101 in 1001

I actually heard about this trend from my sister.  It sounded really cool, and after looking into it on other blogs, I've come to the conclusion that it IS really cool.  I turned 26 yesterday, and this seemed like the perfect time for me to start my 101 in 1001.  I love the idea because it gives you enough time to accomplish your goals without the end-date feeling so far away.
I created this blog posting in its own page so I can easily mark through my items as I complete them and you can easily access my list for inspiration.
Here it is:

Challenge - write a list of 101 goals to accomplish in 1001 days (approx. 2.75 years).

Start date - November 15, 2013

End date - August 12, 2016

101 Things in 1001 Days

For Maddie:

1. plan a mommy-daughter day with Maddie
2. designate a guardian for Maddie
3. regularly contribute to a school savings account for Maddie
4. organize Maddie’s toys/room
5. teach Maddie how to get cereal for herself
6. teach Maddie to read
7. go to the Cape Fear History Museum and Cameron Art Museum
8. start her in lessons (ballet/soccer/music), of her choice
9. only buy her clothes from second hand stores (underwear is the exception!)

For Jon:

1. go on a weekend get away
2. go on bi-monthly dates
3. have a week night designated for us (late dinner, movie/tv show/game night)
4. workout together
5. read a book together and talk about it as we go
6. go kayaking together (in a tandem boat)
7. get cheese at the bar at the Melting Pot
8. take a ballroom dancing class together
9. get a couples massage
10. watch the Academy Awards Best Pictures from the years we were born (Jon 1979 – The Deer Hunter, me 1987 – Platoon)

Family:

1. organize family photos into an album
2. take more walks together
3. go on a family vacation (not to see extended family)
4. go on a hike
5. go Geocaching
6. move to MD/DC area
7. go visit my sister in AZ before she moves
8. plan and execute an amazing Bachelorette party for my sister
9. host Thanksgiving
10. develop and stick to a good daily cleaning routine
11. Send birthday cards to all brothers, sisters, parents, and grandparents
12. go see a movie in the theatres as a family (Finding Dory??)
13. send my mom and mother-in-law flowers just because
14. go see The Nutcracker Ballet at Christmastime
15. go to New York City
16. take my family to see my grandparents at their house
17. get a family portrait taken
18. go to a fair
19. start a fun holiday tradition that is our own
20. have a themed costume for our family for Halloween

Cooking:

1. organize recipes into accessible book or recipe box
2. have at least 2 meatless meals per week
3. meal plan every week
4. only go to the grocery store once per week to shop for weekly meals
5. get the recipe for Grammy’s oatmeal fingers
6. bake my own bread, at least once
7. cut coupons (not extreme, but just to save some money)
8. try my own recipes (and record the recipes) once a month
9. bake cookies for the office twice a year
10. grow a garden and cook with produce from it
11. bake a layered birthday cake
12. bake a cheesecake
13. eat breakfast
14. bring my lunch to work everyday
15. try a Pad Thai recipe
16. find a green smoothie recipe that I actually like
17. cook a duck

Financial:

1. pay off Jon’s car loan
2. pay off half of Jon’s student loan
3. apply for scholarships for Masters Program
4. buy a home
5. put together and stick to a monthly budget
6. save all our change for the entire 1001
7. put away $10 whenever I accomplish a goal on my list
8. save enough to cover 3-6 months of bills/rent/groceries etc.
9. start a retirement fund

Fitness:

1. start a workout routine
2. run a 5K
3. swim a mile twice a week for at least a month
4. do a color run
5. do yoga each morning for 5-10 minutes after waking up

Career:

1. graduate from college
2. earn a Masters Degree
3. get a better job (at a nonprofit)
4. become a notary

Misc:

1. learn to knit
2. write a blog posting every day for 30 days
3. read Atlas Shrugged
4. read 20 books *I would do more, but I want to get my Masters
5. get a pedicure
6. take a personal day
7. get my passport with married name updated
8. have a fire in the fireplace before we move
9. participate in 3 charity walks with my family
10. start recycling again
11. donate at least 4 boxes of things I have that I don’t use anymore
12. ask for charitable donations in lieu of my Christmas presents one year
13. keep a calendar up to date
14. have a lazy pajama day with my family
15. organize paperwork
16. buy a safe
17. sell some of my crafts
18. substitute tea for coffee
19. give all hand-made Christmas gifts one year
20. get a sewing machine
21. go to bed at 9:30 for a month
22. host a game night
23. make an address book for friends and family
24. do the 365 project
25. buy a lottery ticket (can you believe I’ve never done this??)
26. inspire someone else to write their own 101 in 1001 list
27. write my next 101 in 1001 list

I'm really excited to get started on my list.  I hope you are inspired to write one of your own!

Halloween Costume 2013

This year my sweet little girl decided in September that she wanted to be a butterfly for Halloween.  My mom always made my costumes from scratch.  I love this tradition and have always said I want to continue it with my children.  Last year was pretty easy, I had to do a little stitching to get the ears to stay on her lamb head piece, but otherwise I made it work with fabric glue.  This year, however, was a bit more involved.  I should also mention that I love to sew, so the reason I try and stay away from it is not that I don't like to sew or don't know how.  I try to stay away from sewing intensive projects because I do not own a sewing machine and the only person I know who does (my mom), lives 400 miles away.  And her sewing machine is one of those really ancient ones that is attached to the sewing table, so she couldn't even bring it if she came for a visit.

There is now the problem of how to make wings for my little butterfly.  I didn't want to just buy her the pre-made ones, so I decided to hand stitch a set of wings, and sew them to her shirt so she could flap her wings.  Ambitious, I know, but I wanted it to be special.

I started my project before I started this blog, but I will do my best to post step-by-step pictures and descriptions below.  If you have a sewing machine, it is an easy to replicate costume, and if you have time on your hands, sewing it by hand was not too bad.

I started by buying 2 square yards of fabric (pink and orange, per Maddie's request).  This made cutting the "pattern" easier.  I ironed out the wrinkles and folded the fabric in half, one on top of the other.  I used the black long sleeve tee to measure how far out the wings should span, drew half of a butterfly wing and cut it out from both pieces of fabric.

We decided that the pink was going to be the top of the wings and the orange was going to be the underside.  I cut out some geometric shapes from the remaining orange fabric and used fabric glue to stick them to the pink wings for some added decoration.

Once the glue dried, I spread the pink wings face up, and matched the orange wings face down to the pink wings.  Then I pinned all around the edges.  This is where the majority of the time was spent because then I stitched all around the edge, save for about an eight inch gap that was left open to turn the wings right side out.

After stitching around the outer edge, I turned the wings right side out and slip-stitched the opening closed.

Then I sprayed the underside of the wings (the orange part) with sparkly spray paint.  Before going to bed the night I made this, Maddie said, "Don't forget the glitter,Mama!" I made sure this sucker was glittery.

I then pinned the wings to the black tee.  The tops of the wings were pinned to the underside of the arms and I pinned the center of the wings down the center of the shirt to make sure everything was centered and stayed attached.

I stitched down the center of the wings first to better anchor them in place (plus it was the easiest part to sew!). Then I slip stitched down one arm from the center, then down the other arm to the center.

Finally, I used Elmer's Glue to outline the geometric shapes and cover the stitches down the back of the wings and added more glitter.

Add in some black pants and some antennae and she was good to go!

On a side note, she had so much fun trick-or-treating!  This was the first year we went and she and I are already looking forward to next year :)