#2: Visit Local Breweries

Posted on December 7, 2009 by elizabeth

It’s really no secret that I’m kind of in love with beer. (I’m thisclose to finishing my 52 Beers project, in fact.) So adding an item about visiting local breweries when I wrote my 28 to do list seemed a bit obvious. But for all of my love of beer, there are several really good breweries in the general area, and I have never been to ANY of them. I don’t know why. It’s silly. So! This past weekend, when Pete said he wanted to celebrate his birthday at Defiant Brewing Company in Pearl River, New York, you better believe I was in. (Okay fine, I would have been in to celebrate Pete’s birthday, brewery or not, but the brewery was like an added bonus. Especially given how much I like to check things off of lists!)

Anyway! My friends have been frequenting this brewery for a while, because the beer is good, the prices make your jaw drop, and the atmosphere is awesome. It was pretty crowded when we showed up around 10pm on a Friday night, but after an hour or two, it calmed down to the perfect type of bar vibe: there’s a place to sit, the beer is awesome, and you can hear each other talk. (I never claimed to be one of the cool kids!)

I’ve been to breweries before, but Defiant had way more beers to choose from than I expected. I tried the Prohibition Pilsner (light for your non-dark-beer-loving pals, but not so light that a real beer lover won’t be happy) and one of the lagers, the Muddy Creek Lager, which I really enjoyed. The beer was really good. And for every three you drink, the fourth is free. Free! And they’re only $3.25 to start with! Honestly. It’s probably good that I don’t live closer.

It was a lot of fun, and not just because of the beer. I can’t wait to go back. Even if my clothes reeked of hops and yeast and barley something AWFUL after we left. (But don’t consider this item checked off! Triumph, I’m looking at you!)

Things That Make Me Happy

Posted on November 25, 2009 by elizabeth

the CLICK of the shutter and the the kerCHUNK of the film advancing on a film camera
the smell of wet leaves on the ground
bagels
sunshine in the morning
holidays with my family
making apple pie with my mom
converse
composition books
Coke Cherry Zero
waking up to discover a text message arrived while I was sleeping
planning my outfit around my patterned socks
being in the middle of a really good, really long book
lazy Sundays watching football and tv shows on dvd all day
watercolors
the promise of a full scale Thanksgiving dinner

Third Time's the Charm

Posted on November 20, 2009 by elizabeth

I just got back from the gym and I’m sweaty and my face is beet red in a decidedly unpretty way. But I’m full of all of those good vibes I always hear people talking about when it comes to exercise. This morning’s run was my last run in week 9 of the Couch to 5k program. And week 9 is the last week. So that means I have now officially COMPLETED Couch to 5k. Well, sort of.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not entirely trying to knock this accomplishment, because for me, sticking with this for nine weeks is a big deal. This is not the first time I’ve attempted Couch to 5k. Well, frankly, it’s not the first time I’ve come up with a New! Perfect! Plan! for how I’m really going to get in shape for real this time! I swear! Let’s not mention my brief and wallet-destroying stint with that personal trainer last fall. Or when I was totally going to pull off that 30 Day Shred thing that the entire interweb was obsessed with. So I’m really freaking proud of myself that I started it, I stuck with it, even though I absolutely, 100% hate going to the gym and I hate how sweaty I get and I hate how my head is too enormously huge for any of those supposedly “no slip” headbands they sell for “active hairstyles!” and my bangs are always in my eyes, have I mentioned that I hate the gym? But! I have gone three times a week for NINE WHOLE WEEKS and I’m so impressed with myself.

Of course, the reason I’m qualifying my success here is that I run too slowly, so even though I have completed the nine week program and can now run for 30 minutes without stopping (even though it’s a bit of a colossal mental struggle every time, my body is completely capable of rising to the challenge), 30 minutes at the speed I’ve got the treadmill set is more like 2.6 or 2.75 miles, not 3.1. So that’s my next goal: either ratchet up the speed, or just run slowly but longer until I am really running three miles without stopping.

But still! Can you believe it? I can’t. The last time I was able to do this, I was 14 and miserable on the field hockey team. This is much, much better. Just be happy you’re not sitting next to me. Sweating is gross.

Hello, October

Posted on October 1, 2009 by elizabeth

Hello, new photo project. Hello, another attempt at writing more. Not that the two are necessarily connected, but… here we are. I don’t take photos very often when I don’t have a Project to make me do it. I suppose I should feel bad about that, but I’ve admitted that I have a tendency to be very, very lazy. And so if I want to get better at photography, or at writing, or even just get to a point where I’m not a little sad that I don’t do either more often, I have to force myself to do so. And that’s okay.

In other news, I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich last night that was made with blackberry jam, and it took me back in time to gourmet toast breakfasts with my grandparents. I’ll have to tell you about it someday.

Post-Move

Posted on August 18, 2009 by elizabeth

I’ve been living in my new apartment for three days now, and I’m hesitant to write about it, because I’m pretty sure this whole post will come off as obnoxiously gushy. But oh! I can barely contain myself because my new apartment is so much more awesome than my old one and I’m so excited about it.

Before I write any more, though, I have to say that my Very First Apartment was a good one. I learned to love it, and even though the astronomical cost of heating it was a big part of what made me leave, I feel a need to remind myself that my first apartment was not a dump, it was a perfectly wonderful place to live, and it was noteworthy if only because it was just that – my first place. But! Despite the fact that I only moved across the parking lot, into another apartment in the very same building, Apartment the Second is kind of shockingly nicer than the first one. It’s the little things like the lack of water damage, or the missing funny smell in the kitchen, or the fact that the doors shut properly, or the fake-swanky “marble” countertop in the bathroom, or the not-completely-ugly linoleum floors in the kitchen and bathroom, or the simple notion that the doorknobs have been replaced in the last ten years. Being on the second floor is infinitely better than the first floor, and the balcony doesn’t even face a whole bunch of other balconies. I might even use it!

But it’s more than all of that – (and I promise that I know how zen/new-agey this sounds) the feeling in this apartment, the vibe, it’s just more. There’s more light, and air, and I don’t know how to describe it, because the layout is almost entirely the same, but it feels different, better, prettier, homier.

On Saturday I had more people helping me than I could have ever asked for, and I’m BEYOND grateful to each of them for every single thing they carried, put away, every curtain rod they hung up. It was amazing. The next day I just couldn’t believe (a) how much was done in literally less than TWO HOURS, (b) how many things made it from one apartment across the parking lot and up the stairs into the second apartment without touching my hands once, and (c) how much – dare I say it? – FUN it was. Despite the whole drenched-in-sweat part. And the fact that someone moved into the apartment above my old one the same afternoon as I moved out. It just meant a lot to me that so many of the people I care about were able to just be there.

Ugh, it’s too gushy even for me. But it’s all TRUE. Dan kept telling me after it was all over that I just looked HAPPY. And he’s right. I made the right call.

Discovered While Sorting Through Dusty Boxes (In Anticipation of Moving Next Week)

Posted on August 5, 2009 by elizabeth

Yoda and Ewok pez dispensers
Lenses (just lenses) from the glasses I broke at least five years ago
A compass. No, not that kind. The kind you use in geometry. It stabbed me.
The lava lamp that was my most prized birthday gift when I was 14? 15? That I don’t necessarily want but feel guilty getting rid of.
Awkward college student ID to match the awkward high school student ID I found last time I moved.
35mm film camera with film in it; 3 pictures taken who even knows when?
12 floppy disks, all labeled with just my name and a number. Helpful!
The shower curtain we had in our bathroom in college. (Why?)
Massive key chain collection
Three sets of caps and gowns. (Again, I saved them because it feels wrong to throw them away; but why on earth would I ever need them?)
Light purple barrettes with my name on them.

#24: Go on interesting photo-taking excursions

Posted on August 1, 2009 by elizabeth

This item on my 28 To Do List was meant to be an ongoing one. This one was meant to inspire me to go on as MANY photo-taking excursions as possible. A week and a half into my 28th year, I think I’m doing pretty darn well. (I’ve also finished rolls on both of my film cameras. While that’s not strictly an excursion, it goes along with the whole spirit of #24, I think.)

Last Friday, Pete, Sheryl and I went out to western NJ to take photos at the 27th Annual New Jersey Festival of Ballooning. We stood at the edge of the farm where she keeps her horses and took pictures through the haze as the balloons inflated and gently rose up and floated away in groups of two and three, until there were well more than 20 visible at once. Hot air balloons are surprisingly soothing, the way they move about so gracefully. It was also almost nostalgic, because my grandmother lives in that general part of New Jersey, and there were times visiting her as a kid that we’d see hot air balloons flying over her house. So that part was cool, too.

Then on Saturday, I met up with a bunch of my flickr friends at Coney Island in Brooklyn, a place I’ve never been, despite hearing about it during Mets games (“The Cyclones are Brooklyn!”). We ate hot dogs at the original Nathan’s, and then walked up and down the boardwalk, taking in the sights, and thousands and thousands of scantily clad people. Then the skies opened up; we heard a wave of screams as the folks on the beach ran toward the boardwalk, and we were all drenched within seconds. (No camera equipment was harmed, thank goodness.) We took cover under a cheery white and red striped tent, splashing in puddles, and once the rain stopped, we recommenced our walking on the boardwalk. We took pictures in a photobooth, we took photos of and with each other, we couldn’t quite understand the wacky weather, and mostly we just enjoyed each other’s company. The weather sucked, yes. My shoes and socks and jeans were still quite damp when I got back. But it was worth it.

And then this past Wednesday, Pete had an extra ticket to see the Daily Show, so we decided to make a photo-taking day of it. Did we realize it was going to rain again? Well, maybe. But we couldn’t let the tickets go to waste, so we brought an umbrella (okay, Pete brought an umbrella; I didn’t want to carry one around so I stuck with my superpowered gor-tex raincoat) and figured we’d suck it up. We went to the Intrepid and managed to take a whole lot of hurried shots as the rain began, trying desperately not to slip on the wet deck of the aircraft carrier. We then headed down to the hangar deck, where the main museumy parts are located. I didn’t bother reading any of the descriptions, but just took pictures of things that looked cool. I also couldn’t help thinking that a visit to the Intrepid would have been just as much fun with my dad, who could have explained all of the planes and helicopters for me. It was an amazing place, even if we did get totally soaked walking over to the Daily Show studio.

So all in all, my first few photo-taking excursions were fantastic. Let’s just hope future ones don’t all involve weird weather and waterlogged sneakers. Seriously.

#1. Take pictures in a photobooth

Posted on July 30, 2009 by elizabeth

The first item on my list of 28 Things To Do While I’m 28 was accomplished on Saturday at Coney Island, thanks to some sleuthing by the lovely Jodi, who saw my list and then looked up where the photobooths were at Coney Island! How cool is that? Very. Of course, I messed it up by (a) not being ready for the first shot, (b) making the same face in the second and third shots, and (c) not thinking that duh it needed to dry before putting it safely in between the pages of my book. But still! Awesome!

Twenty Eight Things To Do While I’m 28

Posted on July 21, 2009 by elizabeth

Take pictures in a photobooth. (done!)
Visit local breweries. (Defiant and Triumph)
Complete the Couch to 5k program for real this time. (finally)
Learn how to knit. (with only days to spare!)
Bake cupcakes. (Carrot cake cupcakes for Dan’s birthday)
Relax. The real way other people do, instead of the way where I force myself to.
Take more pictures of people.
Go on a trip.
Write a list of 365 things that make me happy. (in progress)
Have people over.
Watch some of those movies everyone thinks I should have seen but I haven’t. (done)
Have plants. Don’t kill them.
Finish those damn cross stitches for my mom already! (done)
Take a good picture of me and Dan.
Go to as many baseball games as possible.
Make my new apartment feel like home without spending too much money.
Don’t let my handwriting go to waste.
Write 28 lists. (working on it)
Spend more time outside.
Banish my beer-sponsored belly and fit into those skinny jeans after all.
Learn how to cook at least three new things. (roasted sweet potato salad, three-bean super stew, pasta with tomatoes, mozzarella and chickpeas)
Say what I think. Ask for what I want.
Love the people who matter to me.
Go on interesting photo-taking excursions. (the balloon festival, Coney Island, the Met, Princeton, crafts in Philadelphia, Asbury Park, the Museum of Natural History)
Take a risk or two.
Work toward completing a rainbow of shoes. (Love it.)
Lie in the grass, look at the sky, and feel the wind.
No really, age is just a number. Grow up. Stay young. Be silly. Talk a lot. Take pictures. Hug more. Be happy.

(27 Things To Do While I Was 27)

Completed: 27 Things Minibook

Posted on July 21, 2009 by elizabeth

So back on my 27th birthday, I wrote a list of 27 Things to Do While I Was 27. Yesterday, I finished the minibook I’ve been working on for a few months documenting my progress through the list. Having a list of goals for the year, some silly, others more serious, has been a lot of fun. I didn’t finish everything on the list, and that’s okay. I’m really proud of this little book, and I’m sure I’ll love having it when I’m older as a time capsule chronicling my 27th year.

Because it’s more fun to see the book in person, I’m only posting photos of my very favorite pages here. I blogged about the minibook a few months ago, though, and you can see a few more pages over there. These minibooks are quite possibly the most fun thing to make ever.