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What: #78 Watch an Elvis movie

When: November 18th
Where: My living room
Why: Both Elvis and myself were on this planet for exactly two months together, which always fascinates me. He seems like someone from another time entirely different from my own, and yet, we overlapped for a short while. He's obviously known for his music career  - there is a great exhibit on him in Cleveland - and of course for his dancing, which if you haven't really watched him, you must, and this video is one of my faves! His movies, however, seemed to be less talked about in connection to Elvis, and yet I know he starred in quite a few at the height of his career, so I felt like I wanted to see him in action, as an actor, apart from just singing and dancing. So, one night my friend and I rented "Blue Hawaii" from Amazon and settled in to be dazzled by this icon. The movie is meant to be a romance, was filmed on Hawaii, and also featured Angela Lansbury, so it seemed like a winner. And ooooooo boy, it was entertaining! First of all, he seems like he's just playing himself, which was fine because he's charismatic. The plot of the story was thin at best, just setting after setting to highlight his singing and the scenery, which again was ok. The dialogue, however, was definitely from another time when political correctness had not been absorbed by Hollywood! So much of what was said would make us cringe, and so many other things had us busting out with laughter when I don't suspect it was meant to be funny at the time. However, if you decide to enjoy this film and go in to it knowing it's from a very different era, and that the cheese factor is super high, then I think you'll have a great evening of entertainment ahead of you! For a small sample of his crooning and the gist of the movie, here's a short clip. Enjoy!

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What: #41 Host a craft night with friends

When: October 19th
Where: My new house
Why: For years, I have avoided being a hostess. It's not my thing. I love getting together with friends, going out and attending parties, but planning and hosting a party is something out of my comfort zone. That's why hosting events will often pop up on my yearly lists of new things to do, and now that I have a new home, it seemed the right time to invite a few friends over for a gathering.

For this particular party, I chose two of my oldest and dearest friends - two great women I've known since high school - and decided to host a pumpkin carving party. The party was BYOP (bring your own pumpkin), but I made mix CDs of Halloween tunes, bought amazing purple mason jars to make pumpkin-carving kits, and they brought cider and other craft supplies to make homemade greeting cards.

Our night was filled with chit-chat and child-like enthusiasm for getting dirty and being creative at the same time. I'm so lucky to have friends that let their creativity rub off on me because it's such a great outlet, and who can make anything as much fun as we always have when we get together!

Mine is in the middle...

Forty-five done ... 7 to go...

What: #74 Buy a plant for my home or workplace

When: December 12th
Where: English Gardens
Why: I have a spider plant that has grown into two separate large plants, both from a cutting that I took about 15 years ago from my mom's spider plant. I smuggled this plant into California with me when I moved there years ago, and have tended to it ever since then. Lucky for me, it is extremely adaptable, very forgiving, and so easy to take care of that even I can keep it alive, and at times, even thriving! The idea of bringing another plant to care for into the house seemed cruel; surely I'd kill it off with neglect within weeks. Yet, as I thought ahead to that day in January that I'd put away my holiday greenery and be faced with the post-holiday blahs, I thought it might be nice to have additional greenery around the house to make the transition less abrupt. This idea took even greater root (haha!) when my friends wanted to have a crafting party and terrariums were mentioned as a possible project to make together. 

I headed to the local gardening store - English Gardens - and found succulents and cacti and fancy gravel and glass containers to use, and with my friend's charcoal and soil mixture, and the added bonus of my other friend's forethought to purchase little sculptures to put in our terrariums, we were able to put them together without too much trouble. The layering of heights and type of plant to put in may take some finesse that I don't have yet, but for the cost of one fancy terrarium, we made four, so I was very pleased with our finished products!

Fancy terrariums at Nest in Detroit

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What: #53 Go to a trampoline aerobics class

When: January 11th
Where: SkyZone 
Why: In the winter months, it gets harder to be active because it is so cold. Running or biking outside aren't really options, and I loathe the treadmill and stationary bikes. I still climb every week and have started doing yoga with more regularity, yet I still crave new activities to get my heart pumping. And full disclosure: I'm anticipating a possible beach vacation in the near future, so this body needs to be ready for that, and after an extended vacation over the holidays, let's just say I enjoyed a lot of time on the couch with enormous bags of my Dad's famous homemade caramel corn. Yum!

So, after a year-long hiatus, my friends Elizabeth and Sara joined me for another adventure at the "tramp gym" (which, I realize, isn't a great term, but it's sticking around for the fun of it). This time we invited a few other great women to join us and have an impromptu bounce party to kick-off Elizabeth's annual 29th birthday! 

The moves are definitely specific to the trampolines, and not really something you could duplicate on your own at home, and it requires the wearing of very cool socks (of which I'm now the proud owner!). A lot of the class was partner work with weighted balls you'd toss back and forth after a series of moves. One fun combination was to do five really high jumping jacks, a full twist, and air splits, all with the weighted ball. There were also a lot of plank movements, which were very difficult on the trampolines. This time, there were no flips, but there was the move where you fall all the way down to your backside and bounce back up to do the next move. I had a hard time doing that without using my hands to brace myself from falling back, which I'm assuming is due to a lack of core strength. Or, perhaps my abs were just exhausted from all the laughing...truly, that is an integral part of this workout!

41 down ... eleven to go...

What: #7 See a concert at the Kerrytown Concert House

When: November 25th
Where: Kerrytown
Why: There are beautiful venues to hear music in this area, and I've spent many hours doing so. Hill Auditorium. Michigan Theater. Fox Theater. Another much smaller venue, the Kerrytown Concert House, has very intimate seating for smaller chamber pieces. We saw Brahms' Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34. Both Elizabeth and I spent most of our school years playing in ensembles, so are used to being around musicians and live performances. It was unique to see in this setting, which is an historic home converted into this space and the musicians set up in the living room area. That would be so relaxing at the end of a long day, to come home and have musicians serenading me!

The size of this venue means that as audience members, we were mere feet away from the performers, and as they were on a platform, I noticed the feet of the string players more than usual, and how much they kick around and shuffle their feet and twist their toes under their chairs. It was nothing, however, compared to the intimacy between the pianist and her piano. My friend and I tried to be mature about it, but we eventually started passing notes to each other about what we were seeing. It went like this:

"I think the pianist might be getting the piano pregnant!" - E

"I was just thinking that she's making sex faces!" - S

"And movements...I had to look away!" - E

"Doesn't she know what she looks like?" - S

"Like a full-on maniac!" - E

So yeah, we had to employ all manner of techniques to keep from laughing, and every time the song started to climax, I started to get really nervous about what I'd be seeing. I had to find a distraction, and I found that I really focused on the sound of the viola. The viola?? Yes, it surprised me, too. I love the cello, but was drawn to the smooth simple notes being played by the viola. 

Overall, the piece they played wasn't my favorite. It reminded me of times in music rehearsals when we would sight read a piece, getting the right notes, but without the feeling behind it. Plus, I'm a bit of an orchestra snob, and if it's not a top tier ensemble, I'm just a very harsh critic. The combination of the pianist (honestly, I can't convey in words how outrageous it was, but trust me, it was soooo awkward!) and the fact that we were surrounded by all gray hairs, it just wasn't our cup of tea, so we left before it was over. Luckily, I had enjoyed a cup of hot cider with my dear friend, and lots of laughs, so that made it a great night!

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What: #90 Watch “The Goonies”

When: June 23rd
Where: Ann Arbor Summer Festival
Why: It often is brought to my attention that I missed out on pivotal adolescent rites of passage, such as reading certain books (ex: Lord Of The Flies and the Diary of Anne Frank) and seeing certain films. This was one of those movies that is frequently referenced by friends, and I had no idea what I was missing. Luckily, there was a big screen showing of "The Goonies" scheduled for this year at Top of the Park - part of the summer festival - and so in addition to finally seeing this flick, it was also a chance to spend time at one of my favorite summer traditions, hang out with some friends, and enjoy a really beautiful summer night under the stars. The movie was really good - altho I think I appreciated it more an an adult than I would have as a tween. It was fun to see Sean Astin as such an "impassioned little speech giver" as Stef said, and that was so accurate! He was really a great child actor! And of course, I love adventure tales (I do own the full set of Indiana Jones movies), especially adventure tales with cheesy happy endings!

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What: #57 Cheer the Red Wings on at Joe Louis Arena

When: February 1st
Where: Downtown Detroit
Why: Detroit is known as Hockeytown. 

I think that's cool, but I never really got caught up in the excitement of hockey. I was always proud of our Stanley Cup wins (and have a picture of myself with the Stanley Cup from '97/'98 to prove my pride!), but trekking all the way down to the arena to watch a game wasn't appealing. I used to go to hockey games in college and had fun, but always felt that professional hockey was more about the fights and aggression than the skill and quality of play, so wasn't interested. Then, there was a turn of events and hockey was almost cancelled for the season, and I got a little panicked that it would be gone, so I decided I needed to support it and see what all the fuss was about; enter my Friday night adventure at my first Red Wings game! 

We decided to walk to Greektown to take the PeopleMover, which is the oddest public transit idea in the history of major cities. (On a side note, they do have an awesome slogan!)

Conjures up something else besides mass transit, right?

So, our walk to Greektown was in single-digit temps, but that just made us feel like real Detroiters that we braved the cold streets at night. Once there, we packed in to ride to "The Joe". The last time I was there was to see Barack Obama speak at a rally the summer prior to his election, so I had no idea of the level of hockey mania I was about to encounter. These fans are intense. Scary intense. I felt less comfortable in this arena of only 20,000 fans than I do in my own stadium of over 100,000 fans. These hockey fans were yelling, angry, and taking their jobs of cheering very seriously. I wasn't prepared for that, and after finally making it to my seat, I swore I wouldn't leave it again or make eye contact with anyone. 

View from my seat...nice banners!

Then, the guy next to us got trapped in his own hoodie after a hefty number of drinks, and laughing at that loosened up the mood. Next, we started to bond with the fans around us over the ridiculousness of the guy about 10 rows behind us who yelled an assortment of obnoxious criticisms constantly: "PUCK!" "CRASH THE CAGE!" "CHECK!" "YOU'RE AT HOME!!" Intensity embodied. Luckily, it seemed to work (I'm *certain* the players could hear him from his position in the top row of the arena) because in the 3rd period, the Wings went on a scoring streak and we were all on our feet cheering and high-fiving and woohooing. Then, Zetterberg (our captain) scored a hat trick, and the place went even crazier. It was so contagious, and definitely a really fun way to celebrate being in Detroit that night.

Winning made everyone happy, so waiting for the PeopleMover wasn't as miserable as normal, and even our walk back to Lafayette Park seemed less frigid. I wish I could be down at The Joe again today to watch my Wolverines play in the college tournament; but I see now the appeal of professional hockey and I'll definitely go to another Red Wings game when the opportunity arises!

4 down ...forty-eight to go...

What: # 53 Go to an event at Ford Field 

When: January 12th
Where: Ford Field in Detroit
Why: This stadium was built in downtown Detroit to bring the home of the Detroit Lions' football team into the center of the city, rather than their former placement in the far northern suburb of Pontiac. It was exciting to have both teams - Lions and our amazing Tigers - right next to each other on Woodward, near the theaters, new restaurants, and other wonderful by-products of having an injection of people in this area. I've spent many a lovely evening (and some really cold nights and some really hot days) at the baseball stadium - Comerica Park - but have yet to make it to Ford Field. It's partly because professional football holds no appeal for me. I'm a huge college football fan - GO BLUE! - and will cheer until I'm hoarse for my Wolverines, but something about the NFL isn't nearly as exciting. So, going to pay a sum of money to watch the Lions (lose) isn't high on my list, but seeing this cool newer stadium was. Enter the Monster Truck Jam. Now, this first half of my post is written before I've actually gone, but I imagine it will be loud (taking ear plugs), filled with dads and their sons, and lots of awful neon green and mud and dust and terribly tacky screen-printed t-shirts and jackets. Oh, and so much excitement that I find myself jumping up and down squealing like a little girl. I'll finish this post upon my arrival home to see if I'm even close.

11:09pm: I've just returned home from my first and only Monster Truck Jam. I much prefer a good ol' down home demolition derby, which I thought this would be like, but instead, they only drive these behemoths one at a time to tackle obstacles. Altho trust me, the sheer mechanics of these vehicles is awesome. There were definitely moments of me clapping, gasping, and cheering for the drivers, and also laughing at the hilarity of the whole scene, but in general, there was much too much down time. Luckily, there was some decent people watching: lots of dads with kids, an incredibly diverse audience, and a very weird family in the row ahead of us. 
 

My very own neon green earplugs!

 

3 down ...forty-nine to go...

What: # 38 Go to the trampoline gym

When: January 8th
Where: Sky Zone

Why: Always looking for new and fun ways to stay active, this seemed like just the thing. Thanks to Groupon (some of my best ideas are from there), my friends and I found a place nearby that is a huge indoor trampoline gym! It was a random week night, and there were still a lot of people there, both kids and adults. There was even a whole aerobics class that is done on the trampolines, and those women looked worn out by the end of their session. At first, I was barely working up a sweat because I was really nervous about jumping too high because coming back down felt like free-falling from the sky. I'm not being dramatic, it was really a shock to my system! Eventually, after catching glimpses of a 12-year-old who was totally putting us to shame, we started to get a bit more daring. By the end of the evening, I even landed a full front flip! And, the ab workout you get from laughing with childish enthusiasm only adds to the level of exercise, which was actually intense. I think I was out of breath for almost the entire hour, and I was definitely perspiring (girls don't sweat). 

In addition to just jumping, I even tried to slam dunk a basketball (harder than it looks) and took a dive off a trampoline diving board into a huge pit of foam blocks (nearly impossible to get out of alive). My friend Elizabeth proved this when she did an awesome spread eagle jump (see photo) and then almost drown in the foam. It was hilarious/scary at the same time. Mostly hilarious for Sara and I as the observers safely on hard ground. I think my abs are still sore from laughing so hard!

Forty-nine down...3 to go...

What: #21 Buy or make something for a neighbor

Where: My neighborhood
When: December 22nd
Why: I live in a neighborhood where everyone keeps to themselves. There are maybe two people that I recognize and we say "Hi" to each other, and I've lived here for over 5 years. In general, there aren't very many community events, and while there is a pool, I tend to frequent it when most other people are at work, and when I make it to the mailboxes for my area of the neighborhood, it is usually late at night and no one else is really around at that time. Another thing is that most of us go in and out by our garages, not our front doors, so I think that eliminates a lot of socializing. I wanted to at least know someone that lived near me, so I thought that baking a holiday treat would be a good way to do it. Luckily, my friend found an easy-for-Sarah recipe to make these amazing decadent brownie bites. After we made a whole tray of them, she brought an adorable container to put in an assortment, and we wandered out to find a neighbor who was home (and would answer the door...we're not a friendly neighborhood, as I've indicated). After 4 failed attempts, we finally got to a neighbor who had actually just moved in about a month ago (I had no idea!). Beth moved from across the street and was actually happy to meet me and ask a bit about our neighborhood. Her daughter Aubrey is a college student at UofM and was home for the holidays, and they both had the best curly blond hair ever! My friend and I couldn't stop commenting on it! Beth had a very cool welcome mat, and adorable frog candle holders in her garden area...I think she and I could totally become people that say "Hi" to each other now, too!

Twenty down...32 to go...

What: #79 Do a 5K with a friend

Where: Ann Arbor
When: June 17

Elizabeth's First Race!

Why: Over the past few years, I've put in time training for a triathlon each summer, but this year, I decided to focus more on single races, and so I signed up for my first 5K run. It's the first ever Ann Arbor Marathon event, including the marathon, half-marathon, 5K, and mile fun run. There were so many people out for this inaugural "run the city" event, and the route was a lot of fun. We started at the Big House (Michigan Stadium) and ran downtown to Main Street, then along through campus, and ended up on Elbel Field, the marching band practice field - home of many fond memories!

Running by the stadium

It's always a supportive atmosphere, and great people watching, and today was no different. We finished just about the pace we had hoped, and I already got Elizabeth hooked to do another one later this summer! I can see myself doing quite a few more because it's been much less overwhelming to train only for a run, and thus much more enjoyable. I meet with my friend Karen about once a week and we basically chat and catch up during our runs, and then I can go out any lovely summer evening to run with my music. So, I'll keep running and get ready to beat today's time!

A well-balanced post-race breakfast!

With Karen and Paul!

Thirteen down...39 to go...

What: #29 Watch a roller derby match

Where: Detroit's Masonic Temple
When: April 21st

Roller Derby or Cotillion...perfect opposites!

Why: A few summers ago, I had the opportunity to be on the movie set of "Whip It" as an extra, and spent 12+ hours watching them film pieces of a roller derby scene with a combination of actresses, stunt doubles, a few real derby girls, and a lot of Hollywood movie magic. That was my first experience with the world of roller derby, and after that, I always wanted to see a real bout in real life. Fortunately, Detroit has a roller derby league that has gained a lot of popularity, and they now hold big events to cheer on the various teams.

The bout I saw was between the Detroit Pistolwhippers (clearly the better team...I'll be rocking my temporary tattoo to show my support soon...) and the Devil's Night Dames (always fun to cheer for the underdog!). The venue for this bout is really unexpected, and the space seems much more suited to a 50s sock hop, but there we were, amidst all manner of fans from young to old, straight-laced to mile-high mohawks, and everything in between. The rules take awhile to figure out, but eventually we did get into it and started cheering for great passes and hard hits. The girls are tough, and their outfits are intimidating, and up close, they are even more intimidating. The whole vibe of the evening was very positive and supportive and yet another very cool thing happening in Detroit.

Six down...46 to go...

What: #24 Eat at Blimpy Burger in Ann Arbor

Where: Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger
When: February 21st
Why: As someone who has spent most of my life in or near Ann Arbor, I was constantly dealing with shocked looks whenever it came up that I had never eaten at this local establishment. In my defense, I don't eat burgers, and I'd heard horror stories of the mockery that ensues if you aren't ordering in the right manner, so I guess those two factors pretty much kept me away all these years. Finally, my friend Elizabeth and I were planning an outing around that area, and we did need to eat dinner beforehand, so as two total newbies to the Blimpy Burger scene, we embarked together into the greasy world of Blimpy Burger. For those unfamiliar, here is a video to help you get a second-hand experience! It turned out that day that there was one really big problem; the deep fryer was broken.

Come on, if there is one thing we expected, it was a lot of grease. And as a non-burger eater, I was looking forward to fried veggies and french fries. Alas, I had an egg sandwich with cheddar cheese on a pumpernickel roll. Not too shabby, and a super good bargain!

Another successful new thing that I survived! And, I think we are brave enough to give it another try!

Four down...48 to go...

What: #84 Ice skate at Campus Martius park in Detroit

Where: Campus Martius Park, Detroit
When: January 16th
Why: As a native to Michigan, I grew up with Detroit as my big city, and have a special place in my heart for it, many fond memories as a child being downtown with my family, events that took place at stadiums and theaters, at restaurants and along parade routes, looking over to Canada and back over to Detroit. It's a place where I've walked among historic buildings, biked past wonderful monuments, and driven to corners where there are amazing things happening. One of those things that has sprung up over the past few years is the ice rink, right in the center of downtown, at a place called Campus Martius park. 

Today, with help from Elizabeth and Sara, I went ice skating at the rink. It was a balmy 40 degree day, and the rink was packed with kids, couples, groups of friends, and a guy I couldn't take my eyes off of...because of his skating skills, of course! It was a lot of fun, altho maybe not a real work-out, but it was great to be downtown, out in the fresh air, seeing the amazing views of the buildings around us, and knowing that good things are happening in Detroit.