goals update

Ok, so as you know, we moved to Hawaii. This causes a bit of a problem for the goals which are Memphis specific. I'm not going to fly back just to take a picture of a water tower, right? So, because of this, I'm swapping the Memphis area items with some fresh ones. You can see them in blue below:


1 paint the dining room chairs>We didn't move any of our big items, because we shipped all of our things by parcel post, so the chairs went to the dumpster. Sadly, even if we were still in Memphis, I don't think I would have spent time on them. Turkey had chewed on every one, so they were in rough shape and not really worth sprucing up. 
Replacement goal: Learn to surf
2 refinish the dining room table> Same reason as chairs, except this one I was able to give to Gb. 
Replacement goal: Make the Wired table  
3 make chaz' wine>This is one I feel really guilty about. This sweet brother of mine, gave me a super cool wine making kit as a gift a couple Christmases ago. I was genuinely interested in it and told all of my friends/coworkers about it, but I just never got it going. I got the kit out a few times to start it, but I was intimidated by the science and precision it required and I didn't want to mess it up, so I'd put it off. By trying to avoid messing it up, I royally messed up in that when it came time to pack I decided to leave it behind. (ok, confession time... I didn't just "leave it behind" I sold it at our garage sale. Terrible right?!)
Replacement goal: Buy a new kit and actually make it!
4 finish the chain painting
5 go camping> We sold our tent :( I'm kind of bummed about it now, because it does seem like there are opportunites for camping here. Well, maybe we could borrow one? If that doesn't work...
Replacement goal: Get a haircut with bangs!
6 run a marathon (started training!)
7 skydive
8 make boxing video
9 update moodymoovies
10 travel to Europe> Now that we're closer to Asia, I have my eyes on Thailand. I guess I'll just tweak this one.
Replacement goal: Travel out of the country
11 renovate my bathroom 
12 run with turkey at least once a week (Turkey is a half marathon runner! He's been training too :)
13 learn some of the magic tricks in my kit 
14 learn handwriting analysis 
15 document mjg & rents stories 
16 geocache in 5 new states/countries (3 out of 5)
17 hide 3 geocaches 
18 get new glasses 
19 make sign for camp bow wow to paint pet portraits 
20 print grid pictures/frame > I had 9 frames that I had bought from the Target dollar spot, which I had visions of hanging in a 3x3 grid on the wall. I wanted to print 1 image and then cut it up into 9 pieces, one for each frame. I also sold these frames at the garage sale, and don't really have room for the project in our tiny place here. 
Replacement goal: Go to a luau
21 start practicing taking portraits of friends 
22 get into regular volunteering (coaching?, flower guild?, food bank?) 
23 glue table together for the love of Pete! 
24 go to Hawaii 
25 go geocaching with chelsea
26 mail letters to family members 2x a year 
27 go to San Fran 
28 take pictures with lex
29 upload pics/music to cloud 
30 try to save small hard drive info 
31 fix button on jeans 
32 paint ceiling medallion
33 do a project with my spoons
34 send chaz & jenny a humidifier 
35 get mom and dad tstats and install (brought one to Phoenix, but ran out of time to install)
36 teach Turkey names of his toys 
37 teach Turkey to jump over Storm (this did happen once, but don't know if it will ever again, haha)
38 practice fushigi 
39 find out what's rattling in the trunk
40 shorten bathroom blind
41 make faceted mirror
42 say a prayer every night for 2 months 
43 take portraits of kyle's fam> Joe and Jannell's friend, Kyle, had expressed interest in having some family portraits shot. Again, I was nervous about doing it and messing it up. (This blog exercise is like therapy. I'm realizing I have issues. It's like perfectionist paralysis?)  So frustrating, because I really did want to do it.
Replacement goal: Rent or Borrow a D800
44 go to civil rights museum
45 go to rock n soul museum> It would have been cool to go here to learn some music history. I heard it was well done.
Replacement goal: Go to the Bishop Museum. Bonus: Try Poi  
46 read stack of books on nightstand 
47 drive to watch 3 sunsets (2 out of 3)
48 watch 1 sunrise over water
49 make a new friend 
50 donate clothes I haven't worn in closet every spring (did for year 1)
51 do a painting right away next time inspiration strikes
52 do 3 more car wash shoots (2 out of 3)
53 try to find more roller rinks
54 buy fertilizer for house plants
55 start a new garden 
56 experiment with HDR
57 shoot water tower/yellow tower> These were interesting sites that I used to drive by every day on my way to Hunter. I thought it would be fun to stop and shoot them, but I ran out of time!
Replacement goal: Shoot 2 interesting architectural structures here  
58 clean dash/vacuum when get car washed 
59 buy 700
60 keep in touch/visit JnJ
61 sew turkey's bed 
62 fly kites 
63 post onesies on etsy shop 
64 make Indian fry bread 
65 make cinnamon bread 
66 make 3 dishes from thai book 
67 try chickpea spinach curry
68 throw 1 pizza party a year 
69 mini triathalon
70 take brian to gatlinburg > Brian and I's first trip we took together was to Gatlinburg, so it was a special place to us. Also, Brian would talk about the mountains a lot, so I thought it would be fun to go back. Again, I think we would have eventually, but unfortunately, we ran out of time.
Replacement goal: Take a spontaneous, adventure lap around the island 
71 send post cards to friends 
72 see Chandra dance (so close!)
73 do a backflip on a trampoline 
74 make wine bottle glasses 
75 make string/yarn baskets 
76 make Martha Stewart flower pots
77 redesign Memphis geocaching logo
78 glue PVC chair
79 stay on top of filing
80 join tennis league 
81 hike south mountain w/ mom
82 golf with dad 
83 visit mrs. anderson 
84 golf a really nice course 
85 make family country music vid 
86 learn flash/dreamweaver 
87 repair cracks in the ceiling> This was a task that I was not looking forward to, so I'm kind of glad I don't have to do it now. :) 
Replacement goal: Jump off of the super high cliff at Maunawili Falls 
88 invite jessica to dinner> Jessica was my neighbor in the condos. We were always friendly, but never really friends even though I think we both thought we should be. I thought I would venture across the awkward barrier of "we enjoy each other's company, but we never hang out" and just invite her over for dinner. I was nervous about it though, kind of how I feel a guy and girl would be who've spent their childhoods together as friends, and then they both feel the chemistry to date when they're older, but they're nervous about acting on it, because what if the other person doesn't feel the same! Kind of like that.
Replacement goal: Scan some of the family circus pictures  
89 do yoga with brian 
90 update linked in profile 
91 update coroflot portfolio 
92 go to the shooting hole with dad 
93 recycle cans & glass (bought a second bin just for recyclables!)
94 make inspiration pin board (does Pinterest count? :)
95 do something with pictures in boxes in closet 
96 go to a geocaching event 
97 stay at an airbnb place 
98 make cd storage more organized/usable 
99 documentary parties 3x year (only did 1, oops)
100 check off all on my places to eat list (maybe half way through the list?)
101 blog this


 I'm excited about these! Updating is energizing! :]

airbnb maui style!

AirBnB, aka Air Bed & Breakfast, is a fantastic concept that I have been interested in for quite some time. The basic idea is that if someone has a house, a room, or even just a couch that they would like to rent out, then they can post it on airbnb's website and set a price. Then, if someone who needs a place to stay wants to take advantage of that rental opportunity, then they can make a reservation with the owners. The appeal is that the rates are typically much cheaper than hotels, and it could potentially be a more homey experience. Also, the host often is willing to offer advice and recommendations that only a local would know. Sounds cool right?!

The only thing that was holding me back from giving it a try was the risk of getting a bad (read: criminal/creepy/or something along those lines) host. An airbnb customer went through a terrible experience not too long ago, so since then the company has added protective measures to the site to make it a safer experience for all parties. This made me feel a little more comfortable in giving it a try.

Brian and I booked our first airbnb rental for our honeymoon trip to Maui. We were offered to stay at a friend's condo for the second half of our trip but needed a place for the first. It ended up being a great experience. Our hosts were very friendly and accommodating. Here are a couple shots of our place.

Happy Hubby

  

It def had the island vibe.

And since we're on the topic of the honeymoon, here are some more pics from our trip just for fun!

Purple looks good on him, no?

Sunrise on the clouds at Haleakala mountain

Then, of course, some beach time

A stop on a scenic (and steep and narrow) drive

a love rock next to...

a blow hole where...

lovers go!

purdy flowers by the pool

and of course some geocaching!

inside you can see we dropped our "love bug" heart travel coin that Brian gave me on our wedding day. (awww!)

and for the grand finale...a beautiful sunset!

Ohhhhhhh-Ok-lahoma!

So after packing up our things and heading out of Memphis, we were on the road to Phoenix to get hitched! By the way, regarding all of the Memphis-specific goals on the list that I obviously can't realistically complete now that we have moved, I plan on replacing them with Hawaii applicable goals. But back to the road trip...once I discovered that I hadn't yet found a geocache in Oklahoma, I knew we had to stop at some point to check that state off of the list. The opportunity presented itself when we stopped for gas the morning after our stay in Oklahoma City. The cache was called "tramlaw" (jannell, you should be all over that clue) and it was in the store's parking lot across the street from the gas station where we stopped.  It was a park-n-grab (aka easy), so we logged it then got right back on the road. Here's the nerd badge I earned:

and here's a picture of the Oklahoma plain:

ceiling plate

Here's a real exciting one...I painted a ceiling plate. It was so thrilling that it only took me 2 months to write about it. ;]  Here is the before picture. You can see that it was definitely dingy.

This plate was in my Memphis condo, so I was pressed to get it done before moving. I really don't mind painting things, in fact I kind of like it, but this one was a pain because the light fixture had to be partially disassembled in order to remove the plate. This actually ended up being a blessing, because it forced me to replace the fixture arms which I had also been meaning to do so that they would match the glass. Here is the completed result: bright white plate and correct fixture arms!

earnestine & hazel's

After two and a half hours walking around the Civil Rights Museum, we were hungry! Since we were downtown, I suggested that we knock another restaurant off of my list and grab lunch at Earnestine & Hazel's. I saw it make a cameo in the movie "Elizabethtown" and just last week I was reminded of it again when I saw it on Design Sponge's Memphis City Guide. It's known for its interesting history as a brothel, then drug store, now restaurant/bar.

I was surprised that when we walked in at the peak time for lunch, nobody was there except for the waiter/bartender/cook. We definitely got a sketchy vibe, so Brian whispered to me, "You want to go?" If it weren't on my list, I think we would have left, haha. I'm glad we stayed though, it was definitely a unique experience.

It started by the waiter not asking us what we wanted to eat, but telling us, "So, two soul burgers." Us- "Uh, yeah?" 

I still don't know if there is even anything else on the menu, that is, if there is a menu at all.

The burgers weren't anything to write home about. 

The "special sauce," aka mustard, was pretty overwhelming. 

We could barely even taste the grilled onions on it. 

As we were checking out, I asked the guy if it was true about the brothel history. He was much more blunt and said, "Yeah, it was a whore house. You guys can go up stairs if you want." I had no idea there was an upstairs. Obviously, being curious, we went and checked it out. And I thought downstairs was dumpy...  

They kept the rooms upstairs. There were red lights in some of them, random chairs and tables, a fridge, even a claw foot tub in the bathroom. Weird. But also fascinating. We were told that it was a functioning brothel all the way up until 1991. Definitely had character.

National Civil Rights Museum

#44 Go to the National Civil Rights Museum. Check! Saturday wasn't too crazy busy, so we decided to take some downtime (rare lately) to tour the museum. I'm glad we did! I'd been outside many times, but had never been in. It was very informative and moving. About a year ago, I met one of Brian's coworkers, Gerald (an older black man in his 60s?), who recommended that we go. He grew up in Memphis and clearly remembers the racism and definitely when Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. I guess it shouldn't have, but somehow this surprised me, because it seems crazy to me that it really wasn't that long ago when there was so much hatred and inequality for blacks. I know we still have a long way to go, but I guess I'm encouraged that in just 2 generations, we have come so far.

tourist shot

just hanging with Rosa 

King was shot in front of room 306

Across the street, there is another part of the museum where James Earl Ray shot from. This was interesting because the exhibits showed a lot of the evidence, and explained how Ray was caught. I wish we hadn't been so hungry, because I think I would have spent more time here. The theories, clues, timeline, and investigations were fascinating.

Here is the (approximate) view of where the shots were fired from. The wreath is where MLK was.

To round out the day, we watched "The Help." Talk about a theme day, huh?! 

beauty shop and wiles-smith drug store

Seeing the title, you'll probably be surprised to find out that this blog post is about food. This weekend Brian and I knocked two more restaurants off of the "places to eat list" (#100). First up was The Beauty Shop in Cooper-Young on Friday night. In a previous life, this space was a bustling '60s(?) beauty salon. Now, however, it has been reenvisioned into a hip little restaurant. What's cool about the decor is that they've incorporated some of the beauty pieces (the hair washing sinks are used at the bar, hair dryer chairs are used for diners, etc.), but some modern, local artist flavor is also mixed in.

We had a massive pile of onion straws for an appetizer. 

So good! The sauce was really the kicker.

Jolly Brian perusing the menu.

THAI STEAK SALADDDDD. yum. period.

Brian's Steak Sandwich. Open-faced? 

Or did they forget to bring the top bread? :]

The second new food experience this weekend was the Wiles-Smith Drug Store Saturday afternoon. This is one that I've read about in must-try Memphis articles, so I figured just that, that I must try it! Unlike the Beauty Shop, this one's name is really what it is, a drug store. That's not all though, there is also an authentic old-time soda fountain/restaurant inside as well, which is what we went to try. I heard the milkshakes were the thing to get, but I felt a hankering for a straight up sundae. However, Brian did go the shake route. When we sat down at the counter, he heard a regular customer order a malted chocolate shake. Brian, trying to sound like a fancy regular himself, ordered the same. Little did he know that malt flavoring is like Whoppers which he doesn't like, haha.

Not the most amazing sundae/shake I've ever had, but the experience was definitely worth it.

The ambiance was especially great which included a stuffed porcupine sitting high in a corner.