101 IN 1001 UPDATE!

Hello hello! I feel like it’s been forever and there is so much I want to share but first: a progress update on my 101 in 1001 list! Since my last update in September, I’ve crossed off ten more goals, bringing me to a grand total of 40 completed and 61 to go! I still have 1 year and 8 months to tackle the remaining 61 goals so I’m feeling reasonably good about everything. If you’re looking for a way to get motivated this year and beyond, you should totally write your own list and tweet me the link so I can add it to Design Darling. There’s no time like the present!

charles engelhard court the met

Charles Engelhard Court at the Met

the frick museum nyc

Exterior of the Frick

jeff koons the whitney

Jeff Koons at the Whitney

lemon tree apartment nyc

A glimpse of my lemon tree in its finer days

sunrise st martin

Sunrise in Saint Martin

polar bear plunge greenwich connecticut

Polar bear plunge with my mom!

7. Volunteer for a cause I’m passionate about.

Will is on the junior board for a KIPP charter school in the Bronx and asked if I’d want to tag along one weekend to tutor one of the middle schoolers they work with. I wound up having a really special moment with the girl I worked with! I told her that I was reading the Hunger Games and thought she’d really enjoy the books. She had already seen the movies but I promised her that the books are worth a read. At the end of the session, she had to fill out a worksheet listing all the things we’d worked on: social studies homework, a math worksheet, and organizing her locker. She also circled a bonus question at the bottom of the worksheet saying that she’d learned something new about her tutor. I assumed she’d write that she learned that I have a puppy or own an online store but she said she learned that reading is something you can do for fun. Such a happy little moment! I’m really looking forward to doing more work with them in the new year.

16. Unplug completely for 24 hours (no internet, iPhone, television, etc.). 

Is it cheating that I did this in Saint Martin and not New York? This is still so hard for me and something I really need to make a priority in 2015.

23. Get a keratin treatment and blog about it.

See the post here. I wound up really liking the treatment and need to go back in this month as it’s back to frizz city over here.

28. Open a retirement account and set up automatic deposits.

I’m a big kid now! I’m really proud of how much I saved this past year, both for retirement (as a small business owner, I have a SEP IRA) and in a separate account to help me tackle some of my big business goals for 2015. I think you know you’re getting old when saving is more fun than spending. It’s hard but infinitely more rewarding!

55. Try twenty new restaurants in New York.

Favorite: Palma (now we go almost once a week — I cannot even express how good it is). Also love: Freemans, Jeffrey’s Grocery, Café El Presidente, Frankie’s Spuntino, Claudette, and Caffe Storico. You could go years in New York dining out for every meal and never repeat the same restaurant so seeking out new hidden gems is something I’ll always enjoy!

60. Visit three museums.

I went with the Met, the Frick, and the Whitney. The Whitney was actually my favorite (the Jeff Koons exhibit was insane) but the Met is a must-see. A few can’t-miss spots: the Charles Engelhard Court in the American Wing, anything by Chuck Close (I find him so fascinating and wrote an art history thesis on his work in college!), the European sculpture garden, the Temple of Dendur in the Sackler Wing… and of course cocktails at the martini bar on the roof!

67. Buy (and subsequently keep alive) a lemon tree for my apartment.

I picked one out in the flower district in Chelsea and had to move it out to my fire escape so it would get ample light (and, let’s not kid ourselves, more water than the attention I was giving it indoors). This was probably an overly ambitious goal but, hey, my cactus is doing great. 😉

88. Watch the sun rise.

On our last day in Saint Martin!

101. Do a polar bear plunge.

My mom and I did this at Tod’s Point in Greenwich on New Year’s Day. I had done one in college and it was just as exhilarating/freezing/fun as I remember!