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What: #22 See Dolly Parton perform

When: August 4th, 2016
Where: Caesar's Windsor

Why: Dolly is an icon. Pure and Simple, just like the title song from her new album. I remember watching her and Kenny Rogers singing "Islands in the Stream" - still one of my absolute favorite duets - when I was a kid and loved her voice and her giddy spirit. Every time my family would travel to Tennessee to visit the Smoky Mountains, there were hints of her in her hometown that made it feel like she was accessible, which from time to time at Dollywood, I think she is! She also seems like one heck of an entertainer, still going really strong at 70, with a voice that's totally recognizable and a list of hits spanning pop, bluegrass, country, and gospel. When I heard she was touring ahead of her new album, I bought tickets the day they went on sale, and the 4 of us went to Canada to see her perform.

She's so sparkly, you can't get a photo!

You guys, she looks amazing! I know it's a lot of make-up and wigs and who knows what else, but it's been her trademark and she does it very well. She even moves around and dances and belts out songs like a woman half her age. Another aspect of her shows is storytelling, and while the stories are the same from show to show (as evidenced in this piece from her show at Red Rocks), they come off as sincere and gracious and fresh and give her a depth that other performers lack on stage.

And briefly mentioned in that review from Red Rocks is her instrumentation. The woman played so many instruments! Guitars, banjo, piano, fiddle, recorder, harmonica, and more! That kind of musical talent isn't found in most performers today, and I soaked it up. If you want to, too, she is still touring around the US and Canada, so find tickets and get there; you won't regret it!

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What: #14 Go to a national park that I've never visited

When: June 20th-25th, 2016
Where: Yosemite National Park
Why: My childhood was filled with camping and road trips, spending many vacations admiring the beautiful places and spaces that were preserved for us to visit throughout this nation. Moving in to my adult life, I've tried to keep that up, but with so many of my adventures focusing on international travel, I wasn't dedicating enough time to see some of the parks still left to see in the U.S. This summer, I wanted to finally see the iconic Yosemite National Park, so I started planning the trip almost a year ago.

I lived in California for a few years, so did a few of my friends. My family still gets out to national parks every year. Somehow, neither I nor my friends or family had made it to Yosemite. It's not easy to get to...about 5 hours from the nearest major city or airport, and a pricey flight to get out there. Lodging can fill up very fast for the summer, so planning ahead was really key. We wanted to stay in the park at one of the historic hotels, so that limited our options for lodging.

Summertime is beautiful, and crowded. Early mornings, getting out on the trails, and heading along the Tioga Road were perfect ways to escape the traffic and big groups. So, without further ado, here are a few of the pictures that will never do it justice!

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What: #56 Do a paint-n-pour outing

When: May 21, 2016
Where: The local Paint and Pour studio

Why: For special lady night!! The idea started when my friend Susie suggested a girlie weekend in Ann Arbor, doing the things we miss doing now that she lives on the east side of the state. As we were planning our list of fun outings, getting to check off this item seemed like a good idea and so we invited a few of our other friends to join us.

Our painting instruction started with wetting the canvas, then painting it white. I was feeling pretty competent at that start, so handled those two steps with ease. Then, we had to create the sky for our background by blending blue into our white canvas, and I feel like I had a pretty good handle on that, too. In fact, that was probably the part I was the best at doing, so if you ever need a sky painted on a ceiling or a mural, let me know!

Next, we had to put on the tree trunk and main branches, and here is where my intense rule-following tendencies really went to battle with the artistic flow of the instructions. I tried to copy the exact pattern of the example painting, altho I did try to break the mold by doing it in brown instead of black.

It turns out, however, that making brown is REALLY difficult! I started with orange, and tried to add blue to make it brown, but it kept looking green-ish. I finally got it right, but hadn't made enough in that batch, so I didn't feel like I could add much to my tree without the colors being very different. I know in real life, tree trunks are many colors, but this tree needed just one similar tone, and I couldn't get it.

Then, we were told to add leaves. A woman behind me asked "How many?" and as I strained to hear the answer, I caught the instructor saying that it did not matter. Obviously, the woman behind me was of the same rule-following mindset as me, and we needed parameters! Alas, we had to just go for it.

Then, we added flowers. Most people chose pink or white, but I went for orange! See, I'm already breaking rules!

Our finished products all have similar features, but I loved seeing how we each interpreted the assignment just a little bit differently based on our skills and personalities!

I know that many people have already done similar events - in fact, 4 of the 6 of us had done one before - but it was still a lot of fun to spend a night out, letting our creative minds take over, drinking to the word "moist", and generally having a great time out together!
 

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What: #66 Go to a salon for only a shampoo/blow dry

When: May 21, 2016
Where: Aveda Institute
Why: For many years, I had my hair highlighted. It made me happy to be a bit blonder and brighter, and it was a nice way to pamper myself every couple of months. For almost 2 years now, I've let all of the artificial coloring grow out and return to my natural hue ('meh), which means that I get to pamper myself in this way with much less frequency, only returning to the salon for the occasional trim. So, in the spirit of celebrating ME one weekend, my friend Susie and I made appointments at a local salon to get pedicures (fancy toes never go out of style!) and blowouts. 

First came the shampoo. It was ok. I have had shampoos in other salons where I thought I would black-out from the sheer heavenly joy of having my hair washed and lovingly conditioned without having to exert any of my own energy. People with short hair and most men have no idea what a chore it can be to simply wash and condition long hair. So, while this particular shampoo wasn't mindblowing, it was still pleasant.

Then, the stylist asked me what look I was going for with my blowout, and I indicated I'd love something pretty similar to my natural style (wavy hair) but with a bit more volume. She began soliciting information about my normal hair routine. This is where it gets good (or embarrassing, depending on your take). She asks how often I use a straightener ("I don't have one"). She inquires if I use a round or paddle brush ("Neither, I use a large black comb that I've had for years"). She doesn't give up, and tosses me what she must surely think is an easy one about my curling iron ("Nope, I don't have that"). And then you can see that she is not giving up when she asks me about products, to which I reply "I wasn't being flippant when I said my hair is low maintenance. I own a comb and a hair dryer, which I rarely use, and mostly let my hair air dry and comb it out with my fingers." She seemed unsure of her next move. She timidly asked if she could change the part in my hair, which was her way of adding volume (didn't work). Then she went to town, adding phomollient (hipster-talk for mousse, by the way) and confixor (still don't know what this is) and for the next hour, she dried and curled my hair. 

I personally do not have an hour to spend to make my hair look pretty. But, I can appreciate the artistry and concern for my hair's health, and it was pretty nice for my head, too...the blowout included a sweet lil' scalp/neck/shoulder massage!

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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!

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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!!