Tag: life list

Go Dogsledding? Check.

Am I the only one who thought you have to go to the Arctic Tundra for dogsledding? The idea is so exotic to me, I expected to be shrouded in seal pelts and lunching on whale blubber. Then again, having grown up in California, windshield ice scrapers are exotic to me, so I may not be the best judge. Turns out there’s a dogsledding operation called Wilderness Adventures in Truckee, California, just a few hours north of my home town. Score!

This is our family riding in a dogsled, you guys. Hank is covering his face because I gave him my sunglasses so snow chips wouldn’t hit him in the eyes. He loved them and got very screechy when I tried to uncover his face. I thought about fighting him, because I was attached to the idea of a crazy-awesome dogsledding Christmas card, until I realized I was in danger of turning a magical day into a Perfectionist v. Toddler screamfest. So you’ll just have to trust me that he’s looking pretty cute under there.

Sledding was a little scary in the beginning because the dogs were so excited to get going, and also because this life list project has made me afraid of going fast without an adult helmet. Bryan asked if we should be prepared for the sled to tip. On the bridge, for example.

Yikes.

Our guide assured us that there was too much weight in the sled. So he basically called us fat. Take that, huskies!

For the most part, dogsledding was sort of like an amusement park ride, only the the bumper cars can poop. Speaking of which, the dogs do let loose while they’re running, sometimes without even breaking stride. So it was nice to have front row tickets for that.

Apparently the motion of the sled is so soothing that it often puts kids to sleep, and Hank was no exception. It was so cozy to have him dozing in my lap while I snuggled up with Bryan. Dog sledding is fun for the whole family!

After the run was over, we got to go play with the dogs, which made Hank delirious with joy and slightly terrified. He’s a little nervous around big dogs, so he kept saying, “These doggies are so nice to me. They will not bite me.”

And he was right.

We rewarded Hank for his bravery by finding him a pair of his very own sunglasses.

Christmas card secured.

A huge thanks to Verizon Wireless for sponsoring my Mighty Life List and helping me achieve my dreams. They gave me a Palm Pre Plus, which I used to find my way to the dogsledding place because it has GPS, and we were totally lost. Our guide also used it to take the first photo of this post, which I frankly would not have believed was from a camera phone if I hadn’t been there. Well done, everyone.

Je Ne Parle Pas Français

So, one of the items on my Mighty Life List is “Be conversational in seven languages.” I studied Spanish for years, and I think language really shapes how I think. Knowing another language besides my native tongue has given me an alternate way of looking at the world. Knowing Spanish specifically makes me sometimes want to cry when I hear a guitar playing at night, and makes me more willing to be the first one dancing at parties. That could also be the tequila of course, but I digress.

When I first made my list, some part of me thought the simple act of writing things down would magically make them happen. Like once I realized that I wanted to pick blackberries and make pies, I’d just find myself passing blackberry bramble on a walk one Sunday with a bucket in hand.

As I’ve started to cross things off, it has genuinely surprised me that I have to plan fun. I guess some part of me thinks that fun will just happen, even very specific types of fun, and that I shouldn’t have to actively put aside time for that stuff.

It took around three years of lessons before I could get the gist of most conversations in Spanish. So if I start now, it will be about fifteen years before I can cross off this goal.

On Wednesday night, I got started. Verizon is sponsoring French classes with Bryan, which we’ll be attending until we can speak French. I’ll keep you posted.

Merci beaucoup to Verizon Wireless for sponsoring my Mighty Life List and helping me achieve my dreams. They’re making my site more interesting by helping me cross off few more goals, and they also gave me a Palm Pre Plus. One that completes calls. Thanks, guys.

Taste 1,000 Fruits: No. 71-73

allthree

Winter citrus! These are Mandarinquats, tiny Kishu Mandarins, and a Fremont Mandarin.

kishumandarin

Kishu Mandarins are so wee that the segments are about half the size of a quarter.

kishupeeled

They’re very sweet, with barely enough tang to feel like you’re actually eating citrus.

fremontmandarin

Fremont Mandarins tasted similar to the Kishus, but larger, with a brighter peel that would make lovely zest. Also, they have seeds.

mandarinquat

I was most excited about the Mandarinquats, which are a Mandarin-Kumquat hybrid. They’re supposed to be similar to kumquats, which have a super sweet peel and tart fruit. Kumquats are about the size of grapes, so you just pop them in your mouth whole, and I love them.

mquatpeeled

I do not love Mandarinquats. They’re pretty, but the peel is nowhere near as sweet as a kumquat, which means you’re just eating an orange peel. But! If you’re a bartender who wants to make a kumquat drink, these would be less time consuming to juice I guess. Also pretty in floral arrangements?

Meh. Mandarinquat, you are no friend of mine.

Hooray for you! Your Mighty Lists, Part 3

If you’re working on a Mighty List, please send it my way: maggie at mightygirl dot com. If you haven’t started your list yet, here’s another set to inspire you (more ideas here and here). Cribbing encouraged:

lastresortsocks

Positively Anna is going to:

“Throw out any socks and underwear that I would be embarrassed about wearing if I got hit by a car and had to go to the hospital.”

Robyn of A Devine Life is going to:

“Donate 10,000 hand-knit items to charities.”

Anna Bell of Wanty is going to:

“Sew a dress that I am really proud to wear.”

Jodi Michelle of I Tell Stories is going to:

“Take a month long road trip with no destination.”

Tell A Girl is going to:

“Go to disco in Ibiza.”

hankguitar

Aisha of Slices of My Life is going to:

“Learn to play a song on my guitar.”

Thrifty Chick is going to:

“Pick my own flowers for my table.”

Kelli of Working Title is going to:

“See Frank Lloyd Wright’s home(s).”

Sara of I Like to Cook is going to:

“Place flowers at the memorial statue of Stevie Ray Vaughn in Austin, Texas.”

Nadarine is going to:

“Attend a real masquerade.”

octoberfest

Grania of Black Oak’s Daughter is going to:

“Oktoberfest, in Munich”

Amber of The Amber Show is going to:

“Gallop a horse.”

Jen of Feast of Life is going to:

“Fly to Paris for my birthday.”

Jennifer of The Good Life with Jen is going to:

“Get to the top of a lighthouse.”

Emily Grace of LIFE: The Journey, Not The Destination is going to:

“Be brave and eat French food without wondering what part of the animal it is.”

clambake

MeL of Stay at Aum Mom is going to:

“Go to an old-fashioned clambake on the beach.”

Liza of Crackle_Loud is going to:

“Buy a sundress.”

Laura is going to:

“Stand in the middle of the marketplace in Marrakesh.”

Vanessa of Yes It Is Necessary is going to:

“Restore my great-grandfathers 1959 Chevy Biscayne.”

Widdershins is going to:

“See Ayers Rock at sunrise.”
nightontrain

Nichole of Butterscotch Sunday is going to:

“Spend a night on a train.”

Jazzellis of Tea Cups and Superheros is going to:

“Grow a garden full of things we can eat.”

Lisa Ortale is going to:

“Own a piano and play it well.”

Nothing Witty is going to:

“Make her own vanilla extract!”

Splinters is going to:

“Make 5 different cheeses at home.”

Your Mighty Life List Ideas

If you’re working on a Mighty Life List, please send it my way: maggie at mightygirl dot com. If you haven’t started your list yet, here’s another set to inspire you (more over here). Cribbing encouraged:

mllflowers

Melissa of Suburban Bliss is going to:
“Buy fresh flowers for the house once a week for a year.”

Bea of Bea is going to:
“Take singing lessons.”

Danielle  of Knotty Yarn is going to:
“Restore contact with three people I’ve lost along the way.”

Eleanor Black of Pundit is going to:
“Hug an orangutan.”

Jackie of A Patchwork Life is going to:
“Take trapeze lessons.”

mllchurch

Raych of The Part of My Life that is Not on The Intrawebs is going to:
“Ring a church bell (the kind in a tower, with a rope).”

R. Glaves of Underoo is going to:
“Get rid of everything I own that won’t fit in a backpack.”

Jena and Jessi of Bouched is going to:
“Sneeze on a sneeze guard.”

The Littlest Bird is going to:
“Take the Hiram Bingham Train to Machu Picchu.”

take luck is going to:
“Restore an old movie theatre.”

mllfish

La Florecita is going to:
“Own a saltwater tank.”

The Takemoto Family is going to:
“Learn to throw pottery.”

Ms. Quarter of A Quarter Century in the Cream City is going to:
“Cook gulyas over an open fire.”

McGriddle Pants of Serenity Now!! Insanity Later is going to:
“Become proficient in the use of a plane, motorcycle, tractor, surfboard, rifle, pistol, canoe, football, basketball, bow and arrow, a guitar, lariat and boomerang.”

Charmed of Ramblings of an Idle Mind is going to:
“Go spelunking.”

mllsnow

Alliecat In A Beautiful Pea Green Boat is going to:
“Take my children to experience snow. Preferably a White Christmas somewhere very, very north of here.”

J. Murray – Szarvas of Murray-Szarvas.com is going to:
“Travel across Canada on my motorcycle.”

Cahilla is going to:
“Ride the trains in Darjeeling.”

KT of Review Notes is going to:
“Spend a day at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.”

Gail of Impolite Conversation is going to:
“Become involved with a gnostic community.”

Allison of Perknitious is going to:
“Wear red shoes in the summer.”

Pumpkin Soup is going to :
“Eat caviar.”

Dakotagrrl is going to:
Finish a New York Times crossword puzzle.”

Sandra Vahtel of The Sour and the Sweet is going to:
“Travel to over 50% of the globe.”

Stacy of Sassafras Mama is going to:
“Have a front porch so incredible it could be on the cover of Country Living magazine.”

Chewy Words; Broad Summit Winner

Wow. As it turns out Twitter contests totally work. Plus, I liked seeing your photos next to your posts. This way, if I ever see you at the grocery store wearing a Burger King crown or holding a flower in front of your face, I will recognize you instantly.

I wanted to collect a few of my favorite #lexicon responses here. But first things first. The winner is…

@KASalomon!

Is that you? Hooray for you! I’ve DMd you, but please comment if you have no idea how to use Twitter, because it seems like you may have set up an account just for this contest. As it turns out, that was worth it, no?

Now for the rest of you. Did you follow the #lexicon thread? It was good. I went to collect my favorite responses, but after about three hours of collecting, I decided enough was enough. So if you don’t see any of your responses here, it’s because I never cared for you.

Good Words

haberdasher, moxie, @talulattdh
troglodyte @kristenekelly
balderdash @aliceRTmiller
Jejeune! @superdumb
*unguent* – more serious than ointment with a good dose of urgent, but not as calm as balm @ChiefWrangler
‘faffing about’- british slang, messing around, wasting time.usually used as ‘stop faffing about and let’s go’. fun to say too. @sunguru24 (Ed note: Faffing sounds like an unpleasant sexual encounter. And that is how I will use it henceforth.)
Besmirched @allinblack
dulcet @alfieri
penury @CaleeL
Dodgy @gwentropy
akimbo and the phrase ‘on a lark.’ @Kikkiland
whirlygig @MomOfDavidIsaac
fabulist @whoamell
comeuppance @TeenSleuth
zaftig @TeenSleuth
Gumption @deepthoughts78
peckish, onomatopoeia @ALundgren
blast! @CBJbookoflists
Jiggerypokery @jill_y
“peeved,” for its ability to make an angry situation more lighthearted. @4thmonth
leviathan, dupe, caddywhompus @SassafrasMama
sluice, whorl @mriggen
expunge @sainmyownmind
compunction, shebang @thegastronome
foist @emilyluce
taciturn @missfinncrisp
knackered @okimusso
simonize @catibasmati
nebbish @jessicaroberts
bloviate @i_scrap
aces @kristense

Words I Had to Look Up

transmogrify @JastasticSF
crepuscular @lisalou2
Concatenation @margism
peradventure @clayahh
taradiddle @noisyoyster
prestidigitation @talulattdh
skulduggery @betherin
doolally tap @lizzielou68

Wait, Maybe I Should Include Definitions

lucubrate — to work, write, or study laboriously, esp. at night. @JessWalker9
cromulent — fine, acceptable @slnoonanj
dogsbody — a menial worker; drudge @aek1974
eleemosynary — of or pertaining to alms, charity, or charitable donations; charitable. @editrix
mulligrubs — ill temper; colic; grumpiness @editrix
esprit d’escalier — (staircase wit) thinking of a comeback when it’s too late @editrix
malkin — untidy woman @editrix
folderol — mere nonsense; foolish talk or ideas @megastore
uxorious — doting upon, foolishly fond of, or affectionately submissive toward one’s wife. @hannahmaec (ed note: I love this.)
perspicacious — having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning: to exhibit perspicacious judgment. @mirielmargaret
etiolated — 1. to cause (a plant) to whiten or grow pale by excluding light: to etiolate celery. 2. to cause to become weakened or sickly; drain of color or vigor.@bridgejr
sylvan — of, pertaining to, or inhabiting the woods. @sarahbrown
psithurism — A whispering sound @jenkinkn
lollop — 1. British Dialect. to loll; lounge. 2. to move forward with a bounding or leaping motion @bookgeekgirl
clamjamfry — mob, rabble, crowd @bachelorgirl
foofaraw — a great fuss over something insignificant @Victoria_Etc.
clapperclaw — to fight and scratch; to abuse with the tongue, scold @Victoria_Etc.
toodle-pip — humorous British goodbye @piehands
Petrichor — the smell of rain on dry earth. @dzandone (ed: So good)
pfui — Alternate spelling of phooey @katharsisjones
farrago — which is a confused mass of objects or people. Also known as “the Internet.” @sarawr
mizzle — rain in fine drops @amy_m_eller
syzygy — 1. Astronomy. an alignment of three celestial objects 2. any two related things, either alike or opposite. @chemmefatale
whinge — whine @doobleveh

Made Up Words, and Onomatopoeia

Sweaky (when you have a fever/ are sick and feel all sweaty and icky) @soukii
Wurrow (whir-row) – (v.) to luxuriate amidst fluffy blankets in bed (burrow/wallow) @suburbanal
ignoration, whorepaint @MsYuppieScum
bazinga @laurenbrown
Toebug. Toebug. Toebug. Man, I love that word… just wish there was a way to use it in an everyday sentence. @jenniferjune
Splooie @nowsexyrobot
kerflummoxed @peprallytoday
limerence– an involuntary cognitive + emotional state of intense romantic desire for another person @lmdupont
lasterday — any time before right now @carliches
kookamarook — crazy person @jlcs621
jackety — my nephew’s made up word for off-kilter, junky, or not-quite-right. As in- “My old car is really jackety.” @katiemfree
oobleck @deodand
Ugglesome @thejiffer (ed note: a kinder derivative of ugsome?)
explorganize — what toddlers are doing when they take things out of a container, inspect them, then put them back @krotondo
nelphric, which I dreamed, but sounds like it could be real @ptrae
flouncy – as in “I hung my clothes on the line to dry today, including my flouncies.” @gillh
woobly — a wonderful made up onomatopoeia for an upset tummy @sarahjlyons

Multiple Entries

Finally, many, many of you wish we’d use the following terms more often:

kerfuffle/kerfluffle
defenestration
fisticuffs
plethora
thank you

Speaking of which, thank you for playing. You are smart.

Broad Summit Details, Day 1

bhaughey

All right, I’ve been asleep since last Sunday.

The retreat was amazing, and exhausting, but worth every minute of planning over the last eight months. All the Broad Summit organizers love to entertain, so we incorporated lots of details.

bblankets

We met up in Guerneville, CA, which is near our cabin, so I brought over my collection of vintage wool blankets. We use them at the cabin all the time, and we had a bonfire planned for the retreat, so I knew we’d need them. Bryan mocks me whenever I come home from the flea market with yet another blanket, but seeing them all stuffed into our laundry basket on the lawn was profoundly satisfying.

bgwen

We got use out of them all weekend, and they smelled amazing because we store them in a cedar chest to protect against moths. When I was passing them out, I swear I heard Martha Stewart howling at the moon.

blauragiftbags

It was a small enough group that we could really personalize everything. We wanted to make sure the gift bags really felt like gifts, so before we decided how to fill them, I told Laura that my dream was to get monogrammed totes from Land’s End. She just called and Land’s End and figured out how to make it happen, then collected guests’ initials via email. Then I proposed to her.

bgiftbags

We spent Friday afternoon stuffing the bags (more on the gifts inside later), and when they were all set up, they looked zowie — though they do sort of evoke the image of having thirty bridesmaids. I feel slightly faint at the thought of getting that many girls to wear the same ugly dress.

baubstaco

Instead of hiring a caterer, we arranged for a taco truck to arrive before cocktails. For a large group, it’s a surprisingly economical.

bgabbytruck

Plus, there’s something so decadent about walking up to a window and ordering whatever you want without having to dig out your wallet.

btacotruck

If you’re planning a casual, fun wedding, taco trucks are the way to go. Delicious, and they make for great photos.

bsoda

After tacos, we headed over to the sangria and soda pop bar. There were lots of non-drinkers and pregnant ladies in attendance, so we took inspiration from Jordan Ferney’s adorable soda bar. BevMo had a huge selection of cute pop in bottles. I called Jordan last-minute to ask where we could get striped paper straws in San Francisco, she offered to tap into her extensive personal collection. Score.

bbunnies

After cocktails, we all changed into our pajamas for a Milk and Cookies PJ Party by the bonfire.

bmilk

A few days earlier, we found this milk-carton vase at CB2. Perfect.

bmilkandcookies

Cookies were from Annie the Baker, who makes cookies for folks who would prefer to eat straight cookie dough. (Peanut butter. Order the peanut butter.) We also had a selection from Bountiful Vegan, because we were hosting women with all kinds of food preferences and allergies.

bbonfire

We pulled over the chaise loungers from the pool area, wrapped up in blankets, and used the milk to mix White Russian nightcaps in our coffee mugs. It was very Prohibition.

If you’d like to see more, Jean Aw took some gorgeous photos of the bonfire and hotel over on NOTCOT. More details from me Monday, have a good weekend.

Mighty Life List: Organize a Retreat

redwood

Remember when I said I would nap? I will get to that. But today I woke up at 6 a.m., like a kid on Christmas. Laura Mayes was sleeping beside me, so I whispered, “You’re so excited!” She laughed. With her eyes closed.

Today I get to see my Blogroll in 3-D. The Broad Summit is this weekend, which means that a good chunk of the online publishers I’ve grown to love over the years are coming to Guerneville to drink wine and talk about smart things. If you want to follow along, everyone’s Twitter handles are here, and their sites are in the sidebar.

All these women have meant so much to me, some of them are close friends, some my inspirations, but every one of them has enhanced my life in some way. For me, this weekend is a thank you for everything they’ve done to make my life better.

Hooray for the Internet! I say hooray.