#18 Make a Kickass Halloween Costume

Man, I love Halloween. Except, I kiiiiiiind of hate how good some people are at costumes. Mainly because I am not one of those people. For the past three Halloweens, I have been a kitty, because one year, on the day of a Halloween party, I found a cute tail, ears, face paint and pair of black gloves at a Halloween store and ever since it's been sitting in my closet, easily accessible when I realize that YET AGAIN it is Halloween and I don't have a costume.

I vowed things would be different this year. Then, a few weeks ago my lovely friend Tricia posted this photo and I was inspired - "ah ha!" I said, " This year I will be a bat!" Looks simple enough, right?



Of course I waited until the last minute to figure out that I have no idea how to make bat ears (I don't even have a picture of the first version of my bat ears, which I wore to school, but trust me, they only vaguely incarnated bat, at best) and that the fabric I had planned to make my wings out of was NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. I sorted that all out after a quick trip to the Garment District (at 11:30... the Thursday before Halloween weekend, SO FUN) where I found a black dress to construct my bat wings out of. My attempt at safety pinning the wings to my black dress was mediocre at best, so my wings were a little droopy at school, but luckily before I headed to Alanna's party Will helped me adjust and re-safety pin my wings and made me better bat ears! While I cried because I could't get my bat fangs to stay on my teeth (i ended up ditching them) and spilt beer all over myself and got black face paint everywhere. I suck haha. Anyway, here's the only surviving photo of my bat costume:



...brought to you by photobooth, as are the rest of the pictures, because I sucked at taking photos this weekend, which also means I have no photos of Will in his upgraded giraffe costume! He made this giraffe head piece out of foam at work on Friday (totally impressive and crafty, right?) and wore it over the giraffe tshirt I made for him two years ago. Voila:




(giraffe pattern on back as well! and the mask we were totally bummed to have lost in his apartment fire)

So, yes, anyway - bat costume, kind of a failure. But I tried! You can't say I didn't try. But Saturday when I went out I decided to bring back the kitty costume, because it's just so easy and reliable and easy and cute. I did see like 5 or 20 other cats while we were out, but whatever, who cares. And I had the best make up, for sure. Cause I'm a pro now, in this 3rd year of kittydom. I've got the face paint skills locked down:



Overall, a totally successful Halloween. Maybe my costume wasn't "kickass" per se, but whatever. I tried. Chuuuuhhhhh-eck.

#23 Do 100 Push Ups

DONE.

Just kidding (duh). So, to achieve this I am embarking on the Hundred Push Ups Program, which I read about in a magazine or something recently. I decided tonight, after returning from the gym, was a great time to start. The program begins with an initial test, where you perform as many push ups as you can in one go in "good form". I don't really know how great my push up form is, but I ended up being able to only do 11. Actually, maybe 13, I did two before I figured out my floor was too slippery for doing pushups on, grabbed a tshirt and started over. But, potaaaato, potahto, either way I am a level 2, which means that I follow the third column in this chart for 3 days this week:



Uh, that looks kind of hard and scary. At least if it's too hard, I can always chicken out and follow the second column instead, which looks a little less intimidating.. and ultimately leads me to the same goal, right? Haha, I shouldn't be talking myself out of this already. I'll keep you updated as to how my first week goes. Apparently I'm only six weeks away from being able to do 100 push ups. We'll see, because right this second my arms are kind of wobbly from 11.

#6 See Jackass 3D

GUYS, go see this movie (unless your my mom, mom: under absolutely no circumstances should you see this movie). I laughed, I cried - I almost threw up. Twice. I now have the largest crush on Ryan Dunn (who I believe is the movie's SUPERSTAR HERO because Bam and Johnny Knoxville are like old or cry babies or something now) (but Steveo's still cool). Look at him in his white v-necked glory here:



HUBBA, HUBBA.

The theater we went to was mostly full of annoying 14 year olds who definitely didn't know anything about the Jackass legacy (philistines!). But, I was the one who looked like the real Rookie, because I wore glasses to a 3d movie and had to wear my 3d glasses on top of my regular glasses. God, I'm so dumb sometimes. I waited until the theater was dark to so, so hopefully no one noticed my utter and complete Newb Nerdiness except for Will.

Anyway, Jackass 3D - checkarooni. I feel like I should add something... intellectual to the list. I don't know. I added a bunch of stuff to the list yesterday, my brain is empty of ideas now. I'll get back to this.

Add to the List...

19. Visit Montreal (maybe for April vacation)
20. Finish the blanket I started crocheting last winter that has been living under my bed
21. Extract grandmother's sewing machine from my trunk and figure out how to use said sewing machine
22. Fix the photo frames I have and am not using (decoupage? spray paint?)
23. Do 100 push ups. Yes, at once.
24. Re-organize and clean out my closet
25. Take advantage of the fact that I have dental insurance and get my teeths cleaned
26. Buy a large puzzle I like enough to have framed and hung in my house when I am done (my Memere used to do this)
27. Paint my bike (I've been meaning to get around to this for a while...)
28. Visit the ICA, I haven't been since it opened like 3 years ago
29. Get another tatoo, I've been tossing around ideas for a while. Also I guess maybe this should include SAVE MONEY.
30. Visit Nashville
31. Deep clean my bathroom (even though, really, it's pretty clean)
32. Open an etsy store

#12 Eat at The Friendly Toast, Kendall Edition

Guys, I kind of might have cheated in adding this to the list, because I sort of already had plans to eat here tonight before I made the list. But whatever.

So, The Friendly Toast and I have a long history. The original Friendly Toast, built by the neighbors of my high school boyfriend, is located right near where I went to high school, and I spent more nights there than I could ever count ordering late night breakfast and appetizers and talking high school drama with friends. When I heard that a Friendly Toast had opened in Cambridge a year or so ago, I kept meaning to go, but just hadn't made it yet... until tonight.

Appropriately, I met one of my very best friends from high school, Maria, out front after work for some very needed drinks and dinner. The new Friendly Toast is brighter, smaller and a little less cozy than the Friendly Toast of my memory, but once we were handed our menus, identical to those I spent so many nights pouring over in high school, full of INSANELY delicious things to eat, I couldn't help but smile and feel right at home. I ordered some drink full of tequila and "crazy quesadillas" and sweet potato fries and totally enjoyed everything.

After dinner, we saw a thousand people carrying pink bags, so we decided to hit the Garment District, open until midnight from now until Halloween, to do some costume shopping. I finally got the teeth and face paint I need for my bat costume - which hopefully will be motivation for me to finish the wings / dress / rest of the costume sometime soon. Let's consider Friendly Toast accomplished and add completing BAT COSTUME to the list. Also, maybe I should cut out the food related items until Halloween so I can fit into my bat costume. I am feeling so full right now! Whatever, so worth it, checkity check, Friendly Toast off the list!

#3 Try Rock Climbing

So last night after work, despite being tremendously tired, I drove to Rock Spot Climbing in Hyde Park to meet Will and try some indoor bouldering for the first time.

I was really nervous when I walked in (I hate doing new things, it's like WHERE DO I PUT MY STUFF, WHERE ARE THE BATHROOMS, WILL I BE ABLE TO FIND WILL, etc. etc.), but quickly signed my life away in a waiver, rented some shoes, put my things away and dove in. Will explained the rating system at this gym to me - there are paths on the wall, marked with colored tape, rated from R, which is the easiest, to O or "Off the Wall Hard" (actually I made that up). So we picked out an easier R path, I watched Will climb it first, and then I tried it.

I did a lot better than I thought I would. I was outrageously scared (it's crazy how 5 feet off the ground feels like 50 when you look down and aren't accustomed to judging heights from that direction yet), and didn't make it over the wall or anything, but I climbed a few of the easy paths enough times that I could set a goal that was just a teensy bit higher and scarier than I got the last time I went up and do it.

At some points I did feel a little discouraged - Will is like a monkey with gorilla arms, and also primate strength, so watching him scurry up stuff I couldn't was rough, and I kept thinking to myself "my little arms just can't DO THAT". Also, because I was so nervous about falling (despite the fact that the gym floor is made out of padding), my palms were sweating and Will was almost out of chalk. And climbing really hurts your hands. It hurt to grip the steering will in my car on the way home. And then at one point in the night an 11 year old boy showed up with his dad and he was like racing up things I had been crawling up just moments before. But you know what, whatever, 11 year old boys are supposed to be great at climbing things. I am a 23 year old lady who only very recently started to care about arm strength and had no idea FINGER strength could be useful for anything. And for me, I felt like I did a great job.

Mission accomplished. Adding to the list: Take a belaying class so that I can climb the rope walls next time I go!

Extra Credit Reading: Storm the Castle

STORM THE CASTLE

I'm not even sure I fully understand what this website is, but I love it and in addition to being full of brain expanding things that I want to do it is full of ideas I can't wait to try with my extended day kids.

Extra Credit Reading: Zen Habits

11 Ways to Expand Your Mind And Recover From Brain Rot

A really short article which I will think of every time I am about to flip on Keeping up with the Kardashians or the Price is Right at 11am on a weekday. This guy knows what I am talking about.

The List

1. Visit the Dali Museum
2. Get published. Anywhere. (Seriously guys, I don't care if it's Highlights magazine and only 6 year olds read it)
3. Try rock climbing
4. Get good at making soup. (Must make 4 kinds of delicious soup before I can cross this off the list)
5. Write love letters to all of the important people in my life (especially my Memere, who just bought me a brand new car and who I love an awful lot)
6. See Jackass 3D (I know. PHILISTINE!)
7. Get a Cambridge library card
8. Visit at least one house I grew up in (I'd love to eventually return to see everywhere I've lived, but I'm trying to keep this doable)
9. Bring my digital SLR to a repair shop
10. See Waiting for Superman



11. Go a whole day without spending a single cent
12. Eat at The Friendly Toast, Kendall Sq. edition (it's seriously right down the street).
13. Become conversationally savvy in Spanish
14. Write more. 10 things I'm happy with (any "things")
15. Create a "best of 2010" playlist for 2010
16. Make 1,000 origami cranes



And so it begins.

The Beginning

Inspired by the ever-inspiring (no, really) Emily Kaye Lazzaro, who recently began a LIST of things she wants to accomplish in her life time, I am starting a list in order to focus my life (which is lacking some serious focus right now).

Lately, I have't been able to bring myself to see past "this weekend" because nothing about my future is looking so bright right now. All of the Things I Wanted to Do are out of my reach for the time being, and I spend a lot of days just sleeping in or wiling away my life internet shopping because I'm mopey and can't think of anything better to do.

So, this is my Better Things to Do project. I am going to start a manageable list of 10-20 things, some accomplishable in a day or a weekend, some that might take some more serious planning. Whenever I accomplish one of my Better Things to Do (than eat, sleep, drink or internet), I'll cross it off my list and replace it with something else. And write about it (of course).

Or that's the plan.