Number 57: Up near the atmosphere, up where the air is clear!

 

If there's one thing my life has been sorely lacking lately, it is a good old fashioned FESTIVAL.

 

So when my church decided to have a booth at the Soaring for Social Justice Kite Festival, I jumped to attend!  In addition to all the incredible kites, there were vendors selling jewelry and beautiful ethnic clothing, hoola hooping and lots of other kids' activities, and a huge building filled with information booths about local community organizations.  

I had the BEST time!

My 2nd favorite thing was visiting the booths and learning about new organizations to get involved with.  I found a vegan group, got my name written in Arabic, picked up a bunch of fliers about emergency preparedness, and got directions to the Hindu temple!  And every table was very, very generous with candy.  It was like trick-or-treating for grownups!

My 1st favorite thing was running into BFF Jessica and her family!  It was the perfect day for kite flying and catching up with each other. 

All in all, it was a day of WIN.

If there are any kite festivals in your area, I highly recommend checking them out!  Or any kind of festival, really.  Are any of you festival-goers on the reg?  What have been some of your favorites?   

Number 27: This beautiful art took less than five minutes

Indian culture fascinates me.  I want to participate in Holi, have a closet full of saris, shake it like a Bollywood star, and learn everything I can about the wild and wonderful world of Hindu gods. My comfort food is curry and papadum.  I am an aspirational Desi girl.

So of course, getting a henna design was a non-negotiable part of The List.

At the Soaring for Social Justice kite festival this weekend, my church had fortuitously set up our booth right beside a henna station!  The gorgeous and talented ladies of the Huntsville Islamic Center painted this amazing design on my hand in less than five minutes.  About an hour later, the dark brown ink sloughed off and what's left is a light brown stain that should be good for up to a week.

Next time?  I want henna sleeves!

Have you ever gotten henna or other temporary body art?

Number 61: Buying it was the easy part

  

Introducing Madame Bovary, my brand new orchid, purchased this very afternoon at the fancy hippie grocery market.  Isn't she lovely???  But as the title of this post suggests, buying was the easy part.  

Now it's up to me to keep this baby alive for two years!  Anybody got any orchid growing tips?  I need all the help I can get!

 

The Obligatory Explanation Post: Who I Am and What I'm Doing Here

Yeah.  Hi!  I'm Laura.

If you've been on the Internet for any amount of time in the last, oh, four years, I'll wager you've probably seen that 101 things in 1001 days meme making its way 'round the blogs.

This is not one of those lists.

It is similar, however, in that I'm endeavoring to accomplish SEVENTY FIVE new things in SEVEN HUNDRED THIRTY days.  That's two years, yo.  I'm choosing these numbers instead of the "traditional" version because really, how many people have actually completed everything on their lists?  Not many, it seems.  101 is nigh impossible; 75 makes a nice challenge. 

And while I do love being social and Out and About in the world, lately it's become far too easy to come home from work and crash in front of my laptop, watching Mad Men and eating peanut butter straight from the jar...

...not that there's anything wrong with that!  OCCASIONALLY. 

I want to do more with my evenings, my time, my LIFE.

Hence, The List.  The Super 75, if you will.

I'll be posting pictures and anecdotes about my (mis)adventures here. 

The Master List

Start date: 3/4/2014

End date: 3/4/2016

1.       Go to a drive-in movie

2.       Do a one day juice/smoothie detox

3.       Host a dinner party

4.       Take a vacation with a friend

5.       Have my own apartment

6.       Create a custom fragrance

7.       Learn to use a sewing machine

8.       Sew a skirt

9.       Watch every movie up for Academy Award Best Picture one year

10.   Attend some kind of medical technologist career event

11.   Join an MT professional organization

12.   Take a dance class

13.   Go on a ghost tour in Hollywood

14.   Save $XXXXX

15.   Contribute to my retirement funds

16.   Do yoga at least once a week (0/52)

17.   Join a book club

18.   Get a spray tan

19.   Don’t complain about anything for one week

20.   Have a mother/daughter photoshoot

21.   Take a self-defense class

22.   Grow fresh herbs

23.   Attend a Dita Von Teese performance

24.   Travel somewhere by train

25.   Go to the opera

26.   Cook something with truffle oil

27.   Get mehndi/henna

28.   Go geocaching

29.   Finish reading all the books I’ve started

30.   Speak in public

31.   Learn five friends’ phone numbers by heart (0/5)

32.   Have a photoshoot at the Alabama Theatre

33.   Volunteer at the Humane Society at least once a month

34.   Watch Giant

35.   See a show at the Princess Theatre in Decatur

36.   Attend a writing workshop

37.   Have my fortune told

38.   Take a martial arts class

39.   Visit a Buddhist or Hindu temple

40.   Watch a meteor shower

41.   Make a dessert with edible gold

42.   Stay at the Stanley Hotel

43.   Perfect a raw cheesecake

44.   Walk a labyrinth

45.   Go horseback riding

46.   Attend the I Can Do It! Conference in Austin

47.   Have an overnight camping adventure

48.   Write a thank you note to a former teacher

49.   Go kayaking

50.   Find a mentor

51.   Be a mentor

52.   Try ziplining

53.   Get a facial

54.   See the Dismalites at Dismals Canyon

55.   Participate in a “wild encounter” at a zoo

56.   Visit Tigers of Tomorrow

57.   Attend a kite festival

58.   Have an Internet-free weekend

59.   Cook tempeh

60.   Clean out the spare bedroom

61.   Get an orchid and keep it alive!

62.   Send a care package to a female soldier overseas

63.   Make vegan marshmallows

64.   Hike in Colorado, summer 2015

65.   Go to a shooting range

66.   Keep up with tax deductions

67.   Attend a cultural celebration

68.   Try jackfruit or kumquats

69.   Visit the Scott and Zelda museum in Montgomery

70.   Go on a retreat at Unity Village

71.   Watch every Marilyn Monroe movie

72.   Go on a day hike with Southeastern Outings

73.   Attend a satsang

74.   Grind my own spices and cook authentic Indian food

75.   Try zorbing