August Goals

Will waiting for the meat to cook on our rooftop grills. Summmmmer.

Woohoo! It’s August 1st, and I am getting these goals on the blog! Good start, August. One of the big reasons I have been MIA from the blog is that my old Mac was on its last leg, and I spent the vast majority of my blogging time staring at the rainbow beachball of doom. BUT my awesome, sweet, and resourceful husband took a Saturday to replace my hard drive and RAM, and now I have a basically new computer for a quarter of the price! I have photos to prove it coming soon.

We just got back from a refreshing and relaxing weekend in the High Country’s 70-degree weather enjoying the mountains with Will’s mom, and I knocked out some goal setting on the way home. As much as I love fall, I’m starting to get the end-of-summer scaries. There are so many fun outdoor things to do in summer, from active things to outdoor theater to rooftop restaurants to beach weekends and star gazing. We just realized those opportunities are going to be gone for the year before we know it, so Will and I made a seize-the-summer bucket list, and I incorporated some of those ideas into my eight goals for August:

1. Month Two of the Contentment Challenge. See below for a longer description of this, but I am not buying “things” until my 29th birthday. Gifts, necessities, and experiences are ok, though.
2. Go to Annapolis. I’ve always wanted to go explore Annapolis, and for some reason it seems like a summer city to me. So we’re going to pick a Saturday in August and go explore and eat Maryland crabs. Hopefully with friends.
3. Make Rosemary and Lavender Sheet Spray. Does anyone know how to do this with real herbs (not essential oils)? The sweet smell and excess quantity of our balcony herbs really got me thinking about using the scents around our house. Maybe I could also (or instead) make some sort of diffuser oil?
4. Rent Bikes. There are so many great bike trails in DC, and while we want to buy our own bikes eventually, it’s the Contentment Challenge right now. 🙂 But we still plan to rent some and explore the trails this month.
5. Go Kayaking again, but on the Potomac. The lines in Georgetown were too long last time because it was REI’s free kayak rental weekend, so we went to the Navy Yard location. We’re coming back for you, Georgetown and monuments.
6. Lay by the Rooftop pool. We have the most beautiful rooftop pool that I was all excited about before summer, and now it’s August and I haven’t been up there. Will has a bachelor trip weekend next weekend in Canada, so I have a date with my kindle and the cute blue cushioned chaises up there.
7. Eat Luke’s Lobster. It’s not summer on the east coast without a lobster roll, and this is the next best thing to a real summer weekend in Maine. Also, Will is friends with Luke and he’s great.
8. Complete Gallery Wall. I need to order one photo, stick it in a frame I already have, and hang it on the wall. This shouldn’t be that hard, but it has been on my to-do list for months. Making it happen!

July Goals Update:

I never wrote these on the blog, but I wrote them in my planner, so I’m going to archive them here:

1. Start Month One of the Contentment Challenge.  After many purchases for our Hawaii trip, I decided I needed a retail detox and remembered that Nancy Ray (who is awesome) challenged us to try her Contentment Challenge with her during the Making Things Happen conference. I will likely write more on this, but it’s been really fulfilling so far. The long and short of it is that I am not spending any money on material goods until my 29th birthday. This includes shopping and things but not gifts, necessities, and experiences. As experiences create more happiness than things, I’ve been very content this month. 🙂
2. Celebrate Grandmother and Daddy Jim in Nashville.  See it here! 
3. Find a free outdoor play or concert to enjoy. We did this twice: concerts at the Navy Pier with our friends the Irwins and then an outdoor historical play in Boone, NC with Will’s mom.  
4. Enjoy DC sights with Dad. We had the best time with Pops in DC! We did what I had planned, which was hiking in Great Falls with Pippa and going to the new Air and Space Annex. We miss him! 
5. Explore rural North Carolina and Star-Gaze in the Country. We had the greatest weekend in High Country with Will’s mom this past weekend, and we roasted marshmallows under the brightest stars I’ve seen in a long time. 
6. Go to a rooftop bar. Will found a great tiki-themed rooftop bar in Clarendon, and we had a great date night. 
7. Go see a play. I don’t know what the rules on double counting are, but we saw an outdoor play called Horn in the West, so win-win. 
8. Read a book. Again, I read FIVE of those stupid Selection books, and it’s not my fault. I had to know how it ended. 🙂 

June Goals Update:

1. Pack for, plan, and have a blast in Hawaii.  This was incredible and will be chronicled here soon. 

May Goals Update:

1. Plant window boxes with flowers and herbs on our balcony. Done! See it here. 
2. Try some new restaurants and museums with Haley! Done! We had a great time and did just that. See it all here. 
3. Re-vamp my skin care routine. I didn’t do the in-depth research I had planned, but I did buy some new moisturizer and eye cream, so for now, I’m going to call it good. Revisit at 30. 
4. Put all photos on Smug Mug and Dropbox. This is the big accomplishment of my month. But now that I’m caught up, the challenge will be to stay caught up. 
5. Relax in Emerald Isle with Will’s Family for Memorial Day.  We had so much fun! Coming to a blog near you near week. 
6. Clean out next closet or storage area.  I tackled the guest closet. It was cathartic. 
7. Read at Least One Book Cover to Cover. (?) I’m not really sure when I read what and whether I did this in May. I did finish the Selection series at some point, which is really only a half win, but I’ll count it. 
8. Go see a play. We saw The Taming of the Shrew at the Shakespeare Theatre Company with my old friend Telly Leung in it, and he was amazing. Also, this is one of the coolest theater complex’s I’ve been to in a while, and they had a pre-show party in the lobby that was so much fun. It really felt like a special night out, and we got to catch up with Telly afterward. He is the sweetest and most talented person. Goals for the win! 

You can see all my goal posts here.