Achievements for 2011

I learned a bunch of new things.

• Joined a creative writing workshop and formed a writers group
• Learned to surf with the Philippine Surfing Academy
• Took a lapdance class at a pole-dancing school in Detroit

I did a ton of traveling. One trip a month for the entire year!

• Denver for DrupalCamp
• Austin for my birthday
• Chicago for DrupalCon
• New Orleans with ZingIT
• Barcelona with Jason
• Portland for the Mensa AG
• Rome, Hannover, Paris with the family
• Orlando over Thanksgiving
• Manila visiting family

Goals for 2012

Make time for unstructured learning. Enhance existing skills.

• Finally learn how to fix my hair into various styles
• Go to the DIA
• Learn a new dance: salsa, swing?
• Take the scuba refresher course
• Go wall climbing
• Go surfing

Travel selectively.

• Hawaii
• Mexico
• Seattle
• Denver
• Plan 2013 destinations

Write!

• Write a story
• Take 300 daily photos and post
• Read 15 books
• Blog everyday for a week

Love my house.

• Paint living room
• Get a new couch
• Host 5 parties
• Hang art on my bedroom wall

Maintain healthy finances.

• Make $1000 in additional income
• Assemble personal stock portfolio
• Start a business
• Outsource something

Build relationships.

• Meet 10 new people
• Flirt with a stranger
• Go to a club and DANCE

Cultivate my style

• Find a good tailor in A2
• Get portrait done

First, a report of the last completed items.

16. Spend the night in a woodsy cabin with a fireplace
Being surrounded by the Rocky Mountains makes even the coldest, foggiest, slushiest day of winter an exhilarating, literally and figuratively breath-taking experience. Our lovely cabin was located in Estes Park, famous for the Overlook Hotel (real name: Stanley Hotel) of Stephen King’s The Shining. Now I want a fireplace in my own home!

18. Sleep nude on luxurious silk sheets
I deem silk pajamas close enough! Who knew silk was so comfy and warm? Me likey.

24. Write a handwritten letter to 3 friends/family
Receiving personal snail mail is one of modern life’s little pleasures. So happy I could do this for others!

34. Meet 10 new people outside work
In one evening, I met ten fascinating, musically-gifted, passionate, inspiring individuals in Jennifer and Alon, Harvey and Janya, Brad and Sara, Bill and Bok, John and May. I aspire to one day host perfect dinner parties with delicious food, a decorated house, and a stellar guest list like Jennifer does.

37. Get all dressed up for dinner
I ought to do this more often.

41. Give someone flowers
I ought to do this more often too. It’s fun!

59. Email 5 people I haven’t talked with in a long time
There’s simply no excuse for not doing this in a Facebook world.

73. Give a book as a gift for no occasion
Books I’ve given as gifts in the past and will likely give again:

• Unaccustomed Earth for former classmates now living between cultures
• Ender’s Game for kids with big dreams
• 4-Hour Work Week, Escape from Cubicle Nation for friends undergoing quarter life crisis
• Detail’s Men Style Manual for guys who are starting to pay attention to how they look
• Any cookbook by Chronicle Books for foodies whose love for design matches their love for good food
• The Essential Cocktail for entertaining types and Mad Men fans

75. Learn to make puto
There are so many puto recipes out there! Half of them were cheats in that they used regular flour or box mix. The other half required actually grinding rice. I made these using mochi rice flour and they weren’t quite the same as the authentic kind. I’ll try the grinding method next.

And that brings me to an ending total of… 48??! It’s okay! I’ve connected with many people, done crazy things, and been to new places all because of this list. The past year has been memorable and fun. I’m pretty sure I’ll finish the rest sooner or later (NaNoWriMo, watch out!).

Hmm, looking them over, it seems I’ve been getting stuff done after all. Way to go, subconscious self!

Completed:

7. xxxxxxx xxx xx xx xxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx
8. xxxxxxx x xxxxx xxxxx
Yep.
And that’s all I’m going to say.

19. Go commando on a normal day
Funny thing was, I hardly noticed the difference. Maybe if I waited till after I did #58.

22. Paint my house
Cornflower blue in the bedroom, gorgeous field green in the second bedroom, lavender in the master bath and an elegant browny beige in the guest bath. The living room and kitchen are next.

36. Wear grown up jewelry
Mom lent me her earrings to wear to Lou Grace’s engagement dinner because I left all my jewelry at home.

43. Send Zingerman’s food to someone
90. Write a fan letter
Two in one! I sent a Zingerman’s gift basket to the cool CommerceGuys I met at DrupalCamp Chicago. They were so awesome.

44. Sleep with the windows open
Did this during the summer.

45. Throw a party
I threw a pumpkin carving party for SEMMY friends last Halloween. That’s when Pumpkie came into my life and lit up my house for a week.

50. Meet my neighbors
I knocked on doors to get people to attend the condo board meeting. It was nerve-wracking at first, but it turned out pretty easy once I got into the swing of it.

51. Go running at sunrise
David kept in shape during his vacation here by running everyday at dawn. Hardcore. He made me join him one foggy morning. He ran four laps around the neighborhood. I did umm one.

54. Sell something on eBay.
My bank sent me an Amazon kindle as a thank you for opening an account. (Cool, huh?) But I’m old school when it comes to my books.

58. Get a bikini wax
The Strip Manila has the sweetest staff. They made the experience actually quite pleasant. I’d say it was worth it.

60. Evaluate my stock portfolio
I’ve got a 401k and a Roth IRA and they’re both working for me!

61. Picnic in the park
The day before I had to return to the States, my aunt invited me to a picnic at the park near her home. I didn’t know how to react since the relatives hardly expressed an interest in us before. Consequently, the conversation was awkward on my part. Ah well! We had pancit palabok and chocolate cookies.

72. Wear a dress to work
The hardest part about this is finding the right shoes. Heels don’t work so well in our workplace.

78. Get my new old camera fixed
I showed it to Brian who took the battery case out and screwed it back on. Voila! Works like a charm. It just needed the magic touch of a ZingIT geek.

84. Have dinner with Bob
Over Christmas vacation, my brothers and I were able to have dinner without the parents a few times. Our family was never close growing up, so I look forward to hanging out with them every year.

85. Find a shoe storage solution for the entryway
Kitchen cabinet racks from Target fit perfectly.

86. Wake up at 6 am
Thanks to jetlag. Ha!

89. Deliver a presentation
I delivered a presentation about Open Book Finance at the Annual Gathering in Pittsburgh in July. It was a small group but we got to sharing experiences and asking questions of each other. I hope to speak again at this year’s AG, though I haven’t decided if I want to repeat or expand on the topic.

92. Get Moo cards
They’re so cute and memorable.

93. Bake mochi cake
Yumyumyum.

94. Go hiking
During the IT camping trip last summer, we trekked through the dunes and along the beach. It was good exercise.

I’ve got to get cracking on the rest of the list!

January 2. Accompanying David while he gets a much needed haircut at a Korean salon.

January 3. Snacks at UCC. Dangerous to have so many coffee shops only two blocks from the house.

January 4. Spending Pop’s birthday at the office.

January 5. Watched Avatar for the second time in IMAX 3D at Mall of Asia. So cool.

January 6. In line at the Department of Foreign Affairs to get our passports. Philippine bureaucracy defies explanation.

January 7. An hour and a half of craziness between the entrance to the boarding gate at Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

January 8. Monster cream puffs. Whole Foods, I missed you.

January 9. Lemon sugar cookies baked on a Silpat mat (Christmas gift from brother). Yummy!

January 10. Few things can top the sweet mental satisfaction of picking up a puzzle piece and knowing in an instant exactly where it goes. Strawberry yogurt smoothies for an equally happy tummy.

January 11. Yeah, I went nuts on eBay.

January 12. Despite the perpetually frozen fingers, toes and nose, I love winter.

Visiting the Downtown Aquarium – The giant grouper was cool!

The girl at the ticket counter mentioned that there was going to be a wedding at the nurse shark tank. Wait, did she say “at the tank?” No, it was IN the tank. A turtle accompanies the best man.

To have and to hold… and to maintain buoyancy.

Mr. Giant Grouper decides to crash the wedding.

Creepy jellies

For food, an excellent Italian restaurant, Locanda del Borgo (delicious gnocchi, veal scalloppine) and a tummy-filling Korean place, Seoul BBQ.

K took me to the Denver Navy Day Ball! It was a grand formal affair celebrating the 234th birthday of the U.S. Navy. It was held at the Wings over the Rockies Museum, an old WW2 hangar that was, for that evening, decorated with white linen-clothed tables, candles, and wine glasses amidst restored historic aircraft. The theme was the 1940′s, “Dungarees and Dixie Cups.” The men and women in the different armed forces looked sharp in their dress uniforms (the Marines have it best, I think). Their female guests sashayed in curvy gowns with bright red lips and flowers in their tightly curled hair. Scarily, a handful of husbands made the unfortunate decision to come in zoot suits (oh no!). Not K, he was in a tux. Since this was a surprise for me, we had to spend the afternoon finding something for me to wear, ultimately finding a perfectly fitting, gorgeous gold cowl neck dress from Ralph Lauren. It was so beautiful.

The event started with an hour-long ceremony filled with fascinating military traditions. We stood for the Parade the Colors, Navy Hymn and Taps, raised our glasses in response to the commanders’ toasts, and honored a Pearl Harbor survivor. There was even a small table set for one at the front to remind the guests of comrades in service who are missing in action or prisoners of war. At some point, the oldest and youngest soldier cut the cake with a sword. The program ended with two bells, customarily signaling the end of the day on a ship.

Then it was dinner and dancing… to a live 7-piece swing band! Yessss! The whole evening was sublime!

Highlights:

Creepy scene in the basement of the Museum of Natural History

Deer prancing around a Northern Boulder neighborhood

Wooden roller coaster at Elitch Gardens

Wish I lived inside the Tattered Cover

Ridiculously good pho at Pho-Yo

The other half of Pho-Yo

Build Your Own Burger at The Counter

The Shangri-La of Consumerism

The sign simply said, “Blue thistle.” It was a name that didn’t quite match its exotic looks — the prickly steel blue flowers, razor leaves and otherworldly blue stems. So I did some research on this strange dangerous blossom.

Presenting the Sapphire Blue Eryngium!

Otherwise known as the gorgeous stuff of human-eating plant nightmares.