I just don’t want to lug that big book out there and get it all sandy and covered in sunscreen. Not sure how to approach this little dilemma.

# 73: Try one new recipe a week for a year:
This one has actually been pretty easy, as I have made a couple of new things this week that I hadn’t made before. On Sunday, I made a spaghetti-squash scramble for breakfast, which was delicious. I also made sauteed onions with an agrodolce sauce, that was also very good.

#82: Write in a journal at least once a week:
Here is another one of those on-going tasks. I have actually been writing in my journal pretty regularly, just to keep track of what’s been going on, but life has been pretty bland lately, so not much to write about. Just like I haven’t had too much to blog about either. Maybe things will start to pick up. Not that I am regretting that I will be writing in a journal, but I am kind of regretting putting this on my list, only because I won’t be able to mark it off until 2012, at the end of my challenge. But it will be rewarding to have captured those approximately 2.75 years on paper.

From www.epicurious.com
This classic Italian sauce, with its combination of balsamic vinegar and a touch of sugar, lends deep sweetness and a hit of acidity to the meaty sautéed fish.

So I didn’t make the salmon, but I did use this recipe to make the onions in the agrodolce sauce. I ate it with roasted chicken and spaghetti squash, and it was pretty good. Really intense vinegar flavor (which anyone who knows me knows how much I love vinegar), but also kind of sweet.

One of my tasks for the next 1001 days is to try a new recipe at least once a week. On Saturday night, I made spaghetti squash for the first time, and I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it. However, because Saturday was technically before my project began, I created the following recipe for breakfast on Sunday, using leftovers from Saturday’s dinner.

Ingredients:
1 t butter
1 clove of garlic, minced
Leftover spaghetti squash (I used about 3/4 to 1 cup of squash)
1 egg
6 T. egg whites from the carton (can use another egg instead, but the whites make it lighter)
Freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Over medium heat, melt butter in a frying pan.
2. Add minced garlic and spaghetti squash, and cook for about 5 minutes (until it is heated through).
3. Stir in the egg and egg whites, and proceed to scramble.
4. Add the cheese, salt and pepper while the eggs cook.
5. Enjoy!