34 done ... 18 to go...

What: #58 Draw in the gallery at the DIA

When: May 27, 2016
Where: Detroit Institute of Arts
Why: A few years ago, I attended the DIA's evening program on a Friday night and among the other great activities happening in the museum - live music, dance performances, docent tours - there were areas set up in various galleries for artists to draw. Except, I realized they weren't professional artists, but anyone could come in on those nights and sit down to try their hand at pencil drawings. So, on a lovely Friday evening, my friend Sara bravely left her adorable 2-month-old daughter at home with her (very capable!) husband, and joined me for a night of art.

We had a choice between setting up in the Greek & Roman exhibit hall or the African art wing, and we chose the latter, focusing on this wooden Royal Figure from the 1800s.

As we settled into our benches - locally handmade and now copied around the world - with our sharpened pencils and our gummy erasers, we tried to capture the essence of the figure before us.

I tried to just see geometric shapes from my angle, to just look for lines disconnected from their intended body part or object, and sketch the outline to start. Then, I wanted to do some shading, which I thought would help me block off the proportions. I was trying to stay focused in our hour on just the left half of what I could see, leaving the right half unfinished, but one line blended into the next, so I found myself completing the sketch. For the first time, I took a look at what Sara was drawing, and realized how much I liked her shading skills, and also how different it was for us to be seated at different angles looking at the same figure! 

My finished sketch had some strengths, particularly the leg and hands. The head and torso were really difficult to get right. When I showed my sketch at home later, guesses of its origin were anywhere from an Ewok to an abstract Native American print, but when I compared it with the original figure, I was told that it was actually closer than would have been expected!

I wonder if with more time, I could have done more, felt more free to erase and start over on the face and torso, and with Sara's guidance, do a better job of shading. I guess that can always happen the next time I go back to draw in the gallery!

27 down ... 25 to go...

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...

25 done ... 27 to go...

What: #97 Kayak to Turnip Rock

When: September 27th
Where: Port Austin, MI
Why: As a true Michigander, I take great pride in the amazing places this state contains and the incredible experiences that can be had here. One of those places and experiences that kept popping up on bucket lists for people in Michigan was kayaking to Turnip Rock. It was only a few years ago that I found out this place existed, partly because it seems so out of the way. Then one of my dearest friends - who had this on her blog - had a free Sunday that aligned with my free Sunday and even the weather cooperated (sunny 70s in late September is rare in Michigan!). We met up early that morning in Detroit to make the 3-hour drive to the "tip of the thumb," as we describe it in Michigan. The areas we drove through were very unfamiliar to me, and I couldn't quite get a hold of the vibe of the region, but was glad to arrive to Port Austin - a rather quaint town on the lake shore - to eat lunch at The Stock Pot. Honestly, I did not know what to expect, but it was a delicious meal among very friendly locals out enjoying a lovely Sunday afternoon. 

Then, we walked to the Port Austin Kayak shop to get our kayaks to head off on our day's adventure. It was a bit breezy out on Lake Huron, and make the paddling a bit slow at first, but our excitement at seeing Turnip Rock kept us motivated. At first, the shoreline looked nothing like we were expecting; it was all grasses and flat beaches with larger boulders offshore. This didn't seem to be the terrain that matched what we had seen of Turnip Rock. Until, all of a sudden, we paddled around a point and it just sort of appears! It stands alone (something I wasn't expecting) and really is the only feature along that part of the shoreline. I suppose the fact that it is in the water by itself is what makes it so unique, and the plants and trees atop of it definitely add to the look of it.

Definitely make the trip up here on a lovely warm day to enjoy the town, the paddle to Turnip Rock, and the road trip up and through the Thumb!

14 done ... 38 to go...

What: #53 Go Fowling

When: May 9th
Where: Hamtramck
Why: Late last December, as I was looking for new things to add to this year's list, a fortuitous article was published, catching the eye of a few of my friends that know I'm always on the lookout for local adventures. This adventure was dubbed "Fowling"...a combination of football and bowling, pronounced "foe-ling" and taking up residence in a warehouse in Hamtramck, a 15-minute drive from my place in Detroit. Honestly, I wasn't sure this was going to be my scene, but I was willing to give it a try; at most I'd be out $10 and a half-gallon of gas.

The open courts for $10 unlimited play!

Wow, I underestimated how contagiously fun this game can be!! At first, I think everyone entering the gates is a little apprehensive, but an hour or so passed and I was hooked. I was working up a sweat, aiming my heart out, perfecting my form, and even mentoring new players as they arrived on the scene. The games got so intense, I'm actually still a little sore!

The five of us rotated in and out of the game, getting challenged by onlookers, one of whom even got a BONK on his first ever throw. Trust me, that was a HUGE deal.

If you are out in the Detroit area at all this summer, you should check this place out. In fact, you might even make it into the documentary they are filming about it!

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

Forty-four done ... 8 to go...

What: #28 Play at the batting cages

When: December 7th
Where: Macomb Batting Cages
Why: Growing up, I played soccer, but never little league. I remember watching my brother play tee-ball, and definitely had baseball mitts and balls that we tossed around playing catch in the yard, but I don't recall many times, if ever, that I actually hit a baseball with a bat. In fact, the most memories I have of my time on a baseball diamond involve playing kickball as a kid at recess, watching olde timey baseball as an adult, or wandering the field as a fan at Comerica Park.

So, my friend also has this on her list of things to do this year, which made me feel better about it being a legitimately cool thing to do! Sometimes, it seems that I'm the only person doing these new things and dragging everyone along with me, but this one was helping us both! After a fun morning at the Urban Craft Fair, we switched it up to do something more physical and headed north of Detroit to a batting cage that we found was indoor, thus still open during the winter time. 

It wasn't what I expected at all...just a big open warehouse with nets dividing the batting lanes (are they called lanes?). We were escorted into the equipment room to choose bats, batting gloves, and helmets...none of which I had any idea of how to do. After choosing based on fashion more than function (not a great plan), I strutted out to the plate. The two pitching machines we had were for slow pitch softball and fast pitch baseball. I started off with slow pitch and could barely hit anything. Luckily, my friends were all giving me good pointers for my form (elbows up, feet aligned to the bag, and follow through the swing), and by the next round, I was improved enough to hit the fast balls.
 
 The fast balls seemed terrifying to me, whizzing at me and ready to send painful vibrations down my hands and into my arms anytime I made contact with the ball. How to professionals do this day after day? I guess the millions they make allows them to afford fancy ice packs for their sore hands. Still, I am in awe of batters staring down a 100-mile-per-hour fast ball when I was skittish around a 60 mph pitch!

Often, I determine if I'll do something again from the list, and this is one that I think I'd do a few more times. It was fun with friends, and fun to improve, so I'd like to keep it up and maybe play for fun one of these summers!

Twenty-nine done ... 23 to go...

What: #6 Help someone do something new

When: July 30th
Where: Argo Park
Why: One of my dearest friends and biggest supporters of this list had wanted to try something new, and so I wanted to be the one to help her out. During our recent outing at the Jimmy Buffett concert (yep, that happened!), we discussed paddleboarding. This craze is hitting anywhere with access to a lake (pond, ocean, slow-moving river). I was first introduced to it last year, and have made the effort to go out many more times in Michigan, and even had my first paddleboard yoga experience a few months ago. This summer, the craze has hit Ann Arbor, so it made it easier than ever before to get out on the water and we took advantage of that for her maiden voyage atop the board. After some initial instructions regarding balance (always straddle the handle with a wide-ish stance, for starters), she was off and paddling, even starting upright from the beginning, whereas I had to start on my knees my first time. At first, the challenge was being in a river, and at a point where the river is flowing over a dam, because the current was pretty strong, and the winds of a passing rainstorm did not help matters. In fact, I felt less sure of myself than usual, so it was really impressive how well she was doing.

As we made it upstream, we came upon a paddleboard yoga class; maybe she and I will do that together our next time on the boards! For the next hour, we just paddled upstream, watching crew teams practice and kayaks paddle by us. We turned around a bend in the river and it felt magical, just seeing the woods and the lily pads and the wide river and no one else around us. The only thing that made us turn around was the incoming dark clouds we saw fast approaching. Fortunately, our return trip was with the current, and after getting through the wake of a few small motorboats, we stepped back onto the dock just as the first raindrops began to fall. Our timing prevented us from taking any candid shots out on the paddleboards, but we did get one of the beautiful scenery from our evening paddle! 

Sara was a quick learner...and she looked great!

Sixteen done ... 36 to go...

What: #65 Make my own shirt or pants using a sewing pattern

Where: Royal Oak, Pink Castle, Sara's living room, and Mom's sewing table
When: March 5th - May 25th 
Why: Growing up, my mom could sew anything. Halloween costumes, bedding and curtains, dresses, quilts, and so much more. This was a skill that, despite her best efforts, did not plant itself in my wheelhouse. My one foray into sewing was during a middle school "Home Economics" class that I was miserable in - she made me take it, trying to instill some domesticity in me - and the poor teddy bear I made that semester has one leg sewed on completely wrong. And yet, I was still somewhat proud that I had created that funny bear, and as the years have gone on, I've been in awe of my mom's ability to see something and go home to make it with her own twist. Recently, she made me a purse, from custom fabric I picked out and it was such quality craftsmanship that it withstood a Michigan winter and still gets compliments. I figured this skill must be dormant in me, but I could maybe tap into it, so I teamed up with my friends who own sewing machines and gave it my best shot. 

My friend Sara had attended a workshop by a local seamstress/designer and thought her Ruby Top project would be a good entry level project. We kicked off this list item with the fun part...picking out fabrics! We visited Haberman Fabrics in Royal Oak and purchased what we needed, then started off with an evening at Pink Castle Fabrics in Ann Arbor where they open up their workroom for the "Sew Ann Arbor" crafty types to come and work on projects together in a lively atmosphere. Our first night there, I felt completely like a fish out of water. I was working on tracing my pattern and barely finished that in three hours!

The pieces I cut out for my practice garment were ready to be stitched together at our next gathering, this time at Sara's place. Let's just say that I'm glad I did a practice garment first, because I got A LOT of kinks worked out in the process. Big kinks, like I sewed an entire panel on inside out. I always assumed sewing was much like cooking (which I also don't do); it has step-by-step directions to follow, and being a literate individual, that seems easy enough to me. It is, however, quite complicated if one doesn't know all the technical jargon used in the directions. After asking Sara for clarification on nearly everything, I ended up with my finished rough draft, and was ready to start on my final version.

The next visit to Pink Castle, my friend Karen joined us. She had helped me out with a small sewing repair earlier in the winter, so she knew her way around a sewing machine and could help me out as I got the hang of it; my biggest mistake was forgetting to put down the presser foot, and once I got the hang of that, I'd forget to back-stitch at the end of a seam. Both caused no end of frustration, but that's how to learn. After this next 3-hour session, I was still not done, so had to borrow Sara's machine to work on it a bit more (entering ten hours of labor). I finally finished up my seams, and then tried it on before finishing up the hems. Imagine my disappointment at how terribly my self-made garment looked and fit. I was so glum that I set it aside and tried not to think about it for awhile. Then, I decided to visit my mom and see if she could talk me through the completion. One thing I decided to do was to wear the shirt backwards. I'm not a scoop neck girl, and the pattern calls for a scoop in the front, and so when I switched it around, it looked much better (I think). Also, I decided to hem the seams in a way that shaped the top a bit more, making it more flattering than I had thought it could be. Part of my fear in the process of making this top was that I was so worried about making mistakes, but really sewing is a very fluid process, and if something goes wrong, you take out a few stitches; if something should look different, well then you make it look different. It wasn't as scary as I thought. And at the end of the day, I'm even thinking about buying a sewing machine for future projects, but I might stick with making basic curtains or pillow covers for awhile.

One done ... 51 to go...

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!

51 down ... one to go...

What: #43 Take a picture every hour of the day for one day

When: December 31st
Where: Southeastern Michigan
Why: I enjoy photography, and usually I do most of my camera-wielding on official vacations or during my travels to interesting locales. I miss out on documenting the day-to-day events of life, and so this forced me to do so. Without further ado...

...from 12:01am until 3:01, I was in bed, watching the snow fall in the darkness of the city night...

 ...from 4:01 until 7:01, I continued watching the snow outside in the sparkling lights...

 ...from 8:01-11:01, I finally got up and admired the apartment's details, from the artwork to the hallway...

 ...from 12:01pm-3:01, I had an orange and then headed out to make sushi at the Elliott's lovely home ...

 ...from 4:01-7:01, I relaxed in my city apartment, then went to the historic Trinity Lutheran church...

  ...from 8:01-11:59, I celebrated New Year's Eve in Northville with my good friends!

50 down ... two to go...

What: #21 Learn how to roll sushi

When: December 31st
Where: My friend's kitchen

Why: In recent years, I've really come to enjoy good sushi. I've found a few good places around Ann Arbor that are pretty tasty, and recently had amazing sushi in Los Angeles. And while I really don't enjoy making much of anything in my own kitchen, I did want to figure out if I could make good sushi on my own. My friend Sara has actually done it before, and had the supplies (bamboo mat, sauces, recipe) necessary, and then found incredibly delicious ingredients that definitely made it top-notch sushi! She bought great vegetables (cucumber, carrots, avocado) and really great fish (octopus, salmon, tuna) and the best breaded shrimp. Truly, her purchases were what made the sushi so great, and her recipe for sushi rice, with the right amount of vinegar and salt. The rice cooker helped to speed up the process, and the amount we had made six good size rolls, one of which we named the Green Sea Monster roll (avo, cuke, and octopus). We also used spicy sauce, and made our own dragon sauce (better than teriyaki). It fed four of us, and was definitely worth the effort. 

The tricky part for me was rolling the sushi. I thought using my skills honed by rolling my sleeping bag into a tight roll would come in handy, but it was difficult to keep the rice filling from coming out and to keep the mat in the right position. Still, after we cut the rolls, it looked like we were professionals!

44 down ... eight to go...

What: #61 Go to a Quaker meeting

When: December 8th
Where: Detroit Friends Meeting
Why: I'm pretty fuzzy on religion as a whole. I attended the bulk of my church days in a Presbyterian congregation, yet those days combine to a grand total of less than a hundred, and most of those are because I sang in the church choir and attended for those performances and special events. Asked what makes this particular branch of Protestant faith different from others, you'd be met by my blank stare. I know snippets of various beliefs by learning from friends, from my friend who is a Presbyterian pastor to my friend who was raised in the LDS faith, and from my friends who are Catholic and Jewish, from my friends who are Jehovah's Witnesses and those who practice Islam, as well as my own foray into Buddhist practice. Each has its own set of rites and rituals, of process and procedure during a typical service, and this first time of attending a Quaker meeting is not something I was prepared to experience. I should have read up on it, even briefly, to realize that my hour of time would be spent as an hour of silence. I realized it was an atypical service in comparison to traditional church services, yet I did not fully grasp the difference. And to sit in silence for an hour is not something that is easy for me. I have too many thoughts, my mind is so busy, and I couldn't empty my mind to focus on higher thoughts. I was all over the place, thinking about a cacophony of topics. I finally found a small rock in the carpet and tried to focus on that, and it helped settle my mind to focus my thoughts. The minutes passed by, and at the end, it was a sudden rising of individuals extending their hands for a friendly welcome and eager to get to know us. The information I have since learned about the Quakers has helped me to appreciate their particular way of celebrating their faith in this manner.