Posts/December, 2012/

2012: 100 Firsts

Friday, December 28th, 2012

In 2012, I               for the first time ever.

01. celebrated a wedding anniversary

02. witnessed Nik make an entire tent full of people laugh as he gave a Best Man Toast

03. drove the Vespa

04. have a California driver’s license

05. voted in California

06. attempted (and partially failed) to complete a daily photo project – 366 Objects

07. listened to a classical radio station for hours and hours most days

08. tried (and failed) to sell clothes at a consignment shop

09. wore skinny jeans

10. went suit shopping with Nik

11. sang duets with Nik while he played the guitar (in the comfort of our own home)

12. finished reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy

13. installed a legitimate version of the Adobe Creative Suite onto my computer (Thanks, Wayne!!)

14. dyed fabric with beet juice

15. hand-quilted a blanket

16. gave a quilt I made as a wedding gift

17.taught myself embroidery techniques

18. altered a man’s sweater to fit me

19. bought an entire bolt of fabric

20. designed and tested a quilt pattern

21. performed a semi-significant kitchen upgrade project

22. hosted a dinner party for 8

23. grew strawberries in our living room

24. grew mushrooms on our kitchen table

25. made polenta

26. made home-made biscotti

27. made home-made granola

28. bought and used taper candles

29. used a salad spinner

30. used a feather duster

31. attended a professional conference, and did not like it very much

32. helped launch an online shop, Urban Burp

33. was hired as the only employee in an architecture firm

34. attended the opening of my first built project in San Francisco (the Andrea Schwartz Gallery)

35. designed a friend’s apartment

36. felt like the moon was smiling at me (on the day I passed the final test to become a licensed architect)

37. had multiple conference calls with my siblings

38. had my hair cut by Nik’s sister

39. visited my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew in their new Atlanta, GA home

40. was told by my nephew, “Auntie Jamie, I love you” at least 10 times in one day

41. threw a huge party for my parents with my siblings

42. rented a vacation house with the Sinz family (in Guntersville, AL)

43. jumped off a boat dock with my nieces

44. surfed across the water on a wake board

45. saw thousands of lightning bugs in the trees at night from a canoe

46. witnessed my cousin marry her true love

47. went out to drinks with both of my siblings and their spouses (it was awesome)

48. was the first to sleep in “Grammi & Papa’s room” in my sister’s new home in Paducah, KY

49. sewed with my nieces

50. witnessed my niece take her first no-training-wheels bike ride

51. walked my other niece to school

52. did not spend either of the two major holidays with the Sinz side of the family

53. spent Christmas in Santa Fe with the Daum side of the family

54. walked along Canyon Road in the snow on Christmas Eve to see the Farolitos in Santa Fe

55. slept in a light house on an island (East Brother Light Station, Richmond, CA)

56. crowd-sourced travel recommendations (for New York & Japan)

57. rode a bike in New York City

58. ate noodles at Momofuku in New York

59. rode a bike in Brooklyn

60. stayed with my best friend from college in her precious Atlanta, GA home

61. met up with a friend after posting photos of her Atlanta neighborhood on Instagram

62. vacationed in Mexico City while Nik “worked” there

63. rode the Mexico City Subway

64. slept in a St. Regis Hotel

65. drank beer on a boat in Xochimilco

66. ate worms and bugs, and did not like them (in Mexico City)

67. went to a pretty big work dinner with Nik (10 handsome American dudes and me)

68. vacationed in Japan

69. rode a Japanese bullet train

70. rode a bike in Kyoto

71. rode the Tokyo & Kyoto Subways

72. ordered ramen from an automated machine in Tokyo & Kyoto

73. ate rice triangles from 7-Eleven and Family Mart in Japan for breakfast, lunch and dinner

74. ate cow tongue, and liked it (in Japan)

75. held a clear plastic umbrella over my head in the rain

76. slept in a capsule hotel (9hours, Kyoto, Japan)

77. walked under hundreds of orange gates at the Fushimi Inari Shrine

78. had dinner on the 14th floor of a department store

79. rented a movie on iTunes to watch on a plane

80. went to the Antique Archaeology store in Nashville

81. rented an apartment through AirBnB

82. went to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival

83. rode the ferry to Larkspur

84. ate oysters at the Marshall Store outdoor bar

85. spent a day in San Francisco with my 2nd year college roommate that I haven’t seen since college

86. spent a day in San Francisco with my Uncle Don, Aunt Kim and cousins

87. had a crowd-based panic attack while attempting to watch Flugtag

88. listened to the choir sing at the Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Cathedral

89. volunteered at an AIA Home Tour

90. rode in a scooter rally

91. sat in a booth at the renovated Louis’ Restaurant for breakfast

92. went to an event at the Internet Archive

93. watched skeet shooting (at Lake Merced)

94. walked through the Bay Model in Sausalito

95. dressed up fancy just for the fun of it to go on a double date to Frances on Halloween

96. had drinks at the Tonga Room

97. drove 1-1/2 hours each way to the Boat Shack in Marshall, CA for a dinner date with Nik

98. attended an Outstanding in the Field dinner as a guest

99. hiked in Yosemite National Park

100. camped in Big Sur with a view of the ocean from our tent

 

Archives for December, 2012