94. Its gotta be a good year if you start it in the middle of your favorite city on the planet, right? NYC for New Year’s Eve <3
95. See Taylor swift live
96. Dance gangam style with a milion of others in Times Square. Literally first time I actually enjoyed this song!
97. Proper party, dancing and other things ;) in the middle of ny
98. Be in a different time zone for new year
99. New Years with almost no-fireworks (will make up for it soon:))
100. Sing and dance to Frank Sinatra’s amazing ‘New York, New York’ at midnight on New Years in actual New York in a confetti rain. Truly magical moment (i know it was technically 2013 but this just sums up this awesome night that was full of first-time experiences:) 4 months ago

I bought a gingerbread house kit while in Sweden and brought it with me to Italy. Apparently there’s an insane gingerbread house tradition in Sweden, while in Italy they’ve never even heard of the idea. I mentioned the story, Hansel and Gretel and the Italians were familiar with that. So I asked, “what kind of house did the witch of that story live in?” They could recall that it was a house you could eat, made of sweets. That’s what this is!

I put it together on Christmas day while the rest of the family was watching a movie. They were amused, especially Pancake’s grandmother, who hardly ever smiles at me. It lasted three days, and then it started to cave in at the roof. Finally the whole thing collapsed and we had to have a gingerbread funeral. 4 months ago

I intended to call my mom on Skype, but I must have pressed the wrong button or I don’t know what, but suddenly the screen looked different than normal and told me I was recording. I laughed, grabbed Pancake and said a hello & Merry xmas to my mom, and then told it to stop recording. Then it asked me if I wanted to send it or not, and I told it to go ahead. Presto chango, I left a message for my mom in her Skype in-box. Fun, and funny. Honestly, though, I don’t know if I’d be able to repeat the process being as my “tutorial” was an accident. 4 months ago

Pancake’s babo, Boss, has a cabin in the mountains above Como Lake, and I’ve been hearing about it for years but never been there. Last week we took a drive (beautiful day! beautiful scenery!) to the mountains and hiked up to the cabin. Unfortunately he didn’t have the key to the cabin so we had our picnic outside in the sunshine. What a gift to my eyes, to be so far up and surrounded by nature! 4 months ago

in Chaweng Beach, Samui Island with my girl friends.. 4 months ago

Never ate it before.. 4 months ago

at Chaweng Beach.. 4 months ago

Not that I was worried about the world actually ending, but it was fun to be aware of such a hyped moment.

I remember the firat time I heard about the Mayan end-of-the-world: I was 19 and it was mentioned in a movie I saw in my JC anthropology class. We’re talking about 17 years ago, but the date stuck in my mind, maybe because of the sinister voice of the movie narrator as he said it. It wasnt for another 10 years or so that I started hearing about Dec 21 in pop culture.

So for the actual day, I was traveling from Copenhagen to Milan to be with Pancake’s folks for the holidays. Although I couldn’t locate any time of day associated with the end of the Mayan callendar, the day coincided with the solstice, which occurred just after 11 am UTC. My flight took off just a couple fo minutes before that time, so I made a few jokes about watching the world disintegrate below us, but then Pancake got weirded out and said I could only talk about that kind of stuff after we landed. 4 months ago

89. Meet my new nephew <3
90. Spend Christmas in a different country
91. Not be even near a church during Christmas (not entirely happy with that)
92. Go to an actual NBA game – amazing amazing amazing. And got to sit super close
93. See the loves of my life play! KG and RR ! Dream come true 4 months ago

86. Have a running tribe
87. Got proposed. It was surprising and it felt good but I had to say no.
88. Tried different green teas
89. Tried squatting
90. Out for lunch with a Kenyan friend and had a long talk
91. Reached down to 47k (but it’s gone already!)
92. Make friends with Kenyan and Ethiopians
93. Run in torrent rains
94. Tried different kinds of massage
95. Went to a new restaurant called “Pudtharaksa” with my sister
96. Went to a new coffee shop called “Coffee Loft” with my sister
97. Fell in love & fell out of love.. actually this is not new for me but it was with someone new..
98. In love with someone who is way too young for me.. 4 months ago

Sounds like an oxymoron. Doesn’t it?
Well, I was invited to a vegan Julebord and when I asked what I could bring this is what was suggested. I searched the internet for recipes and found most of the results rated themselves as mediocre. This vegan recipe site was the only one that spoke highly of their version of the resulting dish, and even though it meant a trip to a specialty food shop for ingredients I gave ‘em a try.
My only regret? That my Julebord hostess’s boyfriend liked the meatballs so much that he complimented my by saying, in front of my friend who had prepared the rest of the meal, “These are the best things on the table!” ^cringe4 months ago

I’ve heard it called a snood and a cowl. Maybe there’s a difference? Basically it’s a thing that goes around the neck instead of a scarf. I’ve made a neck-warmer before – something intended to fit under the clothes, and this was similar except it’s looser and bigger. Made it for my grandma E in time for Christmas. Hope she likes it …. :) 4 months ago

I’ve been drooling over the lovely yarnbombings I’ve seen photos of online, and I finally found the inspiration / opportunity to make one. It kinda turned out terrible, but I learned a lot from the process, which was the point. I’ll try again in the future, but for now I feel silly and rather publicly so.
:s 4 months ago

I didn’t get to experience a Lucia procession as I woke up the morning of the 13th with a sore throat and hacking cough. I tried to convince myself that a cup of tea would set me right, but I was destined for three days in bed. Still, there were Lucia buns! And a youtube video of Lucia Gangnam Style. :) 4 months ago

I thought turning out a pair of socks would be a quick and easy last-minute Christmas gift, but they’re giving me a harder time than I’d imagined. I started with a heeled sock pattern, but I’ve since given up and I’m going for a spiral tube sock instead. Ugh, how strangely shaped our feet are! 4 months ago

They’ve told me since I got to Sweden that the darkness of winter is the hardest part. Maybe it’s because I’m a newbie and everything new can be interesting if you have the right eyes, but I haven’t found the lack of light to be particularly difficult – more strange and disorienting than anything. Arriving at work at 8am with only a hint of dawn in the sky, easily confusing 4pm and midnight if I were to only go by what the sky tells me. Of cours, the other side of this is the luminous summertime, which is more wonderful than the winter is depressing.

My work forces me to be outdoors for 1.5 hours per day, so it was interesting to watch the nature and sky in particular change as the months went by. It would have been fitting to wait until the solstice to see the entire progression fom the height of summer to the depth of winter, but cheap airfare drew us south to Italy a day early.

I was teaching the kids a unit on haiku a week or so ago, and one girl wrote the line “the sun rises down”. She later realized her ‘mistake’, but I expressed to her how creatively appropriate I found it to the strange sun we receive this time of year. She kept it after all. :)

I don’t think I realized how much I missed the sun until we arrived in Italy and I was shocked at the surplus of sunshine here. It almost felt wasteful to let the sun just shine and shine for hours like that. What a pleasure to bask my face in it! 4 months ago

They were a Christmas gift from my student. I’m really pleased with them – knitting on four pins is easier with these lighter, less-slippery needles. I’ve asked Santa for a complete set. 4 months ago

It’s been a tradition of Frogette’s and mine to go to see the Nutcracker together for the last few years. Now that Tadpole is 5, I thought I would try to include her, too.

We had such a lovely time, and I was so proud to be out and about with my well-behaved, beautiful girls. 5 months ago

75. by David Brooks.
I’ve been on a bit of a non-fiction kick lately.

76. As many times as I’ve listened to At Last, I’d never listened to any of her other work. Very enjoyable. 5 months ago

83. Airport all by myself (and by bus)
84. Zurich airport! (For like literally 10minutes but damn, that place is classy!)
85. Fly with a new airline transatlantic
86. Ice cream on the plane – and yummy as heck!
87. Bean in winter!! <3
88. Flying in winter 5 months ago

Before we became parents, Frog and I had gone to the beach a few times over the years in the middle of the night for a meteor shower. It was always very frigid, and very romantic. We bundled in multiple layers of blankets and brought a thermos of hot coffee to keep us awake and warm.

It’s been quite a few years now that we’ve been housebound (it’s not easy to get a babysitter at 2 a.m.), but I read that the Geminids this year were going to be spectacular, so I decided to try to watch them from my backyard.

I was pleasantly surprised- despite the horrific light pollution in my neighborhood, especially at this time of year, my house shielded the worst of the light from my eyes when I laid down on the grass. I was able to see a great deal in the sky. The movement of light took my breath away each time.

While not as cold as it would have been on the beach, it was still quite chilly. But I bundled up in jackets and blankets, and sipped hot tea, and was able to stay out for over an hour before I went in to warm up. Then I came back for another hour.

Frog has a bad cold, so he slept through this. I thought at first that it wouldn’t be as fun without him, but I found that watching the sky for 2 hours solo is a very special experience. It was almost like meditating or praying.

The experience of focusing your attention for long periods of time like that is fascinating. The meteors were beautiful, of course, but the time between meteor sightings was lovely, too, as I focused on the stars. There was a planet visible that surprised me with its size and brightness. The amount of patience I had to employ was huge, since more ambient light meant more time between meteors bright enough to view. I think the exercise of that patience was well-needed. Even connecting with the grass and dirt for long periods of time was something I found worthwhile. It’s been a while since I sat on my lawn in winter.

The whole experience was glorious. 5 months ago

I don’t know what the occasion was, but a bunch of fighter jets in a triangle formation tore through the sky yesterday. I heard them and even felt them before and long after I could see them. Perhaps it’s strange, having grown up in the US, that I should see something like this for the first time in Sweden.

It made me nervous to see them so close together like that. Tailgating always makes me nervous, and these fellows must have been going reaaaaally fast. How many jetlengthes are you supposed to leave between you and the jet in front of you? 5 months ago

82. Baby’s first Christmas (it’s not happened yet, but I doubt I’ll be on much between christmas and new years :) ).
83. D.O.C. wine bar with my friend. It was awesome.
84. Unfriended people all on my own. I don’t do that often, because I’m one to hold on until the bitter end, and usually then it’s the other person’s idea. But sometimes, as an adult you have to know when things are just.done.
85. Planning a real vacation with vacation days! (I’ve never had PAID vacation and sick time before…that I could actually use).
86. Buying gifts for a baby. It’s fun. I got her clothes and a fisher price play laugh learn dog (I’m very excited about the dog. it was a good price).
87. Went to the Wine Discount Center and was totally in love.
88. My hair is finally long enough to do an updo! It’s a brand new thing for me, I have always had short hair!
89. My hair is it’s natural color. Red. My husband will soon realize he hates it and allow me to color it again, but until then I’ll have red/brown/blonde hair.
90. Had a friends stand up for me. Because I was right, but also because they don’t like to see me getting bullied. See, usually my friends join in and bully. My friends are much better in my older age than they used to be.
91. Finished all of our decorating the day after Thanksgiving… it usually ends up being a whole weekend thing but we had other things planned.
92. My best friend got married! It was a beautiful wedding.
93. Had a meal at The Drake.
94. Met my friends boyfriend for the first time finally (it’s been a year) one week before they broke up. lol. Better late than never!
95. Went to look at Christmas lights with my husband. It will be a new thing that we do. He just doesn’t know that yet.
96. Looking at new houses!
97. Learning about short sales and how they do or don’t affect my credit.
98. got a massage. it was nice, but I need another. ;).
99. Work pot luck. Eghh.
100. Set up a family party without any problems! I’m awesome! 5 months ago