100 things to do in 2011.

who's ready for 2011? THIS GIRL! 2k10 was a fab year, for sure, but as a huuuuge list junkie, i relish the chance to figure out the fun stuff i want to do in the upcoming year.

besides my bucket list, and my 30 before 30 list (a subset of the bucket list - yes, i'm crazy), i bypass that whole "new year's resolutions" business and make an annual list of 100 things i want to accomplish/do. some i've done before and just think would be fun to do again, some i've never done, some are pulled from my bucket list. and a select few i'm not sharing :). but i plan to keep track of all of the following on this blog as i go throughout 2011. i crossed off about 40 on my 2010 list, which i'm a little disappointed about, but now i'm even more motivated to get crackin' on this one. what do you want to do in the new year? to new beginnings!

100 things to do in 2011

1. go to south by southwest

2. visit chicago

3. meet andrew jenks

4. get my passport

5. dance on stage

6. host a dinner party

7. take a cooking class

8. go on a picnic

9. complete my book proposal

10. party with celebrities

11. go on a cruise

12. finish the crossword every day for a month

13. see 50 new movies

14. dine at 50 new restaurants

15. sell something on ebay

16. do volunteer work

17. sleep under the stars

18.visit 1 new state

19. win a contest

20. get a tattoo

21. perfect a dish

22. go to the cape

23. visit providence and newport, r.i.

24.see 10 bands live

25.try 5 new foods

26. go to a celtics game

27. skinny dip

28.go hiking

29.take a dance class

30. kiss in the rain

31. go to a drive-in movie

32. try one new recipe a month

33. take a duck tour

34.drink an egg cream

35. bake cupcakes

36.see a stand-up comedian

37.cultivate a great new friendship

38. get 100 blog subscribers

39. get a spray tan

40. visit a local winery/vineyard

41. take a guided tour

42. learn the "single ladies" dance

43. go swimming at night

44. go fruit picking

45. audition/try out for something

46. go out for fondue

47.spend a day in newburyport

48. reconnect with an old friend

49. get a psychic reading

50.yelp about 10 places i've been

51. go to a strip club

52. be on tv

53. win at trivia

54.tailgate

55. eat at pinkberry

56. learn to parallel park

57. lower my cholesterol

58. read one book per month

59.make my bedroom a cozy sanctuary

60. sing karaoke

61.make $1,000 in freelance

62. tone my stomach

63.floss once a week

64. eat at ruth's chris for free

65. hit 4,000 twitter followers

66. improve my posture

67. get a mani/pedi

68. go to a book signing

69. nurture a plant

70.go to a farmer's market

71. go out for tapas

72. visit the isabella stewart gardner museum

73.assume a fake identity for one night

74.play a board game

75.go to a jazz brunch

76.perform a random act of kindness

77.eat breakfast daily

78. take up a new hobby

79. watch an entire tv series on dvd

80. go backstage at a concert

81. whiten my teeth

82. ride in a limo

83. smoke a cigar

84. eat fried pickles

85. hang out around a bonfire

86. go to an art gallery opening

87. organize my itunes

88. write a fan letterand get a response

89. participate in a flashmob

90. kiss a foreigner

91. go on 2 dates with the same person

92. visit a historic landmark

93. donate money to a charity

94. go a month without fast food

95. see a sunrise and sunset in the same day

96. balance my checkbook

97. win money at a slot machine

98. learn the "thriller" dance

99. request a song on the radio

100. make a toast

bake, bake, bake, senora

ah, snow days. i hate the white stuff, but don't mind the opportunity to bake stuff all day at alllll. i'm still working on cooking, but baking is totally my thing. could it be because of my insane sweet tooth? perhaps. but i thought i'd share with you some great recipes that i snagged from pillsbury - one for a quiche that i made the other day, and another that i'm about to whip up (fingers crossed for yumminess). bon appetit!

tomato-bacon quiche:

INGREDIENTS

1

frozen deep dish pie crust

6

slices bacon, cooked, crumbled

4

medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)

3

medium plum (Roma) tomatoes, seeded, chopped

1/4

teaspoon salt

1/4

teaspoon pepper

1

cup half-and-half

2

tablespoons all-purpose flour

2

eggs

1/2

cup shredded Swiss cheese (2 oz)

1/2

cup shredded Cheddar cheese (2 oz)

DIRECTIONS

1. Place cookie sheet on oven rack. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove crust from freezer; let stand 1 minute. Prick crust with fork. Bake on cookie sheet 9 to 11 minutes or until very light golden brown.

2. Sprinkle bacon, green onions, tomatoes, salt and pepper in crust. In medium bowl, stir together half-and-half, flour and eggs. Stir in cheeses. Pour over tomato mixture.

3. Bake on cookie sheet 25 to 30 minutes longer or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

sweet cheese delights

INGREDIENTS

2

packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened

1

cup sugar

1

egg yolk

1

teaspoon vanilla

2

cans (8 oz each) crescent dinner rolls

1

cup chopped pecans

1/2

cup packed brown sugar

2

tablespoons butter, melted

2

teaspoons ground cinnamon

Powdered sugar, if desired

DIRECTIONS

1. In large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla; beat on low speed until blended.

2. Unroll 1 can of dough into 1 large rectangle; press seams and perforations to seal. Press onto bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. Spread with cream cheese mixture.

3. In small bowl, mix pecans, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon. Sprinkle half the pecan mixture over the cream cheese layer. On lightly floured surface, press or roll out remaining dough into 13x9-inch rectangle. Place over filling. Sprinkle remaining pecan mixture over top.

4. Bake at 375°F 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly on cooling rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cover and refrigerate leftovers.

okstupid.

for some totally unknown reason, i resurrected my okcupid profile (okay, it may have been because despite disabling my account, i was still getting messages about my bangs which don't exist anymore, and it was pissin' me off). and within a week of gettin' back on the horse, i'm reminded of just what i hated about it in the first place. that's not to say that some of the messages are INCREDIBLY amusing, however...here are some select gems:

"how u doing? I'll be abouts in boston next week. Thought we could hang out and u could take me dance if u please"

"Beautiful, useless trivia, car rapping! Wow, perfect! Wait... sister act 2.....Really?"

"Never heard anyone call someone a toolbag Lol hit me up if u wanna chat my name is ___"

(The following 3 are all from the same dude):

"Do you have two quarters? My mom wanted me to call her when I fell in love"

my response: "...you mean you don't have a cell phone?!"

"No I do, but I'm just feeling crappy b/c you never called me yet :P xxx.xxx.xxxx Lol"

(after I didn't respond):

"Call me, dickhead :P"

REALLY?!

....i need to write a book.

site i love: i want to be her!

to the outsider, i may seem to just say a lot of random crap that makes me look like i'm directionless/all over the place. but to my family and close friends, they know that i just tend to think out loud/make exaggerated statements for effect on a daily basis. all in good fun!

one of these oft-used phrases is "i want to be her"...now, depending on my mood, i could be admiring some random chick's faux-fur jacket, or musing while looking at a friend's african safari photos on facebook. this isn't a statement made out of jealousy or envy (er, usually), just a fleeting moment of "that's awesome!". and the founder of this new site, i want to be her!, apparently shares my feelings (at least about the faux-fur jacket.) a new take on the lookbook, the site includes photos (or drawings in some cases) of stylish gals on the street, with each piece of their outfits broken down for us adorers to check out. dig it!

a crapella

i might be in the minority, but i've never been a fan of a capella groups. i can appreciate a great voice, sure, and i'm super-impressed by vocal beat-boxing and all of that....just not together. after prolonged exposure to it, my left eye starts twitching, my head starts hurting, and sometimes i even have to start humming my own song to distract from the hot mess that is an a capella song.

maybe that's why i hated NBC's "the sing off", an a capella competition, when it premiered last year. first of all, the groups were absolutely horrible singers, but my aversion to vocal-only music probably didn't help. and when i saw this performance promoting the upcoming season on the macy's thanksgiving parade, it all came rushing back to me. this crop of singers seems better, at least, but the background "du-du"s and "bop"s still give me immense anxiety. anyone else?

feelin' hot hot hot

this past week has been quite the smorgasbord of awesome. let's review, shall we?

1. hanson being badass.

few things or people make my inner teenybopper squeal like isaac, taylor, and zac, and i feel like a proud parent that the boys have kept on keepin' on since 1997 and make such ridiculously great music. i feel like i could take even the most staunch hanson hater to a show and they'd walk away wanting to get a "hanson 4 lyfe" tattoo. but anyways, i attended my 5th (yes 5th) concert by the trio last night and as usual, it felt pretty much like christmas morning. and speaking of, they busted out two completely unexpected holiday gems from snowed in, their 1997 christmas album AND coincidentally best christmas album ever, no exaggeration.

my only wish was that a situation like this one, that occurred just a few nights ago in montreal, happened at our show, so isaac (aka "old man hanson") could have pulled this badass move on this guy who pushed two drunk annoying girls down. starts at 1:28. loves it.

2. EGGNOG'S BACK!

i think i might be the only fan of this EPIC drink, but i don't understand how anyone can not love it. it's pretty much like melted vanilla ice cream with a hint of cinnamon in a cup. plus, you can put rum in it! though i must admit i'm somewhat of an eggnog purist and don't like any mix-ins in my 'nog. nommm.

3. "lipdub" videos

where have these been all of my life? i grew up lip-synching in my mirror and i think i'm pretty darn good. so when i saw this one-take lip-synch to the black eyed peas' "i've got a feeling" by a group of canadian college students on the today show the other morning, i basically thought i'd found my calling. this is the best of the bunch, but there's some other hilarious ones if you feel like scrolling through the related vids.

4. girl talk's album "all day"

i never got into this dude before, but after several friends suggested that i check out the latest release from the mash-up master, downloadable for FREE on this site, i took the bait andddd promptly fell in love. ludacris' "move, bitch" over black sabbath's "war pigs"? foxy brown's "hot spot" over peter gabriel's "in your eyes"? it's over an hour of fantastic goodness. if you like to smile, you need to download this album. ASAP. :)

THE MCVERDICT IS IN.

i had heard whisperings of the sandwich before. a sketchy-sounding "pork patty" smothered in barbeque sauce and covered with pickles and onions from mcdonald's that only appeared on the menu for limited-time intervals. but just last week, talk of the mcrib's return reached a fever pitch, with countless tweets, facebook status updates and random declarations of love for this strange and intriguing culinary invention. mcdonald's themselves seemed to enjoy the sandwich's cult following, launching a "legends of mcrib" campaign that encouraged devotees to share the story of their first time. with the mcrib, that is.

not being able to resist the temptation and hype that was swirling about (not to mention, being a secret fatty and loving all things fast food and/or barbeque), i just had to try the mcrib. as i pulled up to the drive-thru, hands shaking in anticipation, an angelic voice greeted me, "welcome to mcdonald's. would you like to try the mcrib?" damn, they're good. "yes, actually, i would!" and, as i lick the last traces of barbeque sauce off of my fingers, my curiosity has finally been satisfied. the mcrib is pretty darn mcyummy - i'd give it a 7 out of 10.

now, i wouldn't say that i'd eat this thing for every meal for the rest of my life. and i don't think it necessarily merits a grandiose obsession. i much prefer the angus 1/3 pounders. but the meat was surprisingly tasty, the barbeque sauce had the perfect amount of tang, and the onions gave it a little extra kick. i'm also quite bitter because i only got ONE pickle, so that might have lowered my rating a notch or two, but overall, not awful for a fast food joint's try at barbeque. i hear this run is only 6 weeks, so get 'em while they're hot! but you know the mcrib will be back. oh, it'll be back.