101 Ideas for Your 101: Why The Hell Not

This is your list! Your chance to challenge yourself in 101 ways over the next 1001 days. Here are a few "Why the hell not!" ideas:

60. Write a song

61. Eat something you didn't like as a child but haven't tried since

62. Host a dinner party where none of the guests know each other

63. Start your own business

64. Find the best burger in your state

65. Display something a friend made in your home

66. Display something you made in your home

67. Learn how to play a musical instrument

68. Go on vacation by yourself

69. Get a dog or a fish

70. Plant a tree

71. Give yourself a pat on the back

72. Tell someone all the things you love about them

73. Go to a drive-in movie

74. Invent something

75. Throw a surprise party

76. Finish a game of monopoly

77. Ask someone for forgiveness

78. Forgive someone

79. Have your picture taken in a photo booth

80. Audition for a reality show

81. Blow on a stranger's dice in Vegas

82. Go to a taping of your favorite TV show

83. Swing on a trapeze

84. Take a hot air balloon ride

85. Feel really happy

86. Learn how to change a tire

87. Learn how to toss a pizza pie

88. Knit a sweater

89. Have your palm read

90. Don't say anything mean about anyone for a day, a week or a year

91. Fall in love

Song of the Day
I thought this would be a good time for another list song. Please enjoy You Gotta Be.

101 Ideas for Your 101: A Little Adventure

A little adventure never hurt anyone. Add a few out-of-the-box challenges to your 101 list. Here are a few ideas:

51. Swim with sharks

52. Go spelunking


53. Go to every baseball stadium in the US


54. Run further than you ever have before, whether it is one mile or 27 miles


55. Go to the Olympics


56. Go to the World Cup


57. Try parkour
- But please don't kill yourself doing it. I would feel really bad.


58. Participate in the Cooper Hill Cheese Chase
- Looks wicked crazy!


59. Run with the bulls in Pamplona

Song of the Day
Today's song is Bob Seger's Hollywood Nights.

Today is Positively

101 Ideas for Your 101: It Is A Dirty Job...

But someone has got to do it! Most of us wish our homes and/or offices were a little cleaner and more orderly. Those goals can be reached by simply putting aside some time and creating a plan that works for us. Here are a few ideas for your 101 list.

44. Make your bed every morning for a month

45. Organize your closet

46. Clean off your desk at the end of each week

47. Make your own cleaning supplies
- Here's how!

48. Recycle!

49. Clean out your garage, basement or attic

50. Create chore schedule with your kids

Song of the Day
Clearly the perfect song for this post is Outkast's So Fresh and So Clean. Duh!

101 Ideas for Your 101: To Your Health

We are creating lists of all the wonderful and fun thing we can do with all the wonderful and fun people in our lives but we can't accomplish any of those things if we are not healthy. Include your health on your 101. While they might not be the most exciting items on your list, they are certainly the most important.

37. Get checked!
- Get checked for whatever you need to: blood pressure, suspicious moles, STDs...whatever you need to do to make sure you are healthy.

38. Find a physician you like and trust

39. Go to the dentist

40. Work out 3 or 4 or 5 times a week for a month

41. Reach a healthy weight in the first 500 days and stick to it for the next 501

42. Eat 5 fruits and vegetables everyday for 2 months

43. Go see a therapist

Song of the Day
Sticking with the theme, today's song is Let's Get Physical.

Home Sick and Hating Every Minute

You know when the best time to be sick is? The holidays. Oh I'm sorry, that is all the acetaminophen talking. Being sick during the holidays is the freakin worst! I've been sick for three days and I've managed to miss some of the things that make this season my favorite: the annual winter visit from one of my favorite people, another friend's mega-holiday party AND the first snowfall in New York. Dang it, dang it AND dang it.

I'm over being sick. The apartment is a mess, overflowing with water glasses and Kleenex. The couch and my bed have lost all appeal. And I've watched everything on my DVR. EVERYTHING! I'm determined to get back to reality tomorrow. I'm sick of being sick.

Song of the Day
Matt is super into this song these days so I thought I would share it with you. Please enjoy Phoenix's 1901.

101 Ideas for your 1001 Days List: Reading, Writing, and Arithmatic

This is one of my favorite categories. Sometimes you need to carve out a little time in your life to curl up with a good book, or pen and paper, or even a calculator.

Reading

27. Read a book you enjoyed when you were young to a child
- I would read Eloise to every little girl in the world!

28. Read a book you were supposed to read in high school or college but read the CliffNotes

29. Read a collection of short stories
- I have a few suggestions for you from my very well read buddies
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned - Wells Tower
Complete Stories - Flannery O'Conner
Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri
Runaway - Alice Munro

30. Pick a book solely based on its cover

Writing

31. Write fan mail

32. Write a novel

34. Write a letter to your senator
- Find your senators address here.

35. Write a screenplay
- Here's how.

Arithmetic - Ok I could only think of one item for arithmetic but let me know if you have any ideas!

36. Create a budget

Song of the Day
Here is a little song about proper punctuation. Please enjoy Vampire Weekend's Oxford Comma.



Today in Positively

Making the New Boston Moms Proud

The moms of my hometown, New Boston, NH, are some of the sweetest, most caring people I know. And these women take three things very seriously: The 4th of July, graduation parties, and the Annual Cookie Exchange. Growing up, our holidays were always filled with delicious, expertly presented cookies and when I was invited to my first cookie exchange in New York I wanted to recreate some of that magic.

There are two main elements to a successful cookie exchange submission: the cookie and the presentation.

The cookie recipe was provided by my friend Caryn (logo designer extraordinaire). She had made pumpkin spice cookies with cranberries and pecans for Halloween but thought they were so good they they could transcend into the holiday season. And she was right! They were excellent. A hearty, sweet and warm cookie with a tasty cream cheese frosting. You can find the recipe here.

Now that I had the perfect cookie, I wanted to present it with appropriate splendor. Of course that wonderfully dangerous Container Store had everything I was looking for.

At a cookie exchange everyone brings copies of their recipe. Caryn came to the rescue again, designing these awesome recipe cards which have a picture of the cookie on them! I love this idea and wish all my recipe cards had this.
Well I survived my first cookie exchange and, New Boston Moms, I hope I have made you proud. Love you!

Song of the Day

Today's song is Momma Said. Have a great night!

Today In Positively

101 Ideas for Your 101: You Can't Pick Your Family

So you might as well celebrate and enjoy them! Here are some ideas of how to do both:

23. Ask your grandparents to tell you how they met and record it

24. Create a family tree
- Here are the hippest family trees I've ever seen.

25. Plan/host a family reunion

26. Visit where your family originated and find records of your relatives

Song of the Day
Please enjoy The Pointer Sisters' We Are a Family

101 Ideas for Your 101: My List Don't Cost a Thing

One of my readers said that they didn't want to create a 101 list because it was too expensive. It is true that some of the more grand items could be spendy but with some thought you could certainly come up with a full list of free ideas. Here are a few thought starters:

19. Watch a sunrise

20. Learn how to meditate

21. Start a blog
- It is easy and FREE! Get started here.

22. Come up with a mantra
- Here's how!

Song of The Day
You probably saw this coming. Today's song is Jennifer Lopez's My Love Don't Cost a Thing.

This Day in Positively

101 Ideas for Your 101: Grab Your Passport

If I had the money and the vacation days, my list would be 101 Place to Visit in 1,001 Days. But even though we can't spend all 1,001 days gallivanting off to exotic places, we can certainly spend a few days gallivanting to fun places. Gallivanting for one and all! So here are some traveling ideas:

14. Travel to all 7 continents

15. Go to Kalamazoo, Timbuktu, Kathmandu or somewhere else with a fun name

16. Go on a safari

17. Visit the Scottish Isles

- I know this oddly specific but I think the Scottish Isles are one of the most beautiful places in the world. I mean, HELLO!?

18. Drive cross country
- You obviously don't need a passport for this but it would still be bad ass

Song of the Day
Since I typed "Drive cross country" I haven't stopped singing Willy Nelson's On the Road Again.

Today in Positively

101 Ideas for Your 101: Getting Giving On Your List

We all know that giving to charity is important, whether it be our money or time. But all too often giving moves further and further down our priorities list. So get your good intentions on your 101 list! It will help to keep them from falling through the cracks.

Here are some charitable ideas:
7. Give blood
- Learn where you can give blood here

8. Adopt a pet
- And if you do, you must promise to torture me with adorable pictures.

9. Start a charity
- Here's how!

10. Give to public radio (Pledge Week has finally warped my mind)

11. Give your hair to Locks of Love

12. Set up a regular volunteering schedule - Once a week, once a month

13. Support our veterans
- Find some of the best veteran charities here.

Song of the Day
Today's song is the Goo Goo Doll's version of Give a Little Bit. Man, I'm appropriate!

This Day in Positively

101 Ideas for Your 101

101 Things in 1001 Days has been one of the best things I did in 2009. Every time I feel like I'm getting into a rut I check my list and I feel rejuvenated by all the different things I want to accomplish. I've heard from many of you that you have thought about creating your own lists but don't think you will be able to come up with 101 items. Fear not! I think the first day of the year would be a great time to launch a new list so from now until December 31st, I'm going to provide you with 101 ideas. They will range from things I've done, things I don't have the balls to do and ideas from other peoples' 101 lists. That is a lot to do in a little time so let's get started!

Since we are in the thick of the holidays, I thought we would start with a few seasonal items:

1. Start a new holiday tradition

2. Go caroling

3. Donate a toy to Toys for Tots

- Find you local drop off center here.

4. Make your own holiday cards

- My mom made hers using a linoleum print.

5. Host a cookie exchange

- Here's how!

6. Kiss someone under mistletoe

Song of the Day

I thought a good list song would be appropriate for this post. Please enjoy Billy Joel's We Didn't Start The Fire.

The Way To Handle A Thanksgiving Disaster

Each Thanksgiving my family is lucky enough to be invited to our dear friends the Kuncik's for dinner. We enjoy great company and wonderful food and always leave feeling very thankful. But this Thanksgiving disaster struck! BUM BUM BUMMMM! That morning the Kuncik's got up, prepared the turkey and popped it in the oven. They all bundled up for a nice walk in the woods with their dogs. When they returned a short time later, the house smelled wonderful (Got to love the smell of a roasting turkey). They opened the oven to take a peak and look at what they saw!Disaster! No one knows what the heck happened but mysteriously all the meat was gone for the turkey. Just disappeared! Re Christmas Vacation.

Luckily, on Thanksgiving, the only thing more important to the Kuncik's than turkey is a good story. When they called our house to tell us dinner would be pushed back a few hours they were out buying a new turkey and laughing their butts off. My family is so thankful to have such wonderful friends!

Song of the Day

I haven't played any Huey Lewis lately which is a crying shame. Please enjoy The Power of Love.

This Day in Positively