Number 16: Adopt A Pet

On April 7, 2011, I received the following email from my roommate:

One of my co-workers found an adorable teeny little white bunny in the gutter eating a newspaper. She brought it home and is trying to find a loving home to give it to. Apparently it was a pet before someone threw it out (idk how she knows...). It comes with a cage.

CAN WE KEEP HIM PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAASE!?!?!?

*pulls on heart strings*

*num num num!*

On April 10, 2011, Olivia Annie Benson moved into our living room.

She looks like this:

This was one of the items on the list that I thought we would never complete, but here we are almost two months later, the proud mommies of the cutest little bunny you've ever seen. And she (like most pets) rules the house. We haven't quite gotten her to do her chores yet but we did have a serious conversation tonight about keeping the litter inside the litter box instead of kicking it all over the floor. We'll see how that goes. Olivia has definitely been a great little addition to our team. She enjoys eating the slipcovers on our couch, carrots, and trying to sneak into the kitchen. Stay tuned, she's got a web series in the works. First episode? Olivia hands over the remote. Can't get that girl off Extreme Couponing. (If anyone thinks I'm kidding, definitely keep an eye out for the whole clan on youtube.)

Number 43: Make Snow Angels

As some of you may have noticed, we've been getting an excessive amount of snow in the Boston Area this winter. Everyone in my apartment was gifted a snow day for the first one - we did a pretty good job of taking advantage of having a snow day. We made pancakes, took naps, shoveled out the cars, drank hot cocoa, and watched movies. It was pretty productive - we also did some blog work. So here goes, Number 43: COMPLETED!!

Number 36: Pamper Yourself At An All Day Spa

Let's face it, there's no way that this chica has the time (or the capital) to spend an entire day at a spa. What I do have though, is a great friend, we'll call her Em Elle, who knows the swankiest hot tub spa in town. And thus my Wednesday night date was born. Em Elle and I headed to Inman Square for our Girly Night Out. First we hit up CityGirl Cafe. I have to say, I had one of the better home cooked meals I've had in awhile. The interior is small, but cozy and the retro-rustic decor makes up for the lack of square footage. For the price of a mani-pedi combo at a spa, I enjoyed a starter salad, entree, and half a bottle of vino. (My taste buds were appreciative of my 99 cent nail polish, trust me.)

A few glasses of red and some portobello lasagna later, the girl talk continued just a few doors down at Inman Oasis, a hot tub spa. For $25/person we enjoyed a personal, bamboo hot tub for 45 minutes complete with cold drinking water, low lighting, private speakers connected to Em Elle's ipod, and of course lovely hot, bubbly jets to warm up our winter bodies (and souls). At the end of our session, the girl talk still flowed, but the the stress in my shoulders did not. I left the tub in an almost altered state, my limbs warm and relaxed, and my mind at ease. I've never had a massage, but I'll say that THIS was the best stress-reducing, self-pampering experience I've ever had. This perfect evening ended as we walked outside and into a light and lovely snow flurry. And all of a sudden I thought, "I'm 23, I live in Boston, I just had the nicest night with my girlfriend. I felt like I was in Costa Rica for 45 minutes, and now I have this gorgeous ride home. What could be better?" And that was that. (And isn't that the point of the blog anyways?!)

I highly recommend this spa, which Em Elle tells me was started by a former actress. I mean, we supported the local arts scene AND had a beautifully relaxing evening. This girl's thoughts? Three quarters of an hour in a tub with my one of my closest friends totally beats out a day at the spa by myself.

Number 38: Create your own holiday and celebrate it every year

The American people celebrate a number of obscure, non-nationally recognized holidays each year. Some I've heard of, for instance, December 1 is World AIDS Day. Some are far more bizarre. A simple google search produced the following finds for the month of December alone, December 4: Wear Brown Shoes Day, December 8: Take It In the Ear Day (it doesn't specify what "it" is), and my personal favorite, December 30: National Bicarbonate of Soda Day, which celebrates the many uses of baking soda.

So Sunday night marked the night of a new holiday in Allston. I know the blog says to celebrate the holiday every year, but we like it so much we'll probably celebrate it every month. And my holiday is... drumroll please...

CHAMPAGNE SUNDAY!!!

Champagne Sunday is pretty easy holiday to celebrate and I encourage you to try this one at home. Here's what you need for it to be successful:

- At least one (1) bottle of cheap champagne. For our inaugural event, we chose a bottle of Peach Passion Andre, valued at around $6.

- Some friends. This event consisted of myself and my two lovely roommates.

- Pre or post champagne food. (I'll be honest, we chose both.) But seriously, if you want to avoid what a friend cleverly called Hangover Monday, pick up some snacks to compliment the champagne. We chose Red Velvet Cupcakes. :)

The result? A lovely, buzzy, peach tasting evening of laughs, sing-a-longs and sugar highs. I declare the first, ever Champagne Sunday to be a success. I look forward to next month's!

Number 13: Dye Your Hair Blonde And See If They Really Do Have More Fun

As a small child, I had bright blonde ringlets. Today, I am more of what you would call a dirty blonde. My brother would say I'm a brunette. Either way, my hair has blonde tones to it but is NOT THAT LIGHT. So this is kind of a scary step for me. I like my hair. But I'm also not terrified to alter it. As I do when I dye my hair, I summoned Danielle with me to the "Hair Coloring" isle at CVS. (We almost took a detour at the candy corn section but we ended up making it to hair coloring.) We chose a Superior Preference color called "Golden Blonde." Here is me trying to look like the model on the box:

I think the lighting in our living room makes my hair look rather dark. Here's another photo of my coloring JUST so you can get an idea of what it really looks like:

And post-blondifying:

Here are the things I've done post-hair dying: spent a weekend in NYC, started rehearsals for a play, thrown a house party, gone on a date, had a fabulous halloween, made new friends, cuddled with old friends, visited my parents, trained for a 5K. Would I have done these things anyways? YES.

The verdict? Blondes don't have more fun. Being 20-something and living in Boston though? Super fun. Stay tuned for more adventures.

Number 1: Make Up An Alias

Have you ever been out a bar and started receiving some very unwanted attention? It's usually from someone waaaay to drunk to even be stringing a coherent sentence together like this guy:

Or someone decidedly creepy (preferably minus the hair doll) like this guy:

ANYWAYS!!! Regardless of the situation, you are CORNERED without a friend in sight to save you. This guy (or girl - I'm not saying women can't be creepy) starts chatting you up and asking you asinine questions which include, "What's your name?" What would you do? Well, I'll tell you what I do. Whenever I'm in a situation like this I become (DA, DA, DAHHH!) ALISHA. Alisha is a recent graduate of Boston University, hailing from New Jersey, and is (of all things) an actress/waitress. She enjoys margaritas and long walks on the beach and IS ALWAYS LEAVING. (Side note: This is the key ingredient for those of you wanting to try this at home - always be leaving the bar. Even if you're just on your way back from the bathroom. It's the easiest way out of a conversation with an unwanted suitor. That and, "Sorry, I'm trying to find my boyfriend!" But even then, sometimes they try and help you and then things just get messy. Especially if you're out with your girlfriends.) Anyways, Alisha makes a lot of friends at bars but she meets them quickly and then mosies on her way. She's also an excellent wing woman, should you ever need one. Oh - and if anyone ever doubts that Alisha is my actual name? BAM! Right there on my wrist courtesy of my lovely roommate.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, has been a lesson in making up an alias. Any questions?

Number 26: Go Skydiving, Part 1

Greetings Fellow Adventurers!!

Thanks for the feedback that I've been getting about starting this blog. I know that a lot of you are saying "how the f*&$ is she going to do some of this stuff?" Well, I'm trying to do AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE and maybe molding a few to my lifestyle. Plus, I've already accomplished some of them, so there's that. But some of the items, I really am dead set on accomplishing. And here goes my baby steps towards one that SCARES ME WORSE THAN MOST THINGS IN MY LIFE (read: Canadian geese, things with tentacles dragging me under water, life without chocolate, etc.) This item is, drumroll please...

SKYDIVING.

Photo Courtesy of http://www.skyjump.com/ - That's NOT me by the way. :)

So, as a firm believer in fate, when Groupon announced a skydiving deal this morning in my inbox, I said to myself, "Self, this is the perfect opportunity to capitalize on this deal. You should do it." So I bought it. Today was the first step in my skydiving adventure. I was thinking though, those of you who are reading my blog, are you reading because you like hearing about my adventures or because a part of you wants to adventure as well? Is this calling to you too? JOIN ME. The Groupon link is listed below. Buy it. I dare you.

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu5162471