101 in 1001 :: week 2

the project is called day zero and focuses on accomplishing your goals. the challenge is to complete 101 tasks (written by yourself) in a period of 1001 days (approx. 2.75 years). each week i will be updating my list with what i've accomplished and/or worked on. you can see my original post here.

1. stop watching so much t.v.
2. read at least 1 book every 3 months
3. use the time i used to spend watching t.v. to craft more
4. decorate our master bedroom
5. put up bunk beds for the boys
6. re-upholster living room ottomans
7. get a new sofa for the living room 
8. take a trip to portland to see if it’s somewhere we might like to live
9. take the boys to chuck e cheese
10. paint the sunroom
11. after the hubby installs the floor boards, paint them along with trim on lower level
12. touch up paint where needed throughout the house
13. paint back entry way and stairs down to office
14. remove carpet from stairs and paint them something fun!
15. make our guest room something that a guest would like to stay in!
16. put together “art wall” in living room that i’ve had planned in my head for years
17. refinish foot stool from grandma  
18. try a new recipe at least once every other week tried 1 new recipe this week! 
19. get through the back-log of catalogs i have
20. organize pages from catalogs in binders
21. finish thrifted project for bedroom DONE!!
22. get the flower beds in the front of the house looking good DONE!!
23. build brick “wall” in side flower bed
24. watch all of the oscar nominated movies from 2005 to present watched "precious" this weekend!
25. take the boys on a photo scavenger hunt to find objects that resemble letters of the alphabet and take photos of them to spell out their names
26. surprise the boys with a picnic out in the yard
27. take a trip to the zoo
28. change my baby’s last diaper!
29. take a weekend trip to chicago
30. take a weekend trip to madison
31. take a road trip with no plans. just get in the car and drive.
32. create a piece of art just for myself
33. purge my craft closet
34. buy a larger family vehicle
35. purge the boys’ toys
36. visit the library with the boys at least once a month
37. get my braces off!
38. whiten my newly straightened teeth!
39. do a major seo job on all of my websites
40. redesign my blog header uploaded a new one! what do you think? still open to changes/suggestions!
41. try out a mostly vegetarian lifestyle
42. meet some of my online friends in person
43. improve my photography skills
44. purchase some different lenses for my camera
45. purchase a shoe flash for my camera
46. hit my weight loss goal. (6 more lbs!) check! still working on it!
47. continue eating 1 whole piece of fruit every day check! still working on it!
48. go through my computer and get rid of unnecessary files
49. research and find an amazing tattoo artist. check! found some amazing artists in chicago, still hoping to find one a little closer to home.
50. get the tattoos i’ve wanted in honor of my boys
51. purchase investment pieces of clothing instead of cheap crap
52. go through the house and seriously edit. if i don’t love it, it has to go
53. send out more hand-written notes
54. grow my hair back out….maybe??
55. take the boys hiking once a week in the warm weather seasons
56. buy recycled before new check! still working on it!
57. try to use every piece of produce from our csa. no waste.
58. learn to can food
59. learn to make sauce from the tomatoes we get from our csa
60. sew a piece of clothing from a pattern
61. use thrifted clothing to create new pieces
62. make some decorative pillows for the living room
63. made more decorative pillows for the bedroom
64. find little trinkets to fill my empty type drawer found my first 2 pieces this weekend!
65. spend more one on one time with the baby and teach him the basics. ie. letters, numbers, animals, colors. things we did with #1, but have slacked with #2 been working on animals lately. he's doing very well and will tell you that a parrot says: "polly want a cracker?" 
66. get back to the basics of design. ie. paintbrush to paper broke out the watercolors this weekend!
67. once the house is done, do a photo tour on my blog
68. power wash our dirty white house. ick.
69. schedule more play dates for the boys
70. meet new people in the area check! still working on it! (joined a new group!) 
71. take the baby to his first day of preschool!
72. take the little dude to his first day of full-day kinder!
73. have a date night with the hubby once per month
74. continue moving my business in a direction that leads to more design time and less administrative work
75. continue moving my business in a direction that leads to less inventory and more print-on-demand
76. hold hands with my hubby more
77. paint my nails more
78. splurge on a day at the spa
79. burn candles on a daily basis trying, but not always remembering. 
80. print blog into bound books….especially family related posts
81. go out for girls’ night out once a month check! 
82. cough…take down the last of the x-mas decorations….cough
83. start an exercise program
84. buy more food containing ingredients i can pronounce
85. teach my children to garden & grow their own food
86. adjust my savings program for my 401k
87. make a will
88. check into better home/car insurance rates
89. splurge on a great pair of jeans when i hit my weight loss goal
90. wear dresses/skirts more often
91. wear jewelry every day check! still working on it!
92. fold laundry within 24 hours of washing it folded it within 24 hours, but it sat in the baskets folded all week. oops! 
93. get a nice mailbox to replace the brass piece of crap on our house
94. get nice looking house numbers that you can actually see from the street!
95. learn to make up a nice smoky eye
96. bring positive energy into my life by exuding positivity trying really hard! 
97. share love
98. share joy
99. share wisdom
100. share strength
101. share happiness 

101 in 1001 :: the beginning

(this photo will be a part of my header for this feature as a symbol of the changes and growth this this project will bring to my life)

i recently heard about a very intriguing project that got me thinking. the project is called day zero and focuses on accomplishing your goals. the challenge is to complete 101 tasks (written by yourself) in a period of 1001 days (approx. 2.75 years).

i know that the people who know me best are probably rolling their eyes right now and mumbling to themselves, "ok lori, when do you think you're going to have time for this?". well, just like everything else, i will. i know myself and i know that if i write things down, and especially if i share them, i will have a better chance of following through with them. so, with that said, here are the 101 things i'd like to accomplish in the next 1001 days.

1. stop watching so much t.v.
2. read at least 1 book every 3 months
3. use the time i used to spend watching t.v. to craft more
4. decorate our master bedroom
5. put up bunk beds for the boys
6. re-upholster living room ottomans
7. get a new sofa for the living room
8. take a trip to portland to see if it’s somewhere we might like to live
9. take the boys to chuck e cheese
10. paint the sunroom
11. after the hubby installs the floor boards, paint them along with trim on lower level
12. touch up paint where needed throughout the house
13. paint back entry way and stairs down to office
14. remove carpet from stairs and paint them something fun!
15. make our guest room something that a guest would like to stay in!
16. put together “art wall” in living room that i’ve had planned in my head for years
17. refinish foot stool from grandma  
18. try a new recipe at least once every other week
19. get through the back-log of catalogs i have
20. organize pages from catalogs in binders
21. finish thrifted project for bedroom
22. get the flower beds in the front of the house looking good
23. build brick “wall” in side flower bed
24. watch all of the oscar nominated movies from 2005 to present
25. take the boys on a photo scavenger hunt to find objects that resemble letters of the alphabet and take photos of them to spell out their names
26. surprise the boys with a picnic out in the yard
27. take a trip to the zoo
28. change my baby’s last diaper!
29. take a weekend trip to chicago
30. take a weekend trip to madison
31. take a road trip with no plans. just get in the car and drive.
32. create a piece of art just for myself
33. purge my craft closet
34. buy a larger family vehicle
35. purge the boys’ toys
36. visit the library with the boys at least once a month
37. get my braces off!
38. whiten my newly straightened teeth!
39. do a major seo job on all of my websites
40. redesign my blog header
41. try out a mostly vegetarian lifestyle
42. meet some of my online friends in person
43. improve my photography skills
44. purchase some different lenses for my camera
45. purchase a shoe flash for my camera
46. hit my weight loss goal. (6 more lbs!)
47. continue eating 1 whole piece of fruit every day
48. go through my computer and get rid of unnecessary files
49. research and find an amazing tattoo artist.
50. get the tattoos i’ve wanted in honor of my boys
51. purchase investment pieces of clothing instead of cheap crap
52. go through the house and seriously edit. if i don’t love it, it has to go
53. send out more hand-written notes
54. grow my hair back out….maybe??
55. take the boys hiking once a week in the warm weather seasons
56. buy recycled before new
57. try to use every piece of produce from our csa. no waste.
58. learn to can food
59. learn to make sauce from the tomatoes we get from our csa
60. sew a piece of clothing from a pattern
61. use thrifted clothing to create new pieces
62. make some decorative pillows for the living room
63. made more decorative pillows for the bedroom
64. find little trinkets to fill my empty type drawer
65. spend more one on one time with the baby and teach him the basics. ie. letters, numbers, animals, colors. things we did with #1, but have slacked with #2
66. get back to the basics of design. ie. paintbrush to paper
67. once the house is done, do a photo tour on my blog
68. power wash our dirty white house. ick.
69. schedule more play dates for the boys
70. meet new people in the area
71. take the baby to his first day of preschool!
72. take the little dude to his first day of full-day kinder!
73. have a date night with the hubby once per month
74. continue moving my business in a direction that leads to more design time and less administrative work
75. continue moving my business in a direction that leads to less inventory and more print-on-demand
76. hold hands with my hubby more
77. paint my nails more
78. splurge on a day at the spa
79. burn candles on a daily basis
80. print blog into bound books….especially family related posts
81. go out for girls’ night out once a month
82. cough…take down the last of the x-mas decorations….cough
83. start an exercise program
84. buy more food containing ingredients i can pronounce
85. teach my children to garden & grow their own food
86. adjust my savings program for my 401k
87. make a will
88. check into better home/car insurance rates
89. splurge on a great pair of jeans when i hit my weight loss goal
90. wear dresses/skirts more often
91. wear jewelry every day
92. fold laundry within 24 hours of washing it
93. get a nice mailbox to replace the brass piece of crap on our house
94. get nice looking house numbers that you can actually see from the street!
95. learn to make up a nice smoky eye
96. bring positive energy into my life by exuding positivity
97. share love
98. share joy
99. share wisdom
100. share strength
101. share happiness 

i plan to update the blog once a week with items that i have either completed or worked on. i'm thinking of making it a friday feature. i hope you'll follow along.

what would your 101 things include? share them with me, i'd love to hear your ideas!

welcome 2010 :: business & personal goals

last year i made a long list of huge goals for 2009. while i accomplished a lot of them, many didn't make it to fruition. i think it was a case of high expectations rather than lack of trying. there just wasn't enough time to complete them all. i'm not too disappointed about this. i'd rather set my goals high and not meet all of them than set them too low and be done by june. i'm carrying a lot of my goals over from last year to this year since a lot of them are things i'd like to continue. 

personal goals:

1. still trying to loose that baby weight. this was one of my goals that i was most disappointed in not accomplishing this year. it wasn't for lack of trying. unfortunately i weigh more now than i did at this time last year. i was well on my way to my goal weight (only about 5 lbs away) but was then prescribed a new medication that caused major weight gain. i'm working with my dr. on this and will hopefully come to a solution which will help me loose the baby weight plus the weight gain from the medication. 
   
2. craft more.
   
3. make thoughtful, beautiful, handmade gifts for christmas this year.
   
4. start those gifts early and do them throughout the year.
   
5. continue to be more daring with my wardrobe. be true to myself.
6. arrange my schedule for one-on-one time with the boys.
   
7. have a date night with hubby at least once a month. just us.
8. save more money.
   
9. finish the kitchen remodel. all that's left is floor trim.
10. continue to improve my photography skills.
    
11. continue to live a thrifty life by buying things used through thrift stores and garage sales.

in my business life:

1. develop new card line based on designs/patterns from fin+roe.
   
2. design, design, design and expand fin+roe.
   
3. determine what direction fin+roe will continue in. (details to come)
4. incorporate shades of violet and marzipan inc. into one identity.
5. expand the sales force for marzipan inc.
6. work on doing more PR for both marzipan inc. and fin+roe.
7. do something with all the overstock & discontinued products cluttering up the studio warehouse room. 
8. now that the studio is mostly organized, continue to keep it clean and continue to decorate it to make it more inviting. 

happy new year to you all! here's to an exciting 2010!