Start a Postcard Journal

This idea came to me from Pinterest (as many of my ideas do). Whenever you go abroad somewhere, send yourself a postcard detailing what you've done and what you've seen. I love the idea, when my sister and I were little my mom always used to make us keep journals whenever we went abroad and I found all of mine the other day and I love it! These postcards never actually got sent (oops) but I wrote them all in Europe and now the collection will only keep growing! :)

Volunteer at Music Festival

This picture is of me, my sister, and one of my best friends Miyuki at Firefly festival in Dover, Delaware. We all volunteered (along with my friend Claire) and we loved, loved it. We met some incredibly cool people who were volunteering with us, the camping was super close to the stages, we got showers, and we only had to pay $45 to go. Definitely worth the work and definitely something I will be doing again!

Visit the Aquarium in Georgia via Road Trip

This idea was hatched last summer before my sister's 17th birthday when I was panicking not knowing what to get her. I decided that doing some sister bonding timer on a road trip would be fun and Atlanta ended being on our destination because we both LOVE aquariums and the one in Atlanta is the biggest in the world.

The road trip was long but seeing different parts of the country, sampling some really amazing food, seeing two of my friends from college, and, of course, the aquarium made it completely worth the exhaustion.

The aquarium was incredible and my favorite part was by far the whale sharks. If I ever am patient enough to put together a life bucket list, diving with whale sharks is definitely going on there. They're so huge and watching them swim around is something I could do for hours. The best part? This aquarium had 3 of them.

Make an Epic Recipe Book for Next Year

The above picture is not actually my recipe book (although I am looking for design inspirations). Mine is on my computer and it's a compilation of a ton of recipes I've been pinning on Pinterest (my chief weakness). There's a couple of different categories and it's HUGE. It took me forever to put it together and it's still growing. Now I just need to learn how to actually make all of these awesome recipes...


If you want to check out some of the recipes in my book, check my board on Pinterest here:
http://pinterest.com/kayimpossible/get-in-my-belly-like-yesterday/

Give Sarah the Best 18th Birthday Basket Ever

Anyone who knows me and my sister knows that we are incredibly close. We always have been. Like how everyone is always like your best friend is like a sister to you, my sister is actually my best friend. So since I won't be with her on her 18th birthday I decided to give her presents in advance when we went on our road trip since that was supposed to be her 17th birthday present.

I got for her:

A huge box of sour patch kids (her favorite candy) (and when I say huge, I mean HUGE)

A book of spicy recipes (since she loves spicy food)

Tweezers (kind of an inside joke, she always steals mine and refuses to get her own)

A sappy pillow case with a Winnie the Pooh quote on it 

Glittery body art pens (since she loves drawing all over people and sharpie's not so good)

A huge bag of Hit Clips which I had to buy off eBay (we used to be OBSESSED when we were little and watching her open this was hilarious)

What can I say, I'm just a genius with presents. Sorry you can't all be my siblings ;)

Go on the Eye in London

Unfortunately Tanya and I didn't have the nicest day to do this particular attraction but since we only had two days we had to work with what we had! The nice thing was that, even though it was pouring, it was clear so we could see everything. :)

Throw a Coin into the Trevi Fountain

I know you guys are starting to realize a lot of these abroad check marks are very stereotypical but what can I say, some of these things are just cool to experience no matter how many other people have. I was annoyingly persistent enough to drag my friends to see the fountain during the day and at night and I'm glad I did because it was really worth it to see it both ways. It really is beautiful and there are people throwing coins in all over the place. I tossed in a penny for luck, forgot about the whole wishing part. Oops.

Visit the Vatican

Visiting the Vatican was a bit of a hike since we decided to go on the same day that all of the buses decided to strike BUT it was worth it. The art in Vatican City is so beautiful and the Sistine Chapel really is all it is talked up to be. It's so hard to look at them and picture people painting them by hand.

The above picture is me embracing my inner geek that is obsessed with Dan Brown and the movie/book Angels and Demons. For anyone who's seen it and doesn't get it, that's the wind statue where the second cardinal is murdered. Huge geek points for me, I know.

Visit Big Ben and Eat Fish and Chips in London

Big Ben is a classic tourist thing to do when visiting London and while most people I know tend to shame touristy attractions I like to think that they're popular for a reason so they're usually worth seeing. Big Ben was cool but what I actually enjoyed more was actually going inside Westminster Abby. I have no pictures since the guards in there are hawks about cameras but it is beautiful and definitely worth seeing once.

The fish and chips, how to even describe how good and stereotypical that one was. I love fried fish so this was practically the holy grail of bar food for me. My British friend insisted that I try it before I left for Europe and I promised I'm glad I remembered because wow it was delicious. Thanks Em!

Find the Perfect Leather Jacket

Ever since I retired my 7 year old China town leather jacket earlier this year due to way too much wear and tear I've been on the hunt for the perfect leather jacket to replace it. Tanya took me to the leather market in Florence, which is supposed to be known for its leather, and we hunted for hours before I settled on this jacket I'm wearing in the picture above. 

The man in the shop (pictured below) was beyond confused as to why I wanted a mens leather jacket but after a couple of minutes of him trying to get me to try on women's leather jackets (which are always way too tight fitting and short and stiff) he gave in a found me the smallest sized mens jacket he had. I'm beyond in love with this jacket, it's so soft and warm. Perfect, without a doubt.

Eat Pasta in Italy

This happened to not only be the first pasta I ate in Italy but also the single greatest thing to ever grace my taste buds. We went to Cinque Terre my first day in Italy and Tanya insisted on going to a specific restaurant in the furtherest village just so she could eat this dish again and WOW am I glad we did it. I'm a huge foodie and this was just spectacular. I'm not sure what they put in the sauce but I'd put money on some addictive components being in there. That good.

Visit Cinque Terre

I'm about to spam this blog with everything I checked off when I went to Italy and London with Tanya. First was Cinque Terre. I've been dying to go to Cinque Terre ever since I saw pictures of the five little colorful Italian villages on Pinterest earlier this year. This was the first day I spent in Italy and it was a long one (albeit a very good one too).

Tanya and I took a train from Florence to Cinque Terre and when we got to Cinque Terre it was a little cloudy but not so bad so we figured that, after we ate, we'd do the nice walkway in between the villages that Tanya had done before. So we went to the furtherest village and had The Best Thing I've Ever Eaten (post on that to come) and then set out on our walk. As you can see in the picture below, we had on skirts and dresses and were in general pretty ready for pictures and a nice stroll.

Ha. ha. ha.

After 3 hours of hiking through a forest in the rain in flip flops, skirts, and swimsuits, we finally made it to the next village. Needless to say, we got quite a few "where do these girls think they're going" looks, and a couple "ugh Americans" looks when they heard us speak, from our fellow hikers that were actually dressed in hiking gear and proper footwear. But it was a fun mishap, we definitely got our exercise in for the day, and we destroyed all the good it did us immediately by eating a pizza in that there town. 

Perfect Day!

Give Away my Old Stuffed Animals

This is a small one for me but I'm still glad I did it. I'm a huge, huge horder, so I've been holding on to a lot of my childhood stuffed animals for many years now and they were just taking up room and not serving a purpose so I figured I'd give them to some kids who would appreciate them. Feels good to get them off the shelf once and for all (well, almost all of them).

Read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy

WOW this took me a long time. I began this trilogy over President's Day Weekend and just finished it last night. I've always loved the movies and I figured I owed it to myself to give the books a shot. Safe to say this has turned me into a HUGE geek about this. People don't kid around about this obsession you develop with this story once you read and watch it through. Such an incredible story, I definitely recommend it to anyone who has the time! There's so much in the books that even the extended editions leave out.

Get An Internship or Job for the Summer

I am really excited about this one because it's something that almost every college student worries about when they go home for the summer. I'm also thrilled because the company I am going to be working with is a different kind of company than the others I have worked with.

I've interned and worked at a Recording Studio and at a Record Label but my true interests lie with management and promotion (preferably live music). Red Light Management, which I secured an internship with for this summer, is a very large and successful artist management company and has offices all over the country. I'm beginning work with them at the end of June and I could not be more excited about it.

One step closer!

A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped me land this!

http://redlightmanagement.com/

Buy Fairy Wings

Fairy wings, peacock wings, same thing. I love these babies, I found them at Party City when I went there last weekend with my sister to pick up things for my cousin's 30th birthday. I wanted to get them for the festival season and I think I'm going to wear them when I go to either Camp Bisco or to Governor's Ball! Now I just need to come up with the rest of the costume...

Go to the Music Conference in Miami

Alright so anyone who knows me can tell you that music is my passion and I'm working towards a career in live entertainment. Anyone who knows the music industry can also tell you that the key component of succeeding is not good grades but good connections.

Keeping this in mind, I signed up for the Winter Music Conference, which is a huge networking production that takes place during Miami Music Week and is available to anyone who pays for a pass. I'm going every day this week and yesterday was my first day. It's mostly panels but they have a lot of events going on at night as well. Pool parties, mixers, and other EDM events. So far it's been great and I'm really excited to see what I get out of it at the end of the week! :)

http://www.wintermusicconference.com/

Get Cool Face-paint at a Festival

I love face-paint. It's one of those things that I always used to do as a little kid when I went to parties or carnivals, but not something most kids my age tend to do. Even in this particular place, my sister and I were the oldest people getting our faces painted who weren't getting something patriotic on their face.

We went to Calle Ocho, the biggest latin festival in the entire US, when my sister came to visit and it was really cool. An entire street was blocked off for miles and there were food venders and people selling jewelry, clothing, flags - you name it, they had it. We were some of the only white people there but it was still really fun. There was live music going at almost every corner. It was just a giant latin party.

We saw the face painter when we first walked in and I persuaded Sarah to do it with me, Olivia wasn't about to be convinced. Sarah asked for a green mask and I asked the girl to surprise me and I ended up looking like a sunset. The best part was going to the movies after Calle Ocho, forgetting I had it on, and wondering why everyone was staring at my face :*

Get Another Tattoo

 In the middle of winter

I discovered within myself

an invincible summer.

I'm definitely a tattoo girl. I just love them. As an art form, on me, on other people, color, black and white, pictures, words, you name it. Anything done tastefully or for a good laugh I can appreciate. I got my first tattoo as a birthday present when I turned 18 (they're music notes behind my left right ear) and I got this one last Friday at Grove Ink in Coconut Grove.

I actually wanted a tattoo on my back that said "you can't wrap your arms around a memory" but I ended up going with this one instead because 1. I love the french language and that it's something not everyone can read but I can, 2. I LOVE the quote, I think it's important to be able to find happiness and strength within yourself before relying on others, and 3. it felt more personal. I still might get the other but it would obviously have to go somewhere else.

I went with Sarah, who was visiting me, and Olivia, who also got a tattoo on her wrist of 3 nordic runes. I got two of them on my wrist as well. One symbolizes passion, ambition, and the will to overcome challenges and the other means clarity of vision and optimism. I'm absolute in love with both of them. So my tattoo count is now at 3 and counting ;)

Make a Rave Bra

   This is one of those things that everyone who loves to rave and dance and go to EDM festivals loves to do. Rave bras are awesome because not only does anything go, but you can do just about anything to them. It's one of the only places other than the beach where a bra is normal and acceptable attire. You can also sell these things for hundreds of dollars on sites like Etsy but making them is much cheaper and more fun.

My theme was Alice in Wonderland (obviously you got that from the picture). I was in Target with Olivia and Dave stocking up on food and I saw these dirt cheap bras and I was like, yes, now is the time. So I bought a black one and a white one and then hit Michaels (which is conveniently located next to the local Target). This bra took me HOURS to make but it is amazing. One of those moments when I'm thrilled I'm busty because I have so much room to work with. There are teacups, flowers, masks, sparkling cats, Alice's dress made of ribbon, the rabbit, and the flowers around the outside spell out "We Are All Mad Here". I made half the bra Alice and the Rabbit and the other half the Cheshire Cat and the Queen of Hearts. I don't know when I'll wear this yet but this summer it will definitely be making an appearance!

Singing Karaoke In a Bar

This is definitely a cliche of me, but who hasn't wanted to dare themselves into singing karaoke in a bar. I never thought I'd be singing in a bar in Coconut Grove, Florida, but some things you just have to take as they come. I've always wanted to push myself to do this, primarily because it is SO far out of my comfort zone (if you have heard me try and sing you understand where I'm coming from). It actually turned out to be a ton of fun.

I was with my friends Olivia, Zeke, Jarrod, Dave, and John and we were celebrating Jarrod's 19th birthday at a bar in The Grove called Mr. Moe's. I love this bar because it has a cabin feel to it (wooden walls and floor, mechanical bull, huge bar) which, in my opinion, is the only kind of bar worth going to. While I didn't ride the mechanical bull, which is also on my list, I did let Olivia talk me into singing two karaoke songs.

We sang "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry (which really got one lady in the crowd going) and then "Don't You Worry Child" by Swedish House Mafia (our song). It was actually an insane amount of fun even though getting up there was nerve racking. Unfortunately I don't have a video or a picture of it so you guys will just have to take my word and this picture (which Liv and I took that night) as proof ;)

Making Kandi With Friends

Kandi, rave bracelets, bead bracelets, whatever you call these bracelets, they're a huge trend in the rave culture and I've been convincing myself to make these for so long.

For a long time I thought that kandi was just something everyone wore to festivals, raves, because it looked cool. While that's obviously a big part of it, last summer when I was at Camp Bisco, a music festival in upstate NY, I was admiring the kandi that one girl had up to her elbows and she taught me the proper way to "swap" kandi. The idea is that when you meet people while wearing kandi, you both swap a bracelet as a symbol of the rave/festival culture. The way she taught me is that two people face each other, raise their hands in the peace sign, connect their hands in a heart, and then clasp hands to swap the bracelets. These three gestures symbolize Peace, Love, and Unity. The yellow, green, and purple bracelet you see on my wrist is the one she gave me.

After that story I was dying to make some but I never got around to it until this January when my friends Abby and Olivia and I sat down in my dorm room and made kandi for ourselves and for each other. Our goal is to have them up to our elbows by Ultra. Since that's pretty close and we're pretty lazy I don't see that happening but there ya go! One less for me ;)

Snowboarding

February 2013

To be fair, this wasn't the first time I've attempted snowboarding. If any of you know me very well you know that me and winter sports are a recipe for disaster. I learn the "cheater" way to do it, I assume I know enough to be functional, and eventually I become too much of a hazard to continue. Whether it's peg-legged skating or pizza skiing down a black diamond, I'm usually the person that people either laugh or yell at. So when I first tried snowboarding, I was hoping I'd be able to do it right. 

Turns out I can't, but it's way more fun than skiing and ice skating. Olivia and I went snowboarding this President's Day weekend in the Adirondack's on Titus (the baby mountain) on the bunny slope (the baby slope) and needless to say, given my small experience with snowboarding and Olivia's lack, that it was a rough and profanity filled day on the slope. 

But despite our numerous bruises, unfortunate experience on the chairlift, and the 7 year old who tried to tell me I shouldn't be on the bunny slope since I'm an adult, it was awesome (Olivia disagrees but that's because her "instructor" was yours truly). I'm glad I tried it again.

The List & The Idea

Hey guys!

As I mentioned in my description, I created this blog in order to share my 140 before 2014 list, a list that is currently in the making (aka I'm still adding to it) and may very well end up being more than 140 things!

The idea is simple. Everyone tells themselves that they're going to learn to do this or they're going to read that or reach this goal or visit this place or the find the perfect [ ], etc. This year, as part of a resolution I made to myself, I created a list that I see on a regular basis in the hopes that it would encourage me to actually do all of these things that I want to do, and it's been working!

Some of these are simple, some of these are challenging, some might make you laugh and some might make you shake your head at me, but say what you will I'm finally doing all the things I told myself I would a long time ago.

Whether this inspires you to create something similar of your own or if you just want to keep up to date with me, I hope you enjoy the blog!

Carpe Diem

The List (so far)

1. Read Paradise Lost

2. Exercise 5x a week on average (goal)

3. Learn to play poker

4. Learn to drive stick shift

5. Volunteer at a festival

6. Make plans to study abroad

7. Find the perfect black leather jacket

8. Make a rave bra

9. Make a dream catcher

10. Memorize at least 10 songs in spanish

11. Read an 100+ page book in french

12. Learn to make 25 drinks 

13. Dye my hair purple/pink

14. Take 1000 great pictures

15. Try dance classes

16. Go to yoga on average 4x a week (goal)

17. Get another tattoo

18. Watch the sunrise on the beach

19. Learn to make sushi

20. Learn to play the guitar

21. Try painting

22. Do really cool face paint at a festival

23. Visit the Vatican when I go to Italy

24. Eat pasta in Italy

25. Visit Cinque Terre in Italy

26. Get fairy wings

27. Road trip to the aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia

28. Go to 4 Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives

29. Read the Lord of the Rings trilogy

30. Paint my room

31. Get some cool bandanas

32. Do spray paint

33. Do tye dye

34. Learn to hula hoop

35. Skinny dip in the ocean

36. Take belly dancing classes

37. Do hot yoga

38. Learn to ride a bike

39. Go to a strip club

40. Start a dream journal

41. Watch the sunset on Bear Mountain

42. Get a really nice piece of art

43. Kayak at night in the Adirondacks

44. Find a really cute music box

45. Eat salad once a day on average (goal)

46. Make/Find an Alice in Wonderland rave costume

47. Watch Skins season 6

48. Get an internship or job

49. Get to 20k songs

50. Read The Iliad

51. Stay on the Dean's List at UMiami

52. Finger paint

53. Draw with sidewalk chalk

54. Ride a mechanical bull

55. Sing karaoke in a bar

56. Learn to cook 10 dishes

57. Go to a Latin club

58. Create an elaborate sand castle

59. Make kandi with my friends

60. Get scuba certified

61. Watch Casablanca

62. Start a postcard journal

63. Learn the ez language

64. Learn how to cook shrimp 5 different ways

65. Learn 3 cool hair styles that I can do on myself

66. Finish 5 difficult puzzles

67. Run 2 miles without stopping

68. Get in the best shape of my life

69. Make 10 professional music business contacts in Miami

70. Throw a killer outdoor party

71. Create a fairy garden

72. Try snowboarding again

73. Create a Francine Walker cookbook for college next year

74. Swim in a Fountain in Spain

75. Learn how to pick a lock

76. Go on The Eye in London

77. Eat fish n chips in London

78. Visit Big Ben

79. Hike 4 mountains

80. Eat Paella in Spain

81. Make Liv and I's apartment incredible

82. Begin teaching myself production/DJing

83. Learn photoshop

84. Go to 5 Pointz in NYC

85. Make rainbow roses

86. Make a butterfly feeder

87. Make a cookbook for next year

88. Go back to the foam club in Ibiza

89. Tan topless in Ibiza

90. Give away a bunch of my stuffed animals

91. Give my sister the greatest 18th birthday giftbasket ever

92. Practice lucid dreaming

93. Watch the sunrise in the Adirondacks

94. Go white water rafting

95. Go snorkeling in Miami

96. Try to learn how to surf

97. Read Pride and Prejudice

98. Visit Canada

99. Get a bar-tending job in FL

100. Get an internship in London for next summer

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