Shopping...

 As I sit here looking out the window at another snowy gray winter day, I decided to lift my mood and do a bit of online shopping for my trip next week to Bora Bora. One of my favorite retailers in Athleta. They have fabulous workout and easy travel resort wear and I have enjoyed everything I have purchased from them online. I also love the fact that if you do decide to return something, they cover the return shipping! So here are a few of my new favorite outfits that I have just personally purchased!

Shadow Skirt $69 and Double Play Tank $44

This will be perfect for cruising around the islands and a casual dinner. I can easily see wearing my bathing suit all day and slipping this on over it.

Equally versatile is the Sonata Skirt. At $49 this was a must have and right now I am just loving the berry color. Bye bye winter blues!

Finally, I just fell in love with this gorgeous linen Flash Sweater for $89 and their Ananda Capri $56 pictured below. I think this outfit will be just perfect for morning yoga on the beach! I think the slit detailing of the capris and the off the shoulder look  of the sweater add sexy detailing while covering all  the right places.

Paybacks Are Heaven!

I am not above a bit of whining, begging, or cashing in an overdue IOU from my husband to get what I want! I learned very quickly that my husband was not the sort of man to remind me of his unwavering love for me by gracing me with flowers and gifts on the special occasions in our lives. When our first anniversary came along, he took his now pregnant wife to a dinner at our favorite restaurant and paid with a gift card he received from a colleague. No card, no flowers, and definitely no nice little couples massage.

Apparently he didn't get the memo on monumental occasions in a woman's life, because on my 40th birthday he me a card.  I opened it excitedly! Was there a gift card in it for a day of pampering or a shopping spree? Well, not quite. The card had a Chihuahua on the front with the caption "It's your birthday..." and on the inside read "Duh!!!". What woman in her right mind could appreciate a card like that on her big 4-0? That night I began to question my own decision to settle down with this man. However, I knew deep in my heart that he loved me deeply and I hoped he could still be "trained". After failing once again on our 5th anniversary, to say I was disappointed would clearly be a huge understatement. I hadn't expected anything over the top...perhaps just some flowers and a more appropriate card, along with my "gift card" dinner.

On the way home that evening the tears ran down my face and it was now clear that a smidge of guilt was beginning to set in for him. Suddenly I announced, "You really owe me! For our 10th anniversary I want to go to Bora Bora and stay in the bungalows over the water!". He of course said nothing that night, but I will say he began to get better as far as remembering those special days. I continued to tease him when he slipped up and found it even fun to tell him that it was completely fine, because I would just go out and buy myself something for that trip in a few years.

This year we celebrated our 9th anniversary and I again reminded him that the next one was Bora Bora. He came up with several reasons he didn't think he possibly could do this yet, but several days later he called me while at work and asked if I would be willing to celebrate our 10th early. He had just received an email about a great deal to Bora Bora with an upgrade to an over the water luxury bungalow. Um..."Duh!!!" 

In one month I will be checking off one of my big dreams and yup, those tears were definitely worth it!

Book #1 - Women and the Sea

I am a beach girl through and through! Living in the midwest now, one of my big goals is to return to living by the sea myself. I find a balance by the ocean that I have never known anywhere else. However, my husband is a dentist and selling his successful practice and taking a state dental board exam again just to start new is not on his immediate to do list no matter how hard the children and I encourage this adventure. So it seemed only fitting that my first book of 50 be near and dear to my heart. I am not much of a fictional reader and love anything inspirational that encourages me to grow or that I can identify with.

"Women and the Sea" by Claire Murray is a lovely coffee table sort of book with gorgeous seaside photography and several beautiful stories of creative women pursuing their passions. All of the women featured have been inspired by the call of the sea and I found great comfort from my land locked position reading each soulful story. "Women and the Sea" is not available in bookstores, but can be purchased online at http://www.clairemurray.com/.

Should we start here?

This is me! Well, it's a (ahem...) slightly younger version of me but I like this picture and it's the person I still feel I am deep inside almost 15 years later. I was living in Hawaii at the time, spreading my wings and trying to figure out what I wanted to do next. I've had an amazing life so far and at times I've not fully appreciated this. Along the way I got married, had two children, and stumbled upon the career of my dreams.

So why am I here writing this and what is "50 Things"? I could go on about how I got "here" for quite some time and I am sure that many of you could identify the various scenes from my daily life. I imagine I will touch upon these things along the way, but for now I will tell you that "50 Things" is a commitment for living my life to the fullest now. I recently came across an amazing woman's blog, Alison Travels. In a nutshell Alison Turner was a woman in corporate America who decided to leave a successful career and travel across America, documenting her adventures and insights. Call me restless, and perhaps a free spirit that has a bit of difficulty from time to time feeling settled, but I too have dreamed of this type of adventure quietly from time to time. I had two children now, with the youngest just turning 8. My husband is a more rooted soul who is content with his life as is on most days. He thinks I am absolutely crazy when I try to persuade him to sell everything and move with me back to Hawaii. While reading Alison's blog I came across her list entitled "39 Goals By My 39 Year" and admired her commitment to realizing her dreams. My husband and I always talk about what we would do if we could; about that one day when we are empty nesters and can do whatever it is we want. I was having a particularly hard time with "one day" because I want to have frequent adventures that don't involve racing to pick up kids and get to an appointment before the clock runs out. The girl I was meant to be was screaming to come out and play now. By the time my son is off to college, I will be 53-ish and quite frankly, rock climbing and surfing sounds a bit more challenging at that age. I knew giving myself a list of 44 goals by 44 would be self defeating. I have already done some amazing things, and many of the things I want to do would be a bit challenging for me given my current lifestyle. My list would be "50 things by 50" which would allow me to put some of those bigger dreams on the list and have time to enjoy the journey. Off to the right side you will see my list! I had such a great time putting it together. It felt like I was a kid putting together my Christmas list for Santa!

This blog is my journey and a way to hold myself accountable. I will share my accomplishments and insights along the way, and I hope that you too may find a bit of inspiration to start your own list. Email me, cheer me on, share your successes, but most importantly live your life to the fullest! You don't have give up all that you own and travel the world by a backpack to begin doing some of the things you always wanted to!