Holiday Bucket List 2021

“[She]’s making a list…” - Auntie Claus is Coming to Town. Last year, I didn’t make any bucket lists because it was nearly impossible to plan for anything. Although this year, I still don’t have big plans, there are holiday traditions that should be honored as well as new things to try.

• Deck the halls with 3 trees: our traditional white, silver, and glass tree in the living room, a new Parisian-inspired mini tree in the loft, and a woodland/Scandi tree on the deck. ✓

• Drive downtown to see the Christmas lights. ✓

• Dine with friends outdoors in a snow globe/igloo, ✓

• Shop for gifts and send Christmas cards to friends and family. ✓

• Lovingly wrap packages just like Mom and Grandma Dodo. ✓

• Drink egg nog, hot cocoa, and Champagne. ✓

• Host the Larsons for a Christmas sleepover. Light the candles on Jesus' birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday . ✓

• Enjoy my personal Christmas Playlist from Band-Aid to Bing ✓

• Burn candles that smell like Christmas trees and peppermint ✓

• Watch White Christmas, Love Actually, and It's a Wonderful Life (Cry when General Waverly inspects the troops at the Inn and when Harry Bailey toasts, "To my big brother, George, the richest man in town!")  ✓

• Share Linus' rendition of the Gospel of St. Luke ("That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.") ✓

• Snuggle by the fire with Piper. ✓ (Repeat as often as possible. ✓)

2019 Holiday Bucket List

“[S]he’s making a list…” - Auntie Claus is Coming to Town

It’s a bit of a late posting, so I’ve already accomplished a lot of this list:

• Deck the halls with snowy and icy ornaments ✓

• Drive downtown to see the Christmas lights on Wisconsin Avenue, in Cathedral Square, and at the Pfister Hotel ✓

• See the Modern Vision exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum ✓

• Shop for gifts and send Christmas cards to friends and family ✓

• Lovingly wrap packages like Mom and Grandma Dodo always did ✓

• Enjoy my personal Christmas Playlist from Band-Aid to Bing ✓

• Make paper snowflakes ✓

• Burn candles that smell like Christmas trees and peppermint ✓

• Chaperone the PHS Dance Fitness field trip to the Milwaukee Ballet’s presentation of The Nutcracker on December 11th ✓

• Enjoy December Ladies’ Night in Delafield on December 12th Chaperone the PHS Dance Fitness field trip to the Milwaukee Ballet’s presentation of The Nutcracker on December 11th ✓

• Cuddle with Piper by the fire (I should probably put several ✓ after this one!)

• Watch White Christmas, Love Actually, and It's a Wonderful Life (Cry when General Waverly inspects the troops at the Inn and when Harry Bailey toasts, "To my big brother, George, the richest man in town!")  ✓

• Eat lefse and Norwegian cookies ✓

• Drink egg nog, hot cocoa with marshmallows, and Champagne ✓

• Host the Larsons on December 21st ✓

• Go to Christmas Mass and put baby Jesus in the crèche at home ✓

• Light the candles on Jesus' birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday  ✓

• Christmas Day with Eric’s family (changed to Christmas Eve ✓)

• Share Linus' rendition of the Gospel of St. Luke ("That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.") ✓

Autumn 2019 Bucket List

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot

I 💛 fall too and there’s so much that I want to do!

• Enjoy the fall colors here at home, up north, in Central Park, and in the Luxembourg Gardens (✓-)

• Decorate with white pumpkins, mums, and fall-scented candles (✓)

• Wear cozy sweaters, scarves, and boots (with pants and skirts, of course!) (✓)

• Enjoy the Wine and Harvest Festival in Cedarburg (✓)

• Explore and take pictures during Doors Open Milwaukee - September 28th (✓)

• Spend the first weekend in October in New York City (✓)

  • Discover Chelsea and Greenwich Village (✓)

  • Visit the 9/11 Memorial and One World Trade Center (✓)

  • Learn new things at the Google Offices

  • Have Breakfast at Tiffany’s (✓)

  • See Wicked on Broadway (✓)

  • Stroll in Central Park (✓)

  • Visit old friends (✓)

• Have a bon fire in the back yard and roast marshmallows

• Drink hot apple cider with a cinnamon stick (✓)

• Go to Ladies' Night Out in Delafield with friends

• Watch Packers games (including the 10/20 game at WOS Bar in Paris!) (✓)

• Spend a week in Paris in October with Eric and Nan + Mark (✓)

  • Stroll down the Champs-Élysées, in the Latin Quarter, up in Montmartre, in the Tuileries and Luxembourg Gardens, in the Palais Royal, and along the Rue de Rivoli (✓)

  • Check on Notre Dame (✓)

  • Hope to step upon Point Zéro (Sadly, you can’t get near Point Zéro)

  • Visit with French friends (✓)

  • Watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle (✓)

  • Make a lovely lunch with fresh ingredients from the market on the Avenue President Wilson (✓)

  • Stop for wine, lunch, and coffee in cafés (✓)

  • Stop for tea and macarons at Ladurée and choux at Odette (✓)

  • Browse in book shops (✓)

  • Enjoy a dinner cruise on the Seine just like Audrey Hepburn and Carey Grant in Charade (✓)

  • Sip cocktails at the Hemingway Bar in the Ritz (✓)

• Take a walk in the morning fog (✓)

• Make butternut squash soup, chili, and wild rice soup (✓)

• Cuddle with Piper by the fire (✓)

• Spend a weekend in Door County

• Buy Macintosh apples from Wood's in Fish Creek

• Shop at the Farmer's Market

• Go to the Delafield Halloween festivities

• Pick out pumpkins and carve jack-o-lanterns

• Roast pumpkin seeds

• Listen to Halloween Party Radio on Pandora (✓)

• Watch “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” (✓)

• See A Modern Vision: European Masterworks exhibits at the Milwaukee Art Museum

• Take lots of photos (✓)

Ironically, I did really enjoy the colors in Paris and New York, but not in Wisconsin. We didn’t make it to Sturgeon Bay before it snowed — on October 31st! At home, I was just beginning to notice the leaves changing when we returned from Paris, but again, the Halloween snow quickly put an end to that. Oh well, next year….

Summer 2019 Bucket List

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” - John Lubbock

The first day of “summer vacation” seems to be the perfect time to make a summer bucket list…even if it is only 58ºF. My biggest goal is to stay away from school for a few weeks, and here’s what I hope to do:

Carried over from my Spring Bucket List:

• Restore Eric’s Grandpa’s glider and swing on it with my morning coffee (Too many projects and strange weather this summer. We’ll get to it next year!)

• Sip rosé on the deck (as soon as it gets warm enough) (✓)

• Enjoy the first bonfire of the season (✓)

• Organize closets, cabinets, and drawers (✓)

New for summer:

• Read a lot (✓)

• Tend my garden (✓)

• Take long walks with Piper (✓)

• Spruce up our deck (✓)

• Dine al fresco (✓)

• Eat local strawberries in June, Door County cherries in July, and sweet corn on the cob in August (✓)

• See a movie (Yesterday) and go to a concert (Jimmy Buffet) (✓ In fact, we saw 5 movies, went to 2 concerts and a musical!)

• Visit the Nares exhibit and the new Paris posters at the Milwaukee Art Museum (✓)

• Get out on the water (How is it possible that I wasn’t on the water at all this summer?)

• Watch fireworks (and comfort Piper) (✓)

• Take a road trip (✓)

• Take lots of photographs (✓)

• Redecorate Piper’s room (aka our bedroom) (✓)

• See the Perseid meter showers in August (How did this fall off my radar? I guess because we were in Chicago that weekend. Well, next year…)

Results - reviewed on September 22, 2019: 11/14 Not bad!

Spring Bucket List

“Spring is the time of plans and projects.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

I took this photo last April. Isn’t it amazing how different our weather and growing seasons can be from year to year?

This year, it kind of feels like spring will never arrive since we went from snow on April 14th immediately into summer on Easter Sunday then back to winter with another snow storm last weekend.

Yet, May is only two days away and everyday, when I go home, I notice something new. Spring is such a lovely time and, however short it seems, I plan to make the most of it. Just as I did last fall and during the holidays, I love the idea of intentionally planning in order to fully experience the unique beauty of the season. So to that end, here is my short-but-sweet Spring 2019 Bucket List:

• Open all the windows and enjoy the fresh air (✓)

• Smell the lilacs (✓)

• Enjoy Art in Bloom at the Milwaukee Art Museum (✓April 12)

• Sip rosé on the deck

• Visit my favorite garden centers (✓)

• Plant new flowers in my pots at home (✓)

• Find new outdoor furniture for the front patio (✓)

• Restore Eric’s Grandpa’s glider and swing on it with my morning coffee

• Dine al fresco (at home and downtown) (✓)

• Enjoy the first bonfire of the season listening to music, sipping wine, and roasting marshmallows

• Hike in the park with Piper (✓)

• Road trip to Door County for the cherry blossoms (✓)

• Hunt for trillium, forget-me-nots, and lady slippers in Potawatomi or Peninsula State Park (✓)

• Organize my closets and drawers. (✓-)

• Go to Delafield’s Spring Art Walk on May 31st (missed it because was hunting for trillium, forget-me-nots, lady slippers — no luck, and cherry blossoms in Door County, but I’ll catch the Fall Art Walk)

[S]he's making a list...

(346/365) I wasn't completely successful at filling my 2018 Autumn Bucket List. I didn't knit, walk in the fog, or climb the tower at Holy Hill. We didn't have a bonfire in the backyard, and for the first time since we were married, we didn't carve jack-o-lanterns or roast pumpkin seeds. Nonetheless, I love the idea of intentionally planning for seasonal delights. So, once again inspired by A Beautiful Mess, I'm making a list…

My 2018 Holiday Bucket List (a bit late, so I already have quite a head start):

• Deck the halls with snowy and icy ornaments ✓

• Shop for gifts and send Christmas cards to friends and family ✓

• Lovingly wrap packages like Mom and Grandma Dodo always did ✓

• Enjoy my personal Christmas Playlist from Band-Aid to Bing ✓

• Make paper snowflakes ✓

• Burn candles that smell like Christmas trees and peppermint ✓

• Cuddle with Piper by the fire ✓ (I should probably put several ✓ after this one!)

• Take hikes and pictures in the snow (I'm dreaming of a White Christmas!) ✓

• Watch White Christmas and It's a Wonderful Life ✓

• Cry when General Waverly inspects the troops at the Inn and when Harry Bailey toasts, "To my big brother, George, the richest man in town!" ✓

• Watch Love Actually (this year with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra) ✓

• Eat lefse and Norwegian cookies

• Drink egg nog, hot cocoa with marshmallows, and Champagne ✓

• Spend Christmas Eve with the Larsons and Christmas Day with the Hornes ✓

• Go to Christmas Eve Mass and put baby Jesus in the crêche at home ✓

• Read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas with the boys

• Light the candles on Jesus' birthday cake and sing Happy Birthday  ✓

• Share Linus' rendition of the Gospel of St. Luke ("That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.") ✓

• Wrap up another year of Project 365 and begin the next chapter -- stay tuned...! ✓

List reviewed after the holiday decorations were put away. ✓ = completed (17/19)