Here’s my original list with updates:
1. volunteer- Habitat for Humanity with work, I had a great time. I want to find more opportunities to volunteer and keep it a semi-annual thing.

2. keep in shape: run 4 times a month and 3 yoga sessions a month. I think I’ve done pretty good with this- except for the last 2 weeks- with traveling back to KY. I was wanting to go running today although my pinkie toe got stepped on by a stiletto heel at the NYE’s party last night, so I’m thinking maybe tomorrow- although it’s currently 50 degrees with sun and that’s pretty close to my favorite running temp!

3. go kayaking/canoeing- In September, we want kayaking on the Charles River. I was so nervous at first because it was so low and we had our iPhones with us in this huge bag that was supposed to keep thing dry, but it didn’t seem like it would. It took a while to get the hang of, but was fun once my nervous subsided and we figured out how to row with the paddles. My hands hurt but I wasn’t sore the next day.

4. go on a hike- Check!! The Blue Hills with Jules and Lucy

5. follow a new recipe- In October, I made chicken noodle soup and chimichangas (although I used beef instead of turkey). I want to try to make this a monthly thing.

6. visit a farm- Although I don’t think it fully counts, we did go to Marini Farms in October for this flashlight corn maze on a double date. We visited the farm shop where they were selling apples, so technically I visited a farm, but I was hoping to go Apple picking this year.

7. find a job (career) that I enjoy- not much progress on this.
8. monthly me activity (hair cut, manicure, pedicure, brow wax, massage)- I’ve done pretty good about this between hair cuts and waxing, but with winter, a pedicure will probably wait until May.

Picture from Z salon in December, where I got my latest hair style. I love Z salon on Bardstown Road.

9. monthly friend event (girl meetup, dinner with friend)- Boy oh boy, I have definately kept up on my goal for this. Way tooooo many to remember, but I’m looking through Flickr to remind me.

With coming back to KY for Christmas, I had brunch with Jules before leaving Boston, had brunch with Lynn, brunch with Rebecca and little Johnny, dinner with co-workers #1 at Old Chicago (Lisa, Kim, and Elizabeth), dinner with co-workers #2 at Maido (Jackie, Ashley, and Holly).

I had 3 Boston Bruncher events (August at OM, September at the Cottage, December at Harvard Common Press). Went to the Donkey Show at the Oberon with Jules.

Had dinner and cocktails with Tonya at Cuchi Cuchi:

In October, I also went to Bianca’s (of Confessions of a Chocoholic.com) 3 Musketeers event at the W and had chocolate for dinner!

In November, I went to my first trivia night (more later) with one of the Ladies Meetup.com groups at McGreevy’s and then Jules Facebook-Check-in-stalked me and surprised me by showing up! Our hiking adventure also is a win here! We also had dinner in Chinatown on a random Tuesday night- I love it!

10. go on a road trip (60+ miles away)- We went to Portsmouth, NH and Portland, ME in August.

11. be a more consistent blogger- ahhhh, not so good on this one.

12. go to trivia night at a pub- I’ve done it twice and love it!!!!! Girls Night at McGreevy’s and then the Kinsdale with the Ex-Southerns Meetup.com Group. I want to keep doing this and it’s good with a group of 4-6.

13. watch the sun rise- Not really. I saw the sunrise on the morning I came back from Kentucky, but that was not very romantic/memorable other than being on the plane from Louisville to Boston.

14. Try An Ethnic Cuisine I Have Never Tried Before. Nothing new comes to mind, but the opportunity has come up yet.
15. Bike Ride (rent or buy)

16. Go on a picnic

17. get a new (to me) car if I’m still not living in the city

18. take part in a photo shoot (either take or be taken in)

19. go to a beach- Yep, three Singing Beach, P-town, and Carson Beach in Boston

20. get a real pair of sunglasses- Yep! Love them!

21. halloween party/dress up- OMG, yes.

22. take a factory/ery tour (beer, wine, chocolate). I’ve been to Harpoon twice, yes twice!  The first time was in September with Ben and then in December with Girls Pint Out.

23. go to brunch with the girls- Tonya, Jules, Lynn, Rebecca, and BB. I’m good but I want to keep this up!

24. Go to Top of the Hub for cocktails- Not yet, but close twice. I went for dinner when Step-FIL’s sister came to town and threw the idea out just last Friday but went to Beacon Hill instead.

25. Visit 3 new cities-  Portland, ME; Portsmouth, NH; Providence, RI:

26. Go to an Art Museum- MFA and ICA in August!
Museum of Fine Arts (MFA)- Free on Wednesdays. Went with a girls’ meetup group and Julienne.

Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA)- Free on Thursdays. Went with my husband.

27. Visit a new state in the US.- Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire- but I’ll keep adding- hopefully Vermont soon!
28. ? Originally I didn’t have anything here, but I’ve decided to put down to work on figuring out what makes me happy. I’ve started to journal and that’s a little bit of progress
29. ?Do what makes me happy…. to accomplish #30
30. Be Happy

Dinner with co-workers (current and old) and friends (tweeters/bloggers/runners: Lynn and Jennifer)

We met up at BCC and then went to Sapporo on 4th Street. I tried a new type of sushi (I can’t remember what it was called, but it was shrimp and it was fried.. and it was a little spicy). Based on Holly’s recommendation, I tried the Candle Apple martini and it was great. I thought it would be sour, but wasn’t!

Birthday breakfast:

The afternoon at the pool:

A cookout with family. My mom knows how to grill!!

I didn’t want a cake. I wanted a strawberry dessert with whipped cream, angel food cake….. and white chocolate pudding. It tasted much better than it looks:

Here’s a craft from Martha Stewart to make a pie slice box out of paper using the scoring board that I have.

A local food blogger had a post today with a link to an NPR article about pie that caught my eye!

Cupcakes Are Dead. Long Live The Pie!

For some reason, that interested me. I guess it’s because it makes sense and I can see it. Over the last few years, we saw cupcake shops open up in our area. That was after shops in NYC had opened. It takes a little while for Kentucky to catch on, but now it looks like they’re moving on to something else- PIE! How long before it reaches here?

I have seen and heard of pies at weddings- but this is more. The NPR article mentions “pie happy hours”. That sounds fun! My favorite pie is Derby Pie! It is kind of like a pecan/walnut pie with CHOCOLATE!

I asked for a pie dish and a silicon mat to measure out pie crusts for Christmas LAST year. And I got it. And how many pies did I make? NONE! Maybe this is my wake up call to make a pie soon!  Yum!

What’s your favorite pie?

Recap: Went to my mother-in-law’s for lunch on Thanksgiving. There were 11 of us.

I love her kitchen. Her brother did a lot of the work- the painting, trim, flooring, tile, and lighting. They had someone do the cabinets and countertop. It’s gorgeous!

Her neighbors don’t have any family in town and couldn’t go anywhere since the wife is having cancer treatments, so we made them plates and took them over! It felt so nice to help them out.

Notice the lima beans? Yuck!

Here’s Kay and her kitchen:

Here’s our aunt Missy and great-aunt Pudge.

Best All-You-Can-Eat Deal: 1) Sitar- My favorite Indian place 2) Shalimar- Good, but haven’t been a while  3) Dynasty Buffet-Never been

Best Bakery: 1) Phlen’s   2) Nord’s   3) Cake Flour- I’ve only been to each place once, but were all good!

Best Breakfast/Brunch: 1) Wild Eggs- Never been   2) Toast- Been once and had a great bunch with my brother and his wife   3) North End Café- Went a really long time ago and was good!

Best Coffee Shop: 1) Heine Brothers- Probably my favorite, it’s right by my house!     2) Sunergos- Been twice    3) Java Brewing Co.- Another favorite, this place holds a special place in my heart as it is where my husband proposed to me!

Best Indian Restaurant: 1) Sitar- Again my favorite!    2) Shalimar- Haven’t been a long time   3) Kashmir- Went once, but felt a little awkward.

Best Mexican Restaurant: 1) El Mundo    2) La Rosita    3) Santa Fe. I love Mexican food, but sadly- I have never been to any of these. We tried to go to El Mundo once, but was too crowded.

Best Middle Eastern Restaurant: 1) Shiraz- Been once, but wasn’t too impressed.  I don’t think I ordered the right thing  2) Safier- They have the best hummus!    3) The Grape Leaf- I just went a few week ago and had an awesome time. They have the best hummus- oh wait, I just said that about Safier- difficult decision- I’ll have to visit them both again- and soon!  

Best Pizza: 1) Wick’s Pizza     2) BoomBozz Pizza    3) Papalinos NY Pizzaria. Have been to all 3 a few times- No big favorite stands out!

Best Sushi:   1) Sapporo- Never been     2) Oishii- We just went last night! 3) Osaka- Favorite sushi place downtown!

Best Takeout: 1) Café Mimosa- Another favorite place for Asian 2) August Moon- Never been  3) Annie Café- Never been

Best Thai Restaurant: 1) Simply Thai- Yum! A favorite in St. Matthews   2) La Que- Yet another favorite on Baxter Ave  3) Thai Orchids- Never been

Best Dessert: 1) Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen     2) Sweet Surrender    3) Cake Flour- Yum!! All are good and favorites! Homemade is also near my house, so it’s convenient!

Best Ice Cream Shop: 1) The Comfy Cow    2) Graeter’s  3) Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen. Been to all 3! Went to CC on my birthday. Recently went to Graeter’s with our  friends from the Ukraine

Okay, now this is really embarassing. For the next 3 categories (Best Place for a Romantic Dinner, Best Restaurant in Louisville, and Best Fine Dining), I have never been to any of them!!! None, not even one!

Best Place for a Romantic Dinner:  1) English Grill    2) Jack Fry’s   3) Le Relais

Best Restaurant (Louisville):  1) Jack Fry’s    2) English Grill    3) Seviche

Best Fine Dining:  1) Jack Fry’s     2) Corbett’s    3) Jeff Ruby’s

Maybe I’ll use this is an excuse opportunity to get out of the house more and eat at some fancy places!

Here is the dough recipe.

Here is the end result. I took more pictures as I made it, but I am still uploading them.

It’s an iPhone picture  Sorry

It started with yesterday. I don’t normally take a day off work, but we haven’t really had a vacation in a long time and I was getting close to hitting the max of 200 hours accumulated, so I decided to take Friday off.

I finally made an appointment to get my eye brows done. I had been wanting to get them done for years, but was too chicken to do because they were in such bad shape (no pun intended). I went to FaceWorks, who specializes in skin care. I went to a “salon” back in high school, but didn’t feel like they knew what they were doing. I’ll post more on this later, but I am pleased.

Benjamin and I went out to lunch. I did some prep work for sewing.

We went to Fleet Feet to pick up my race packet for today and stopped at Smoothie King. We also went to the Mall and we tried to go to PF Changs, but the wait was over an hour and a half. We went to Pita Pit instead and had a fun time.

Benjamin let me open my birthday present a day early- it’s the laptop I’m typing on. I spent a lot of today getting it set up.

We also watched Kinky Boots on Netflix.

This morning started at 6:00am with my pre-race bagel. It was raining, but it was cool. The race started at 8 and by 9, we were done and back in the car. I was pleased with how we did. Lynn and I hadn’t really been training or running in this weather, so we finished in just over 44 minutes, for 4 miles so at an 11 minute mile. We stopped to walk 2 or 3 times.

Benjamin had not been feeling well, since Tuesday. He went to the Minute Clinic this afternoon and they said Strep!! Yuck! I am so glad that I have tried to stay away from his germs! Antibiotics should clear it up in 2 days.

I did some sewing on the Christmas apron.

We went to my mom’s house for dinner, cake, and ice cream.

I got a cute Fossil purse from her! Thanks Mom!

I ate dinner over 2 hours ago, but I am still stuffed. Our plan was to go to Aspen Creek, a restaurant about 10 miles away, and then stop at Starbucks on the way home (I got my birthday postcard for a free drink). Well, we didn’t make it to Starbucks because I ate too much.

I purchased the Groupon back in May. It was $7, for a $15 off coupon. I have purchased about 4 now and this was the 2nd one that I used. I see a few a month that I am interested in, but think- do I really need it? Or would I buy the product even if it wasn’t such a good deal? I still have a kayak/canoe trip and Great Harvest bread. I got the massage for after running the mini marathon.

We used call-ahead seating and it was sooooo worth it. We got there and had to drive around to try to find a parking spot. Once inside, we waited less than 5 minutes. We were promptly attended to (unlike last Friday’s meal at Buca de Bepo- worst service EVER).

We got chips and queso- and he (Austin) even brought extra chips when we got low. We both ordered the 8 oz. sirlion, medium. I had so many chips, along with my mashed potatoes and green beans, that I could hardly eat but a few bites of my steak. I planned to bring home left overs, so that was fine!  Our service was awesome. A manager came over and welcomed us, because as we were seated, we were asked if it was our first time.   Now that I think about it, I know why- this restuarant is owned by Texas Roadhouse and I think they do that there. This is the first time I had been asked if it was my first time and it actually was.

The food was good, and I think the price was well worth it, even without the Groupon discount. It was $10 for the sirloin and 2 sides. This isn’t a plug about Groupon, as there are several other services in our area now, especially with Try It Local (I know the person behind it)- so try them out! I get their daily email and you should too!

I found these sites:

BHG

Good Housekeeping