7. Recommend five enjoyable books and have those people read them (1/5)

In my lifetime, I have read copious amounts of books. When I was younger, we used to go the library (at least) once a week and were able to lend as many books as we could read. I went through the typical Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High and Babysitters' Club series like water on a hot day. I could not get enough and felt like I had created a friendship with the characters in their stories.

(Sidebar: I still become embarrassingly connected to people that I have never met - but in 2010, it's with the people from Big Brother rather than Dawn & Stacy of BSC but I digress)

I've always treasured the art of telling a story from a female's perspective - I suppose that's my internal feminist talking but what can I say, I love a good story that I can relate to. I went through a period where intellectually I thought I was "above" female writing - not female authors but that chick lit that girls have become obsessed with over the past decade - so I often pushed aside anything that was deemed "fun" reading and stuck to boring, "mentally-stimulating" reading. Well, surprise surprise - those items being pushed down my throat as stimulating became anything but and I longed for a simply great, witty read.

Enter: Jen Lancaster - Now, this broad (I write that in love)can write.. and the best part? All her books are memoirs so it's beyond relatable because it actually happened to her. My pal Erin told me in passing that she was looking for a fun summer read and before she finished the sentence, my inner Tourette's came out and I blurted out about my blog and my task seven and how I would love to recommend the perfect book for her - Bitter is the New Black. Viola!

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I've been actually a fan of Jen (See! We're like totally friends that haven't met yet) for years since her first book came out. I'm not really sure how she got on my radar but I'm so glad she did. She's hilarious and totally someone I would share a bottle (or three) of wine with and talk about all the trashy reality tv shows.

I asked Erin to write me an email about her thoughts/feelings on it for my blog and here it is:

"I totally loved the book! It gave me such insight into the mind of the girl who "has it all." I always look at those women and think "How did they get where they are and how can I do it too?" Reading Jen Lancaster's story really inspired me because I'm going through a rough patch (financially) in my own life, and I definitely related to her; especially the part where she is selling her designer bags on EBay and thinking "what I spent on this bag could have bought my groceries for an entire season." Thank you so much for lending this book to me! My next step is to follow Jen's blog - I'm a huge fan now!"

Erin, I'm glad you loved the book. I have all her other books so just let me know if you want to borrow those too!

Ah, I love a success story. I need to recommend four more books.. anyone want to read one of my recommendations? This could be YOU!

23. Watch a film from the year I was born

Did you miss me? I've totally neglected my blog but don't worry - I've been busy with 101 type things. For instance, I took the opportunity on an extremely lazy Sunday (I'm talking like "snacks for dinner because I didn't want to physically make anything" lazy) to knock off one of my easy peasy 101 items, #23 Watch a film from the year I was born.

Now as you may or may not know, my movie-watching past has been scarce. I haven't seen classics like Caddyshack and Christmas Vacation (don't worry, I'm on it) but have seen Clue & Rover Dangerfield (both highly recommended via moi) like 100 times. Regardless, I better get to the focus of this blog before I get dozens of emails on "why I haven't seen such and such movie before" - I admit, I have a problem - that's step one, duh.

First, I did some research a la imdb.com on what movies came out the year I was born.. there were so many to choose from but I opted for a classic, Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Thanks to A & E for letting me borrow their DVD :)

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Obviously I'm not going to bore you with the plot details because I'm sure you've all seen it. Overall I thought it was a pretty good movie and I cannot believe I haven't seen it before."Totally" eighties genre completely with way too many topless girls but hey, that's what was "rad" then. Alright, enough eighties lingo - I'll leave you with a final thought.. If I can age the way Sean Penn has (totally Benjamin Button style - he is like a fine wine, no?) then I think I'm totally solid with getting older :)

3. Remind yourself that you can do it and hold a baby

As previously mentioned in a previous post, my pal Shelby was pregnant with her second little girl. Shelby and I arranged some time to hang out, check out her new crib and of course see the beautiful little girls. Shelby informed me ahead of time that there was going to be absolutely no decision-making and that I would holding Izzie whether I wanted to or not. And you know what?

I'm so glad I did! I mean, look how absolutely precious she is! She was so well behaved and didn't even cry once! I loved her little feet and obviously her adorable little outfit. Maybe this holding babies stuff isn't so bad..

90. Learn to cook 10 new recipes (1/10)

I love the summer.. well, minus the ridiculous humidity and its affect on my hair. Oh and how I hate working when it's gorgeous out and all I want to do is be outside. And how every time I'm outside in the summer, I burn to a crisp even though I wear like SPF 60. Vicious cycle, I tell you.

Now, where was I? Oh yes, summer - love love love. One thing I love about summer is obviously glorious cocktails. What?! You didn't think I was going to attempt an actual meal for my first new recipe, did you?

Anyway, since I'm a total fat kid, I have a subscription to the Rachael Ray Magazine (as well as Martha's Food Everyday - and since I really don't cook, fat kid alert) and she featured an adorable "Fourth of July" themed party. The party drink was called a Blackberry Ginger Sour Highball and look how summery it looks!

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So I'm totally going to do the rest of the post like I'm food blogger - in advance, I will apologize for my lack of fancy kitchen stuff and the pictures, in general. haha!

First, I chopped the ginger into one inch pieces. Btw, thanks to the Smith Household for my answering my random phone inquiry about whether or not I had to peel the skin off the ginger root. Sure, none of us knew the answer, but I appreciate answering my call!

Then I put the chopped ginger, blackberries, water and sugar into the pan on the stove. And within five minutes, it looked like this. Tell me this isn't a pretty color!

So this is the "syrup" for the drink. Since we were going to the cottage that weekend, I opted to make this ahead of time. I let it cool, strained it (aka just took the ginger and blackberries out) and then poured it into some tupperware where it sat in the fridge until it was drink time!

Obviously now we're in Saratoga - who else noticed the change in kitchens? So you're supposed to essentially fill the pitcher with ice and the gin - then mix it for a little over a minute so the alcohol is NICE and cold. I attempted to put the syrup right into the pitcher but it started to leak.

So I just transferred everything directly into the large tumbler glasses. Now this recipe is supposed to make six cocktails but obviously my serving size and the magazine's are two different things. I put more blackberries, ice, topped with club soda and even some limes (for color) right into the glasses and served!

Absolutely refreshing! I'm so happy with how these came out and I will absolutely be making these again. Next time, I'll just make like triple the recipe (what's more syrup right?) so there's enough if anyone wants a refill. In the words of Ms. Rachael Ray - Delish!

24. Visit Cooperstown

I was acquainted with baseball at four years old when my parents signed me up to the local t-ball league. Back then, to be a member of the girls' softball league, you had to be a little older to join so it was onto the local co-ed league. I was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates and I remember our plain little uniforms of baseball pants with a black t-shirt with the bright yellow writing. Obviously the league organizers were males because they didn't think that maybe black t-shirts and hats may be a touch HOT in glaring sun at noontime on a Saturday in the late eighties. Regardless, it really allowed my very blond ponytail to pop under the hat so I was happy as a clam. Sure, it's not the majors or anything but we have to start somewhere right?

Eventually my season with the Pirates ended and I moved on to bigger and better things (including better uniforms) but my affection for baseball never diminished. I still go to multiple games a year (and yes, moderate pitch softball counts) and thought it would be appropriate to visit the place where all its glorious history is documented, Cooperstown!

We went to Saratoga for Memorial Day weekend and Cooperstown was just a hop, skip and a jump down the road - well not really, but my three trip companions made the trip fly by. Now, the Hall of Fame is in charming Cooperstown and I mean totally charming. It reminds me of a movie with a really small town Main Street running down the middle of it, filling with families and small businesses.

Obviously this picture needed to happen.. it seems only fitting after reminiscing about my early t-ball days, right? The Baseball HOF has a ton of exhibits and really strives to rotate new material regularly. It's a nice mix of history and current items - including this season's stats compared with historical statistics. We did look for the bloody sock (which the staff insisted was on display - wrong!) but otherwise a good trip!

40. Buy 5 powerball tickets and write down three things you would do with the money (5/5)

I'm a relatively decisive person but when it comes to gambling, I can't make up my mind. I love to play games but hate to lose money - actually, I hate to lose, period. Gambling, in any form, is a risk and I'm a planner by profession. Therefore, I tend to stick to lower risk (in my mind at least) forms of gambling like Keno, scratch tickets and any obscure bet that I know I'm going to win. Either way, I'm upset when I lose and insisting on high fives when I win.

When I heard Powerball was up to 220 million, I was like go big or go home. So S and I each got five quick picks and pinky swore that we would split whatever our combined winnings. Here is my ticket..


Now, my task for the 101 list is to buy five Powerball tickets (check) and then write down five things that I would do if I won the jackpot. Surprisingly, this was harder than I thought. My list..


The list reads...

1) Buy a "crib" (Obviously I was thinking like a massively obscene place to live not somewhere to store a baby)

2) Do not end up on an E! True Hollywood Story (Is anyone else obsessed with watching the horrifying "How the Lottery Changed My Life" episodes?! Just me? Cool.)

3) Share the wealth (My plea to karma to assist in my winnings? Perhaps)

4) Travel - Travel - Travel (Obviously I need something to fill my schedule once I tell my place of employment where to go)

5) Be set for life (Ahhh my roots of planning come to a head. Basically, I was telling the future billionaire me to not blow it all at once - complete with a smiley face no less)

Not too shabby of a list eh? Well, the Powerball numbers were announced and I won...

NOTHING!

Well I shouldn't say "nothing" persay.. I earned the two delicious pieces of paper (see below) and a chance to be part of the hype.


Either way, I think I'm going to stick to Keno and ridiculous bets from here on out.

76. Eat 5 things I've never tried before (1/5)

I don't know why but I've always been a fussy eater. I love food, have subscriptions to food magazines and obsessively read food blogs. I'm pretty sure if I ate every time I thought about food, I would weigh 800 pounds and have my own documentary on TLC. Thankfully (or not thankfully if you're into that sort of thing), I dismiss certain foods for absolutely no rhyme or reason other than I deem it yucky before I even taste it.

Take baked beans for instance - absolutely no rhyme or reason why I haven't even tasted it. So what better time to totally step out of the box and try something new!

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I stopped by a relative's house to watch the game and enjoy a couple of adult beverages. Being that it was dinnertime and I certainly didn't want to seem rude, I decide to indulge in a bit of grilled food. Alas, the only side was baked beans and rather than eat my weight in hot dogs (which I could easily do), I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try it.. and guess what, I didn't hate it. I don't think anyone loves baked beans or craves them but I wouldn't definitely kick it off my plate in the near future.

Not too shabby.. first random item to try and I didn't want to barf. (I know, I'm so eight years old) Could this be a positive sign for things to come? Time will tell :)