I saw this article a few months ago and thought, hmm. 30 movies in less than 9 years before I'm 40? I can do that. There's also a bunch of these movies that I've always wanted to see and just never got around to!
So here's the list that I'm going to focus on...
1. Fight Club (1999)
2. The Godfather (1972)
3. Forrest Gump (1994)
4. Pulp Fiction (1994)
5. Psycho (1960)
6. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
7. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
9. Her (2013)
10. American Beauty (1999)
11. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
12. Full Metal Jacket (1987)
13. Platoon (1986)
14. 300 (2007)
15. Schindler’s List (1993)
16. Léon: The Professional (1994)
17. Kill Bill (2003)
18. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
19. The Matrix (1999)
20. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
21. Memento (2000)
22. The Dark Knight (2008)
23. Vertigo (1958)
24. Cabin in the Woods (2012)
25. Shutter Island (2010)
26. Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)
27. Clueless (1995)
28. (500) Days of Summer (2009)
29. 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
30. Annie Hall (1977)
I may not watch one or two of them because they'll freak me out but otherwise, I think it's a pretty good goal! Have you seen any of these movies?
Showing posts with label Adventures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adventures. Show all posts
Friday, February 20, 2015
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Adventures in Meditation
I've always been a crazy busy person. With a full time job doing events, a part time wedding coordination business, volunteer roles, keeping up a house and just keeping up family and friends, people ask me how in the world do I get everything done?
Well, I don't. I'm reading Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In where she talks about not doing everything - she focuses on what's important.
In the past few weeks, I've realized that I need to make myself more important during all this crazy scheduling. So I started getting up a little bit earlier each day to walk 40 minutes on the treadmill. It's only been a week and I missed the weekend, but I was back this morning and still focused on that goal.
When we got back from Disney, I heard about an app called Headspace. It's free for the first ten days and then a subscription but I have fallen in love with it, so I'm paying for it (something like the cost of two coffees a month). I'm not even getting paid to talk about this app but I do really think it's doing something good for me.
I'm focusing on the daily meditation thing for ten minutes each morning. It's apparently just the right amount of time for my hair to dry in the towel while I'm getting ready after my treadmill walking.
So by the time 8 am rolls around and I'm heading into the office, I've already walked for 40 minutes or so and taken ten minutes of quiet time for me, just to be still. It's been so amazing for me and my psyche.
Do you take time every day to just sit and be still?
Well, I don't. I'm reading Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In where she talks about not doing everything - she focuses on what's important.
In the past few weeks, I've realized that I need to make myself more important during all this crazy scheduling. So I started getting up a little bit earlier each day to walk 40 minutes on the treadmill. It's only been a week and I missed the weekend, but I was back this morning and still focused on that goal.
When we got back from Disney, I heard about an app called Headspace. It's free for the first ten days and then a subscription but I have fallen in love with it, so I'm paying for it (something like the cost of two coffees a month). I'm not even getting paid to talk about this app but I do really think it's doing something good for me.
I'm focusing on the daily meditation thing for ten minutes each morning. It's apparently just the right amount of time for my hair to dry in the towel while I'm getting ready after my treadmill walking.
So by the time 8 am rolls around and I'm heading into the office, I've already walked for 40 minutes or so and taken ten minutes of quiet time for me, just to be still. It's been so amazing for me and my psyche.
Do you take time every day to just sit and be still?
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Adventures in Saturday Evening Musings
This whole blogging thing is
kind of amazing - I get to write about what is going on in my life,
read about other people's adventures and make wonderful connections. I've even met some of my blogger friends in real life and attended concerts (hi Sonya!) as well as the St. Louis bloggers who get together every quarter for dinner and drinks (gals, are up for January?).
I even received a Christmas card from a few of those lovely STL bloggers. What amazing ladies I've been able to meet through blogging!
So when a few of them started getting products and tagging #influenster, I just had to figure out what was up! Liz from ellieandaddie.com sent me a link and I signed up.
And I just got my first box! It's the #FrostyVoxBox - and boy am I love with some of this stuff! Husband had opened the box when I got home, and the first thing we did was try the Fruit Vines® Bites. I'm in love with licorice and even with all the chocolate around for Christmas, it was the perfect snack after a really long day at work. We are going to be getting more of them later!
One of the other items I was really excited to see was the EcoTools hairbrush! How did Influenster know that I needed a new brush? This one is coming with me on the Grand Winter Adventure in a few days.
And need I mention the tea? We visited the Celestial Seasonings factory a few years ago when we were in Colorado and had so much fun. It's one of my favorite brands of tea so the holiday version was lovely!
There are a bunch of other things but given that we have this crazy holiday coming up, I'm hoping I'll have a chance to use some of the other stuff in the box in the new year.
DISCLOSURE: I received the products described above complimentary to test and/or review. All opinions are my own.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Adventures in an Unplugged Vacation?
.JPG)
I also love sharing my travels on social media. I totally believe the studies that show a dopamine spike when you get a "like" or a comment on Facebook from a photo you just posted. I love the comments I get here when I post trip reviews. I love Twitter and Instagram for the same reasons. Being connected to people through my phone is my favorite reason for having one.
But I'm wondering if it's gone too far. I truly love my friends in person and I'm wondering if spending too much time in my phone is hurting those relationships. My husband would say it is.
We're getting ready to visit friends in Seattle this weekend and I was preparing my packing list. I put in my iPhone, our two DSLRs (his and hers) and the point and shoot, plus my Macbook (in case I have to work) and my iPad and my nook for the flight. Oh yeah, and my Fitbit. That is a ton of electronics to take for a five day trip with friends.
I was wondering how I can decrease the technology for this trip. I can put a book on my iPad and leave the nook at home. And I can make a concerted effort not to "live blog" our trip.
I mean, I'll take pictures with both the iPhone and the DSLR and maybe even the point and shoot camera. But maybe this is a trip to enjoy being with friends and not worrying about updating my Facebook by "checking in" at every different spot along the trip. Or maybe holding off on posting every sweet treat that we get in Seattle.
You know why I think that it's a good time to try an unplugged vacation? Because even writing the paragraph above makes me nervous. Not checking in? How will I know where we were each day? Not adding a photo of a funny sign? How will I get someone else's approval on that particular funny joke? I think it might time to try enjoying the trip as I take it, remembering the good parts and have fun with friends. Then when I get home, I'll update those pictures and tell the story here of our trip.
But I think this might be for the best this time around....
Have you ever had an "unplugged" vacation?
Friday, July 18, 2014
Adventures in Big Family Vacation Planning (part 2)
So we're going to Disney. And we know when.
Now, we had to decide who was coming.
This trip was going to turn into something big, I had a feeling. Some of my husband's cousins haven't been on a big vacation in a while, and we all love Disney, so I thought this might have a bunch of people add on.
I told my MIL that I was going to take care of the planning for this one, since she's worked on so many in the past. And while it's fun to plan, it's also stressful. I thought I'd take the stress for this particular trip which means corralling all the family and making sure everyone has everything they need. Given that I'm an event planner, I didn't think it would be too hard, but would require patience and organization. I'm only a few weeks into it, so we'll see how it goes!
So for this trip, we have upwards of 19 people joining us over the 11 nights. They include my MIL and FIL; my husband's brother and his girlfriend and their two year old nephew; a cousin and his wife and daughter who live in the Orlando area (they're staying at the hotel with all of us); another cousin and her brother and two daughters who live in George; another cousin with his wife and two sons who live in southern Missouri; and finally, a cousin who goes to school near us in St. Louis and will join us for the last part of the trip. There are 10 of us who will be there the entire time and the rest of the family comes and goes as their vacation schedule allows.
Planning for this big group of people won't be easy! But that's who is coming with us on this crazy adventure.
Now, we had to decide who was coming.
This trip was going to turn into something big, I had a feeling. Some of my husband's cousins haven't been on a big vacation in a while, and we all love Disney, so I thought this might have a bunch of people add on.
I told my MIL that I was going to take care of the planning for this one, since she's worked on so many in the past. And while it's fun to plan, it's also stressful. I thought I'd take the stress for this particular trip which means corralling all the family and making sure everyone has everything they need. Given that I'm an event planner, I didn't think it would be too hard, but would require patience and organization. I'm only a few weeks into it, so we'll see how it goes!
So for this trip, we have upwards of 19 people joining us over the 11 nights. They include my MIL and FIL; my husband's brother and his girlfriend and their two year old nephew; a cousin and his wife and daughter who live in the Orlando area (they're staying at the hotel with all of us); another cousin and her brother and two daughters who live in George; another cousin with his wife and two sons who live in southern Missouri; and finally, a cousin who goes to school near us in St. Louis and will join us for the last part of the trip. There are 10 of us who will be there the entire time and the rest of the family comes and goes as their vacation schedule allows.
Planning for this big group of people won't be easy! But that's who is coming with us on this crazy adventure.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Adventures in Big Family Vacation Planning (part 1)
And here we are again. It's time to plan another Disney trip!
We are planning a very long trip to Walt Disney World in Florida to celebrate the New Year with a big old family trip this year. Our last Disney trip was in December 2013 with just me and my husband, to celebrate the craziness of law school and him passing the bar in 2013 and starting his new big job after graduating law school.
This upcoming trip would make my 11th to the World - I've had to start a spreadsheet with a list of the times that we have gone to keep track! It goes back to my first trip in (about) 1993 with my family. I really started to fall in love with the Mouse when I went with my husband's family in 2007 for New Year's. My mother-in-law and father-in-law went for their honeymoon in the early 1980s and have been every year since. The boys have grown up at Walt Disney World and they have so many memories from all the parks and resorts. A few years ago, they purchased a piece of the magic and now we can stay at the Disney Vacation Club when we go. It's becoming a bigger and bigger piece of our lives!
After seeing Sonya's planning of her Disney trip, I thought I'd start a not-so-regular blog series of our planning of our big trip coming up in December.
So first thing up, when to go?
When you're planning any kind of vacation, whether you have a location in mind or not, the first step is to determine WHEN to go. Do you brave the crowds on the busiest weekend of the year or do you save some money by going on an off-week?
We are the crazy people who throw in our lot with the unwashed masses for New Year's Eve. Out of all the 365 days on the calendar, this one would rank the top in their crowd calendars. Imagine the most packed outdoor festival you have ever been to, and add 10% and you're getting close to what it seems like. I mean, even the bathroom gets a half hour wait on this night. Everything is busy. Everyone is hot. EVERYWHERE you go there is a line.
But that's half the fun! Seeing all those people in one spot getting to experience a shared moment during the fireworks is pretty amazing. There are always tears in my eye when I ring in the new year at the parks. We love it and that makes it worth all the stress.
So, we knew New Year's was going to be the one for us this year - the in-laws went in March without us and we've been planning since our December trip for a big one with the whole family. Husband and I wanted to the day before New Year's, December 30. Disney has two nights of New Year's fireworks (as they do for the Fourth of July). If we saw these fireworks on the 30th, that allows us the 31st to spend in Epcot. This park isn't as family friendly but they celebrate the new year with the different countries around World Showcase Lagoon. You get to see one of the evening spectaculars in the early part of the evening and then another huge fireworks show at midnight. We haven't ever experienced that, so going down a day early allows us to accommodate both shows. It's a win-win, even though we do have an extra night in the hotel at the most expensive rate.
We had our arrival date - Tuesday, December 30. Now, how long to stay?
Traditionally, we stay in the World for one week. That would be checking out on Tuesday, January 6. When we started talking as a family, my husband and I floated the idea that we would stay an extra night, to leave on the 7th. When my MIL heard that, she thought they could do that as well. So now we're leaving on the 7th.
When we looked at the calendar, we realized that it was two days before my MIL's birthday. We've never celebrated her birthday in the World before and she thought it would be fun to do so this year. So since we couldn't leave ON her birthday (where's the fun in that?), that meant our check out date would be January 10th. Yikes, 11 nights?!
With lots of activities coming in the next year or so with jobs and other vacations, there may not be another time for a good long trip so we are going to seize the opportunity and make this happen! 11 nights in Walt Disney World, here we come!
We are planning a very long trip to Walt Disney World in Florida to celebrate the New Year with a big old family trip this year. Our last Disney trip was in December 2013 with just me and my husband, to celebrate the craziness of law school and him passing the bar in 2013 and starting his new big job after graduating law school.
This upcoming trip would make my 11th to the World - I've had to start a spreadsheet with a list of the times that we have gone to keep track! It goes back to my first trip in (about) 1993 with my family. I really started to fall in love with the Mouse when I went with my husband's family in 2007 for New Year's. My mother-in-law and father-in-law went for their honeymoon in the early 1980s and have been every year since. The boys have grown up at Walt Disney World and they have so many memories from all the parks and resorts. A few years ago, they purchased a piece of the magic and now we can stay at the Disney Vacation Club when we go. It's becoming a bigger and bigger piece of our lives!
After seeing Sonya's planning of her Disney trip, I thought I'd start a not-so-regular blog series of our planning of our big trip coming up in December.
So first thing up, when to go?
When you're planning any kind of vacation, whether you have a location in mind or not, the first step is to determine WHEN to go. Do you brave the crowds on the busiest weekend of the year or do you save some money by going on an off-week?
We are the crazy people who throw in our lot with the unwashed masses for New Year's Eve. Out of all the 365 days on the calendar, this one would rank the top in their crowd calendars. Imagine the most packed outdoor festival you have ever been to, and add 10% and you're getting close to what it seems like. I mean, even the bathroom gets a half hour wait on this night. Everything is busy. Everyone is hot. EVERYWHERE you go there is a line.
But that's half the fun! Seeing all those people in one spot getting to experience a shared moment during the fireworks is pretty amazing. There are always tears in my eye when I ring in the new year at the parks. We love it and that makes it worth all the stress.
So, we knew New Year's was going to be the one for us this year - the in-laws went in March without us and we've been planning since our December trip for a big one with the whole family. Husband and I wanted to the day before New Year's, December 30. Disney has two nights of New Year's fireworks (as they do for the Fourth of July). If we saw these fireworks on the 30th, that allows us the 31st to spend in Epcot. This park isn't as family friendly but they celebrate the new year with the different countries around World Showcase Lagoon. You get to see one of the evening spectaculars in the early part of the evening and then another huge fireworks show at midnight. We haven't ever experienced that, so going down a day early allows us to accommodate both shows. It's a win-win, even though we do have an extra night in the hotel at the most expensive rate.
We had our arrival date - Tuesday, December 30. Now, how long to stay?
Traditionally, we stay in the World for one week. That would be checking out on Tuesday, January 6. When we started talking as a family, my husband and I floated the idea that we would stay an extra night, to leave on the 7th. When my MIL heard that, she thought they could do that as well. So now we're leaving on the 7th.
When we looked at the calendar, we realized that it was two days before my MIL's birthday. We've never celebrated her birthday in the World before and she thought it would be fun to do so this year. So since we couldn't leave ON her birthday (where's the fun in that?), that meant our check out date would be January 10th. Yikes, 11 nights?!
With lots of activities coming in the next year or so with jobs and other vacations, there may not be another time for a good long trip so we are going to seize the opportunity and make this happen! 11 nights in Walt Disney World, here we come!
Monday, July 7, 2014
Adventures in Colorado
In May, Mom and I traveled to Colorado for a few celebrations with my cousin's family. We had such a good time seeing family members and hanging out for a birthday and then a First Communion.
Since we didn't let the family know that we were staying through Monday for some strange reason, we were left with a Monday without family and without plans (since they had to work).
So Mom and I decided to take a trip up into the mountains and see some fun tourist-y stuff. Without a lot of time and since both of us wanted to see the scenery, we bought a package tour on Grey Line for the morning. It worked out great!
This is postcard point, or something like that. All the postcards in the Denver area that have the mountain range on them were supposedly taken from this overpass on the way out of town. Not sure how true that is but my goodness, it is pretty!
The next stop on the trip was Buffalo's Bill grave.
Buffalo Bill had a simply amazing life story. He had such grand adventures! There's a museum at this site that documents everything he had accomplished and then some. His grave is on Lookout Mountain along with his wife, in Golden, CO. It's a gorgeous view.
It's awesome to note that there is also a fake buffalo on the grounds, but like the signs says, we couldn't get on it. :(
You can see all of Denver and the suburbs from up there.
That was the last of the big stops on the Grey Line tour, so they took us back to the mall where we had started. Since Mom and I had a few more hours to kill before our flight left Denver, we did some quick googling of other fun things to do in the area.
We found out that Hammonds Candy Factory gives free tours frequently! Done and done.
This is a family-owned candy company (until very recently) that's been making candy canes and other yummy things since the early 1920s.
They make everything by hand in this factory and it shows. They give samples at the end of the tour and it is quite good!
Since we didn't let the family know that we were staying through Monday for some strange reason, we were left with a Monday without family and without plans (since they had to work).
So Mom and I decided to take a trip up into the mountains and see some fun tourist-y stuff. Without a lot of time and since both of us wanted to see the scenery, we bought a package tour on Grey Line for the morning. It worked out great!
The first stop on the tour was up in the mountains, to Red Rocks. This is an amphitheater from the 1930s that has hosted concerts and other presentations since then. In the mornings, lots of locals come to work on the rows and rows that have been built into the side of the mountain.
It was such a beautiful morning to be outside, I can totally understand why these locals wanted to work out in the sunshine!
After we spent a bit of time enjoying Red Rocks, it was time to set off for the next stop.
The next stop on the trip was Buffalo's Bill grave.
Buffalo Bill had a simply amazing life story. He had such grand adventures! There's a museum at this site that documents everything he had accomplished and then some. His grave is on Lookout Mountain along with his wife, in Golden, CO. It's a gorgeous view.
It's awesome to note that there is also a fake buffalo on the grounds, but like the signs says, we couldn't get on it. :(
You can see all of Denver and the suburbs from up there.
That was the last of the big stops on the Grey Line tour, so they took us back to the mall where we had started. Since Mom and I had a few more hours to kill before our flight left Denver, we did some quick googling of other fun things to do in the area.
We found out that Hammonds Candy Factory gives free tours frequently! Done and done.
This is a family-owned candy company (until very recently) that's been making candy canes and other yummy things since the early 1920s.
They make everything by hand in this factory and it shows. They give samples at the end of the tour and it is quite good!
Of course, you finish the tour by entering a gift shop. There were so many sweets to try it was almost impossible to choose! We ended up with some truffles for the flight home, and of course some of their famous candy canes for the family we were going home to.
I love trying out little local gems when we travel. Going around Denver with my mom for the day was so much fun - I hope I can vacation with her again sometime soon!
I love trying out little local gems when we travel. Going around Denver with my mom for the day was so much fun - I hope I can vacation with her again sometime soon!
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Adventures in New Year's Resolutions
Happy 2014! I simply cannot believe a year had passed.
This time last year, we were with friends at Innsbrook, enjoying the falling snow (which would cause some problems in leaving the resort the next day!) and celebrating Husband's final exams the month before. He had just finished his last semester of law school and was preparing for the Missouri Bar Exam.
2013 would see him take and pass the big scary test, get admitted to the State Bar in Jefferson City with a ceremony that made me cry, then we got to celebrate his accomplishment at SLU's commencement ceremony and a party with all our friends and our family.
Pretty awesome year, if I do say so myself. :)
Now looking on to 2014, it's got a lot to live up to. I'm not one who loves resolutions or hates them. Sometimes I make them and sometimes I don't.
Last week, I watched a TedX video by Laura Schwartz, an author and speaker, and former Director of Events at the White House (see the video here). She talks about "being present to win" - she's talking about winning something at a conference, something we're all familiar with, you drop your name into a bowl and they pull the winner's name at the end of the event.
She talks about how that same concept - being present to win - is also a life lesson. You have to show up - being in the moment. You have to look up - look up from your device screen and be there for experiences in your life.
This really resonated with me this year. My husband will tell you I'm addicted to my iDevices and that's probably true. But I'm also so busy that it's hard not to experience the moment.
So this year, in 2014, I'm going to be present to win. I'm going to be there in the moment, and not be worried about tomorrow's event, next week's meeting, or next month's vacation. I'm going to be present.
It's show time!
What's your New Year's resolution?
This time last year, we were with friends at Innsbrook, enjoying the falling snow (which would cause some problems in leaving the resort the next day!) and celebrating Husband's final exams the month before. He had just finished his last semester of law school and was preparing for the Missouri Bar Exam.
2013 would see him take and pass the big scary test, get admitted to the State Bar in Jefferson City with a ceremony that made me cry, then we got to celebrate his accomplishment at SLU's commencement ceremony and a party with all our friends and our family.
Pretty awesome year, if I do say so myself. :)
Now looking on to 2014, it's got a lot to live up to. I'm not one who loves resolutions or hates them. Sometimes I make them and sometimes I don't.
Last week, I watched a TedX video by Laura Schwartz, an author and speaker, and former Director of Events at the White House (see the video here). She talks about "being present to win" - she's talking about winning something at a conference, something we're all familiar with, you drop your name into a bowl and they pull the winner's name at the end of the event.
She talks about how that same concept - being present to win - is also a life lesson. You have to show up - being in the moment. You have to look up - look up from your device screen and be there for experiences in your life.
This really resonated with me this year. My husband will tell you I'm addicted to my iDevices and that's probably true. But I'm also so busy that it's hard not to experience the moment.
So this year, in 2014, I'm going to be present to win. I'm going to be there in the moment, and not be worried about tomorrow's event, next week's meeting, or next month's vacation. I'm going to be present.
It's show time!
What's your New Year's resolution?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)