21 done ... 31 to go...

What: #67 Eat an ice cream sundae for breakfast

When: August 3rd
Where: Big Buck's Ice Cream
Why: I think the better question is, why not?? I guess as I compile this list each year, I want to do a few more things that are simply fun and not too serious and easy to achieve. And for this one, we couldn't have asked for a better place to make it happen!

We got up in the morning, headed off on our 3-mile run along the beach and then planned to grab ice cream at a coffee shop near the grocery store. We figured this plan was foolproof because the calories we would consume would be negated by the calories we had proactively burned off during the run. Little did we know that the coffee shop wouldn't make us an ice cream sundae, so we headed off to another set of cute stores and restaurants a bit further down the main road and it was there that we entered Big Buck's. The whole atmosphere of the place told me this was the right decision. When we ordered our sundaes, we were at first a little worried about the looks we might get for indulging so early in the day, but the couple in line behind us was so inspired, they got ice cream for breakfast, too!

Now, when I dreamed of what the sundae would look like, I didn't even get close to the amazing reality of it! It had hot fudge, it had peanut butter, it had 3 scoops of the most delicious homemade ice cream I might have ever tasted. It even had good whipped cream and an umbrella to top it all off!

After devouring these incredible sundaes - and making the slow waddle back to the beach house - we made two additional return trips to Big Buck's during our stay in Corolla...the ice cream there was so good we had to keep returning to try more flavors!

20 done ...32 to go...

What: #85 Rent a beach house with girlfriends for a long weekend

When: Aug 1st-8th
Where: Corolla, North Carolina
Why: A few years ago, a few friends of mine got together to enjoy a long fall weekend and it was a great time just talking and eating, playing board games, bike riding, sitting in the hammock, and generally enjoying some quality female bonding time. That started me thinking of this idea. Then, I read a great fun book that put the destination in my head: The Outer Banks. Back in March - when the weather in Michigan makes you want to get kidnapped just to end up somewhere else - I started talking with my college friend Susie about getting a group of women together to make this a possibility, so with her help, we pulled it off!

So, we found a great house on Whalehead Beach that instantly felt like our home away from home. I've rented a lot of vacation condos and houses in my day - usually for skiing - so I know to keep expectations low when you actually see the place, but my gosh, we were beyond giddy at the house and the location! From our deck, we had a set of stairs that crossed over the dunes and right onto the beach!

The group of us did a great job dividing up groceries and deciding on meals to make together or restaurants to try, and we had a lot of space both indoors and outdoors to divide up and do whatever we wanted, which was a lot of lounging and reading and soaking up the incredible views. Each evening, we'd sit around and play games and laugh and chat about our various life stories. Some of us have been friends since college days, others just met, and we had a few wonderful moms of friends join us to see that getting less young is still a lot of fun!

For a non-morning person, the sunrises were totally worth it!

We had a lot of really great activities to do while we were there, too, so that by mid-week, we still hadn't left Corolla! We definitely hit our stride around Wednesday and really didn't want it to end! If you ever have the inclination to put together a trip like this, it's absolutely worth all the planning to make it a reality!! And because we saw only Corolla, we are all thinking we'd go back again to another part of the Outer Banks. It really is a magical place!!

Took a Hummer across the beach to see the Corolla Wild Horses

View of the Whalehead Club from the Currituck Lighthouse

Boogie boarding with Susie!

Sunset kayaking!

Seven of us, still having fun on Friday morning!!

Thirty-eight down...14 to go...

What: #19 Witness the real Punkin’ Chunkin’

When: November 3rd
Where: Wheatley Farm in Bridgeville, Delaware
Why: For many years, my Grandpa and I spent Thanksgiving together just the two of us, and one of our traditions was watching the Discovery Channel special about Punkin Chunkin.
After he passed away, I really wanted to go experience this event that had been a special part of my memories of this time of year with him. I started looking into it and found out that altho the segment airs on Thanksgiving, the event actually takes place weeks prior to it, and in a most unexpected locale: southern Delaware! Over the years, it has grown to be quite the spectacle, and so I met up with a friend in Philadelphia to drive down to partake in a day of the festivities. It was a very cold and windy fall day in a muddied corn field, and the scene wasn't quite what I expected. The contraptions (catapults, trebuchets, air cannons, giant hamster wheels?) are all stationary around the perimeter of a massive area, and the crowds are kept at quite a distance from the teams.

 The spectators were really varied...older couples from the Carolinas, families from New Hampshire, a ton of college kids from some nearby university, and then the more stereotypical "chunkateers" in their Carhartt onesies (which I wish I had been wearing for warmth!) and hundreds of ATVs. The whole event is less formal than you'd think, and truthfully, the show that airs is more informative, but the aspect you miss out on when watching from the couch is the sheer power behind these gourd-hurling machines. The impressive ingenuity, the sound when the machine launches the pumpkin, the gasps and cheers from the crowd...that really makes it a thrilling place to be!