Reflecting on 40 before 40 list

Another birthday is coming. (38 for anyone counting) It's a good time to look over and update my list of things I want to do before I turn 40.
 
 40 things to do before I turn 40 (May 4, 2017)

1. Take a family road trip/vacation (done 5/18/13. Trip to Kentucky for a wedding. 6/13/14 Trip to Maryland for a wedding)
   
2. Have $20,000 in an emergency fund
3. See a movie in a drive-in theater
4. Have my byline in a national magazine (not a trade magazine)
5. Have a spa day with a manicure and pedicure
6. Visit a foreign country (done 10/27/13. Work trip to Montreal)
   
7. Sing in a radio or TV commercial
8. Only keep clothes that I look good in
9. Have a will, life insurance, and written funeral plans
10. Ride in a horse drawn carriage (done 7/2015 in Chagrin Falls)
    
11. Go fishing
12. Buy a real piece of art (done 12/1/13. Bought art from ASM art show)
13. Have a signature, go-to cocktail (to drink, not to make) (French Martini or rum and coke)
14. Participate in a church group that is not music related (done 3/19/15. Church book club)
15. Have a catered party at my house
16. Grow a lemon tree indoors
17. Bake bread
18. Spend a week with no TV (done February 18 - April 5, 2015. Gave up TV for Lent)
19. Ride in a convertible with the top down (done 6/26/16. Got to drive my dad's Spitfire)
    
20. Plan and save for a 10-year anniversary trip (2017)
21. Shoot a gun
22. Go on a retreat
23. See the orchestra at Blossom and have a picnic (done Aug 7, 2016 with extended family)
24. Spend a Sunday at the Chautauqua Institute
25. Have a cocktail in the back room at the Velvet Tango Room
26. Buy a comfy bed
27. Take a first-aid class
28. See an opera
29. Eat Victoria spongecake (done July 4, 2016)
30. Send flowers to someone once a month for a year!
31. Buy the most expensive lottery ticket Ohio sells (I think it's the $30 $500,000,000 Spectacular)
32. Eat a paw paw
33. Spend a day doing random acts of kindness
34. Get up to date with making photo books and the kids baby books
35. Do something that isn't on the list but should have been (done Oct 2014. Weekend away with Mike)
36. Practice a difficult organ piece (with pedals) to perfection
37. Get a new professional headshot (done May 2015 but I don't like the bkgd the designer at work photoshopped)
38. See one of my favorite bands/artists in concert (done June 2014 Beck and Aug 2014 Wilco)
39. Invest in something custom made
40. Pie in the sky wish: Pay off mortgage

40 before 40

Yeah, it's been awhile since I last posted. I'm not going to go on about that.

Last year I turned 35, then I had a baby a week later. On maternity leave, I decided to make a list of things to accomplish over the next five years, before I turn 40. I tried to come up with a list of 40 things, but I've only got about 25 so far. (I'm open to suggestions!)

I tried to keep them achievable, because with two little kids at home, I'm not going to climb the Great Wall of China, and I have no desire to run any kind of marathon or race. I have done some of these things before, such as the drive-in movie and orchestra at Blossom, but not with kids. Can you believe I've never rode in a convertible before?

40 things (give or take) to do before I turn 40 (May 4, 2017)

1. Take a family road trip/vacation (done 5/18/13)
   
2. Have $20,000 in an emergency fund
3. See a movie in a drive-in theater
4. Have my byline in a national magazine (not a trade magazine)
5. Have a spa day with a manicure and pedicure
6. Visit a foreign country
7. Sing in a radio or TV commercial
8. Only keep clothes that I look good in
9. Have a will, life insurance, and written funeral plans
10. Ride in a horse drawn carriage
11. Go fishing
12. Buy a real piece of art
13. Have a signature, go-to cocktail (to drink, not to make)
14. Participate in a church group that is not music related
15. Have a catered party at my house
16. Grow a lemon tree indoors
17. Bake bread
18. Spend a week with no TV
19. Ride in a convertible with the top down
20. Plan and save for a 10-year anniversary trip (2017)
21. Shoot a gun
22. Go on a retreat
23. See the orchestra at Blossom and have a picnic
24. Spend a Sunday at the Chautauqua Institute
25. Have a cocktail in the back room at the Velvet Tango Room
26. Buy a comfy bed
27. Take a first-aid class
28. See an opera
29. ?
30. ?
31. ?
32. ?
33. ?
34. ?
35. ?
36. ?
37. ?
38. ?
39. ?
40. Pie in the sky wish: Pay off mortgage

Henry's birthday party

I wanted to give Henry a special second birthday party so we went with a train theme. He's obsessed with them!
We got a Thomas helium balloon, train napkins and decorations, and I made him a train cake and a train tablescape. It turned out really well.

Here's how the cake turned out. I think it's great. I made and frosted it the night before the party. Here's how I made it.

I started with three pound cakes and cut the tops off to make them flat.

I cut one in half to make the coal car and the log car. 

I took one cake and cut about a third off to sit on top for the caboose.

I took the remaining cake and cut a third off again and stacked it for the engine. I used three shortcakes and the extra pieces of cake to make it look right.

I kept the decorations as simple as possible because I am not that great at cake decorating! I used an ice cream cone and marshmallows for the smoke stack, crushed oreos for the tender, some fancy rolled cookies for the logs. And of course oreos and mini-oreos for the wheels.

Daddy helped make the train tracks on the table and we had the other food in boxes arranged on the track, including train-shaped sandwiches. The kiddo loved it.

Happy birthday Henry!

Our first maple syrup harvest!

We've been wanting to tap our silver maple tree ever since we moved in, but never managed to do it until this year! Mike tapped the tree on Feb 28 and a week later we had a bucketful of sap. We had a couple more bucketfuls but they fell off the tree, darn it.

Mike boiled it down and we got about enough syrup for a couple pancakes! Can't wait to use it up.

 

Beautiful elixir!

Backyard Sugarin' is the bible of maple sugaring:

Backyard Sugarin': A Complete How-To Guide, Third Edition

Bringing it back

Woah, where did 2009 go? Has it been almost two years since I posted? A lot has changed. Changed jobs, planted a garden, had a baby!

As Project Vicki gets ready to celebrate 6 years as a blog, I thought it was time to bring it back.

first strawberry!

We have wild strawberries growing in several places in our yard. This was the first one to ripen. Mike and I split it after we took the picture. It was maybe one inch tall. There won't be enough of them to really do anything, but we're excited nonetheless!