Because Bucket Lists Don't Have Deadlines

Today is Day Zero, for me anyways. 

 Because this weekend I started my 101 things to do in 1001 days list.  

I know what your thinking, "Kelly enough with the lists already."   

Loud and clear, blogosphere... 

Let me explain.

Via

I love my bucket list.  LOVE it!  And I'm definitely working on it.  

However, the main problem with a Bucket List is there is no deadline - 

at least for anyone who's not terminally ill or something.
I might live for another 60 - 80 years, (my great grandpa lived to 100 - I got good genes)
 so really, there's no pressure on me TODAY.
Sure I do things when they are convenient for me,
but when is Riding Elephants in Thailand (number 11) going to be convenient?

See the problem?

The great thing about Day Zero is it gives you a deadline.  

We all know how much more we can accomplish when the deadline is looming, 

which is the beauty of Day Zero.  

And the 1001 days is a realistic deadline,

 its about 2.75 years so that gives you multiple seasons to plan ahead, 

but not too many that your goal gets swept under the rug.

The rules are simple : Tasks must be specific, with a result that is clearly defined.

I've pulled some tasks from my original bucket list and put them onto Day Zero.  

I've also added lots of new ones.  

You're welcome to view my Day Zero Project here.

Via

So what are you waiting for?
Get busy!!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

One of my goals for my USA trip was to make sure the bride had the best bachelorrette party.

In the history of bachelorette parties, this one was going to make it into the books.

The essentials for such a rockin B party are...

 Lots of spicey gifts, in spicey gift bags....

The best roommates in the world - reunited, with Chi-town as our playground.

A few old dudes to hit on us... complete with hawaiian shirt and mustache.

Pop rocks lined martini and a phallic lollipop.

Cute boys to fall in love with us on the dance floor.  

Let it be noted, Kelly Leigh's love to dance....

Husbands of Kelly Leigh's HATE to dance.

We have an agreement regarding this.

Please note the tongue action on the below photo.

Go shawty!!

When bachelorette's get tired, they require nice,

 cute boys to carry them to their next location.

And when bachelorette's get hungry, 

they might ask said dude to carry them to a subway at 2 am.

And that my friends, is how you help your fave little Asian 

have her last night on the town as a single woman!

What do you think?

One for the books, eh?

Party in the USA : Summer 2010

Friends, I have some very exciting news to share with you!  

My very VERY generous parents took pity on my unemployed self and purchased plane tickets for me to go back to the good old USA!  

I'm thrilled.

I'll be spending a week in Chicago and then heading south to my old stomping ground where I'll be reliving the glory days with any one who wants to join me.  

In true Kelly Leigh fashion, I've put together my... 

Party in the USA To Do List : Summer 2010. 

1. Go to the pool and attempt to avoid getting burnt, but know that inevitably I will have a sunscreened hand print on my back. 
2. Do a flip off the diving board.
3. Go on a cupcake crawl in Chicago.
4. Walk and hang out along lake shore drive
5. Go shopping on Michigan Avenue and marvel at how far those dolla dolla bills go.
6. Help Amy to have the best bachelorette party ever.
7. Go to a comedy show.
8. Be the hottest bridesmaid at Amy's wedding!  Let the competition begin ladies! 
9. Eat chipotle
10. Go out for ice cream in the square with sisters.
11. Visit Amish country.
12. Drive with the radio up and the windows down.
13. Take my family dog, Maddy, on hikes and look for deer.
14. Spend the day covering our driveway in chalk.  
15. Run/dance/sing in the rain.  Weather permitting. 
16. Night of intoxicated raging around the nati to include : short skirts, acting like a soiled tween, making boys fall in love with me when I pop, lock, and drop it - and breaking their hearts when I tell them I'm married, a shot (or two) to the land of the free and the home of the brave, slumber party.
17. Go canoeing.
18. Eat sno cones.  
19. Garden brunch.
20. And last but not least make sure to hang out with all my American favorites!  I can't wait to see everyone!

What's on your To Do List this summer?

100 Things to do Before I Die / The Bucket List

1. Be an extra in a movie or TV show
2. Run races.
• 5k race.
• 10k race.
• Half marathon.
• Full marathon.
3. Complete a Canicross event
4. Complete a Triathlon. 
5. Scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef
6. Get scuba certified.
7. Scuba dive a shipwreck.
8. See a whale shark in real life.
9. Finish knitting a scarf from start to finish.
10. Keep honey bees.  (they're going extinct you know?)
11. Ride elephants in Thailand.
12. Go on Safari in Africa.
13. Take the GRE
14. Get experience at a vet clinic.
15. Go to vet school.
16. Make a 6 figure salary for a year.
17. Sell a piece of artwork.  
18. Visit every continent. 
• North America
• South America
• Europe
• Asia
• Africa
• Australia
• Antarctica (Not too fussed about this one to be honest)
19. Have a photo shoot with my friends and pretend we are really very fabulous for a day.  Hey Friends - You game?
20. Take a photography class.
21. Ride in a hot air balloon. 
22. Own a horse.
23. Own chickens that lay fresh eggs and make an omelet.
24. Teach Heidi the Japanese Dog Catch.
25. Teach Heidi to clean up her toys.
26. Write a blog with 500 followers.
27. Go a whole month without taking a naps.  (silly I know but I suck at this).
28. St Patrick's day in Ireland.
29. Learn to skip stones - at least 4 bounces. 
30. Mardi Gras in New Orleans. 
31. Join a team.
32. Volunteer.
33. Road trip across the USA. 
34. Visit Amish country.  
35. Go to Disney world.
36. Read 12 books in a year. (suggestions welcome)
37. Find out if blondes really do have more fun. (ie: dye my hair - eeek)
38. Hitchhike somewhere even though it seems super scarey. 
39. Live in an organized home.  
40. Create one room in the house that is perfect.
41. Create a dream home.
42. Sew a dress from scratch.  
43. Go on a cupcake crawl in Chicago.  Amy, Liza, Sarah, Lisa - anyone game for this in August???
44. Catch a ball at a major league baseball game.
45. Complete a successful camping trip with Nick.  (must last 3 days, 2 nights minimum)
46. Create a family cookbook with famous family recipes (A little help here Suzy and mom?)
• I'm CRAVING Papa's rhubarb pie right now.  Anyone know the recipe?
47. Send my parents on a vacation to thank them for paying for my college education and my wedding and just tolerating me for so long.
48. Cook a meal using only food that I have grown or foraged.
49. Throw myself a birthday party.
50. Contribute something significant to saving a species from extinction.
51. Establish mutual friends/social circle with Nick.
52. Learn some Spanish. - complete Rosetta stone perhaps?
53. Show up at the airport/train station and take the first plane/train I can get.
54. Go vegan for a week.
55. See the cherry blossoms in Japan.
56. Give only handmade Christmas presents one year.
57. Spend Christmas money on completing one of the items on this list, instead of buying stupid gifts no one ever uses.
58. Host a holiday family gathering.
59. Visit a volcano.
60. Get featured in a newspaper for doing something cool.  Obituary doesn't count.  
61. Make friends with a stranger on the street.
62. Go dog sledding. 
63. See a moose.
64. Play 18 holes of golf proficiently. 
65. Ride a camel to the pyramids in Egypt.
66. Exercise 3 times a week. 
• For a week
• For a month
• For two months
• For three months
• For six months
• For a year
67. See pink river dolphins in the Amazon.
68. Wear a dress/skirt everyday for a month.
69. Write 52 postcards.  I will need your addresses for this.
70. Get Nick a complete surprise birthday present that he actually likes.
71. Build a really sweet tree house.
72. Have an awesome dress up collection.
73. Collect hats - 12 girly hats, 12 boyish hats, and a few unisex ones for good measure.
• 1 girl hat so far.  
74. Have dinner party and make the guests each wear said hats for the evening.
75. Figure out a way to give up facebook, or use it positively and not like an addiction.  
76. Acquire neat heirloom to pass down - do you think my wedding and engagement rings count?.
77. Be an audience member on a TV show.
78. See a burlesque show.
79. Attend a black tie gala (not as a waitress!)
80. Buy a cute outfit at a second hand store.
81. Watch baby turtles hatch and head for the ocean.
82. Make ice cream from scratch.
83. Make successful homemade vegetarian marshmallows.  
84. Have a wardrobe filled with things I love.
85. Learn to do a circus trick.
86. Sell all the crap in our house on ebay or donate it or throw it out.
87. Make an awesome running playlist 2 hours long.  (A stupid one but I always use shuffle and have been putting this off for a really long time).
88. Cook Nick breakfast everyday before work.  
• For a week
• For a month
• For three months
• For six months
• For a year
89. Attend a music festival.
90. Have creepy old fashioned portraits hanging in my hallway of every member of my immediate family.
• Mom
• Dad
• Dani
• Lizzie
• Nick
• Heidi
• Maddy
91. Go to a comedy show and laugh till I cry.
92. Go to the ballet.
93. Donate blood - I was never allowed to in college because I've been to Africa, but I think the ban is up!
94. Inspire someone else to make a 100 things to do / bucket list and then steal one of their ideas.
95. Put their idea here.
96. Go to an estate sale and buy something.
97. Write and illustrate a children's book.
98. Make a scrapbook.
99. Ride a mechanical bull.
100. Cross off all items from this list.

Hope you like my list friends!  The best way to keep me getting busy is to write items down and cross them off!  I'm sure you all know that I am a huge list maker by now, and even though I have lists going for lots of things, I didn't have a bucket list.  Seems pretty important don't you think?  It took me a lot longer to write this than I thought it would, especially the last 20 or so items.  It's still a bit of a work in progress so I reserve the right to edit it as I see fit.  I would love to read your lists if you have them too!  Also, does anyone want to do a bucket list challenge, ie first one to complete so many items wins 50 bucks or something similar?  I can always use a little extra motivation.  

Things I Want to Do Before I Leave London - Update

With under a month left until we move out of London I thought I should post an update of my London To Do list.  I guess I'll have to make a new one when we get to Sheffield.  Oh, and for those of you that I left hanging, our offer was not accepted on the ever so freaking perfect dream home.  I'd love to post a link, but I'm not sure that is proper netiquette, so just conjure up an imagine of the most cliche, well kept, 200 year old little British cottage in a village with sheep two minutes walk in one direction and forest in the other.  Got it?  Perfect right?  Yeah well its not ours.  Oh well, first up on our Sheffield To Do List : find a place to live (hopefully to be accomplished this Saturday - except we need a dogsitter again.  eeeeek.  why do all you useful people live 4,000 miles away???).  Ahem, without further ado.....

Things I want To Do Before I Leave London 

1. Get a puppy and give it a very English name (like Harry or Charles, but I'd call it Charlie) - oh and I want it to be an Englishpuppy - like an English Setter, or Pointer, or Bulldog.    We got a german shorthaired pointer puppy and gave it a german name, but I'm crossing this off anyways.
2. Take a trip to Paris with Nick
3. Visit relatives in France (may or may not be in conjunction with trip to Paris)
4. Go to a comedy show
5. Go to a night club and rage Nick is too embarrassed to take me dancing.  I'm too embarrassed to go alone.  Note to self: Make friends in Sheffield who like dancing.
6. Go on a boat tour down the Thames
7. Go to a Stich 'n' Bitch night  I probably should've gone more than once
8. Go to Ireland
9. Go to Scotland and catch Nessi (OK we didn't catch Nessi, but we did go to Inverness)
10. Go to Stonehenge (Does anyone know if this is as boring as it looks?  I feel like I should go... but it looks so boring)
11. Go to Bath
12. Buy something antique at Portobello Road Market
13. Get a job   I got one and I got fired/quit 3 weeks later.  Does that even count?
14. Visit London Zoo
15. Visit Museums
1. Victoria and Albert
2. Natural History Museum
3. National Gallery
4. National Portrait Gallery (My personal favorite)
5. Tower of London (Crown Jewel's are here - her majesty is so BLING)
16. Take Aerial Level 1 Circus Arts classes at Circus Space Never got this done, but did get to see Cirque Du Soleil
17. Finish fixing up the house. We worked hard on this.  It's not quite  finished.  But we're moving out and so it doesn't matter now and I'm crossing it off anyways.
18. See Big Ben and Parliament
19. Take Pictures of the Guards
20. Visit Borough Market
21. Ride the London Eye
22. Go to a Musical
1. We Will Rock You
2. Billy Elliot
3. Little Shop of Horrors
4. The Lion King
5. Lord of the Rings (Most boring musical ever DO NOT SEE THIS)
6. Thriller 
7. Avenue Q
23. See a major concert at the O2 
24. Go shopping at Harrods and Selfridges

What do you think friends?  How have I done?  I think some of these things can transfer over to the future Sheffield To Do List.  So it's not the end of the world that I haven't finished all of them I suppose.  

ps.  My friend Lauren just posted her Denver To Do List which reminded me that I had this saved and ready for posting.  If you're a To Do list fiend or from Denver, go check hers out!

pss.  Do you have a To Do List for the city you live in??? I'd love to see it or post it here to share with everyone.  I think it might be fun!