Is it too late to talk about Easter? No? Good :) As I mentioned, our Easter weekend was full and very fun!

On Saturday morning, we gathered with friends for our neighborhood’s egg hunt. The report: it was over in about two minutes flat, and June was much more interested in opening and closing the eggs than anything that was inside them :)

It was not the world’s most challenging egg hunt, let the record show.

We had a bit of time before our next engagement even with a playground pit stop, so a detour for beignets down the road from our house – a favorite weekend indulgence – was in order. Then it was on to our next destination – a classmate’s third birthday party! This was really our first experience with a birthday party geared toward kids, and June enjoyed herself IMMENSELY.

The party was held at a local farm, and June got to pull weeds for chickens, feed the weeds to the chickens, pet and hold baby chicks and rabbits, collect eggs, and ride a pony! The pony ride was undoubtedly the highlight of the day. Even though June kept saying she wanted to ride after we introduced the idea to her, we weren’t sure she’d follow through — but she did, and grinned like a maniac the whole time! As someone who grew up infatuated by horses on my aunt’s horse farm, this was obviously delightful to me :)

My family has quite the farm legacy (my aunt’s farm, the one my Dad grew up on, is the oldest continually-working family-owned farm in Connecticut), and though it’s detached from my everyday life, it looms large in my personal narrative and identity. Not to get too philosophical, but this felt like the tiniest beginning of including June in that legacy, too!

After dinner and games with neighborhood friends (the luxury of walking to our friends’ houses has not worn off!!), I packed up June’s Easter basket before turning in for the night. It was really fun to put together, and I think she was even more excited by it than she was by Christmas morning!

We ended up including a Melissa & Doug wooden school bus (which I got at a consignment sale for $1!), a new bathing suit, lemon pajamas, a sheet of stickers, a pair of sandals, two stuffed bunnies already in her tribe, and the biggest hit of the day: an elephant watering can! (We bought ours from a local nursery, but it’s similar to this.)

We ate Pillsbury cinnamon rolls before church, which we attended at Duke Chapel. The music was incredible, the cherry trees were blooming, and the day delighted us by turning sunny and warm. It felt like the right weather to celebrate the risen Lord!

Cannot. Handle. John says this is her high school portrait sixteen years too early.

When your parents have the nerve to ask a stranger to take your picture :)

While June napped in the afternoon, John and I planted our back bed – various lettuces, some herbs, and tomatoes. I can’t remember if I mentioned this already, but we had to replace our bed this year, and went with this thick cedar one from Etsy. Two thumbs up! We then had an early potluck dinner at our street block party, which left us plenty of time for a walk down to the creek before bedtime. That photo on the right pretty much sums up my hopes and dreams for childhood – endless hours of poking a stick in the water :)

I think we checked off about four things on our spring fun list last weekend alone! Hope y’all have been able to get outside in the warmer weather, too!

Affiliate links are used in this post!

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On our fifth visit to Asheville, John finally agreed to go hunting for vintage goodness with me. WAHOO! We compromised on one hour, and the clock started the minute we stepped foot into the Antique Tobacco Barn :) I had read about the Tobacco Barn on Trip Advisor, and from the reviews, I was prepared for an expansive space (77,000 square feet!), disheveled displays, and not bottom-of-the-barrel prices.

All of these things turned out to be largely true. The space WAS very large, and the displays were pretty jumbled. Usually this means great prices (like at a flea market), but unfortunately, the prices weren’t good enough to make me bite on this particular day, though there were several pieces that caught my eye. Granted, I’m pretty stingy, so some of you might very well have happily snagged some deals! Here are a few of the things that caught my eye:

The outside of the space (not really a barn) and some neat vintage-looking crown hooks – would be sweet for a little girl’s room!

A ginger gar vase has been on my running “flea market wish list” for awhile, but this one seemed a little steep at $28. I thought the giant metal stars would make neat Christmas decor!

Also on my flea market list: a natural container/basket to hold our Christmas tree. The one on the left was not quite the right size, and was a bit too much at $65. More on this search next week – I might have a lead. The colorful, oversize (about 12 inches tall) metal letters were awesome, but they were also $35 each.

I loved both of these wooden storage pieces! I thought they’d be perfect for a craft room, where there is no end to the little bits and pieces that need to be filed away. The one on the right was $295, and the one on the left was $175.

A pineapple lamp is also on my wish list, and the Tobacco Barn had quite the collection. A pair was $200, which seemed expensive to me, but maybe in retrospect isn’t so bad? I also loved the bittersweet wreaths, but we just don’t have a place to store one in our apartment in the off season – they’re a little wild and crazy.

One thing that frustrated me about the Tobacco Barn is that I would assume some of these prices were negotiable, but very few stalls seemed to have proprietors in the vicinity (unlike at a flea market), so I wasn’t sure how to go about bargaining. Boo!

Once we had left the Tobacco Barn empty-handed, we drove down the road just a minute or so to visit Oddfellows Antiques and its sister storefronts, all lined up on a loading dock just off the road (you can’t miss them). The Tobacco Barn reviewers had recommended this group as having more reasonable prices and better merchandising (an interesting combination). I found the merchandising to be true, but I’m not so sure about the prices. We moved pretty quickly through these shops, and the only thing that really caught my eye was the lovely 4×6 wool rug above right, priced at $235. The tag said it was hand-knotted in Afghanistan. I don’t think the price was too bad, but since we’re likely going to be making a major change in our living quarters in the next few months, I don’t want to buy any major pieces before we know what the new space looks like.

For those of you that have been to Asheville, any antiquing recommendations to pass along? Fellow flea market connoisseurs: what do you think of these prices?

P.S. Vintage shopping in Virginia

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The time has come! I am very, very excited about this list I’ve compiled, and excited about the next 2.75 years if I accomplish even half of these goals. One of my favorite parts? I chose to group my tasks around identities I hope to cultivate in the next few years, meaning even the list organization contributes to the personal growth :)

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks/goals/challenges in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and represent “stretching.”

Why 1001 Days?
It’s all about a realistic deadline. 1001 days (about 2.75 years) allows you several seasons to complete tasks, which is better for organizing and timing things like overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Start Date: January 1, 2011
End Date: September 27, 2013
Goals Completed: 52/101
Goals Partially Completed: 18/101
Goals Partially or Totally Completed: 70/101

Crossed out marks a completed item
Italics marks a partially completed item

Kind :: to myself and others
1. Pay the bill for someone behind me in the drive-through line (April 2011, April 2012, December 2012)
2. Make a new friend (February 2011 — hi, Nancy!)
3. Send a care package to someone I don’t know (Baskets of Hope, March 2012)
4. Get a pedicure once every summer (2/3)
5. Either find a ministry I love and feel called to or start a new one.
6. Practice yoga three times a week for three months (0/36)
7. In 2012, follow through with my daily habit system for the entire year
8. Bring meals or something yummy to both FYA couples having a baby in 2013
9. Start going to a fun exercise class, like Pure Barre or Irish dance (started Pure Barre in October 2012 with a 20-class pack!)
10. Spend one on one time with my grandmother (January 2013)
11. Cultivate five habits to make our life more green/clean (switched to organic cleaning spray and cloths, opted out of junk mail through DMA Choice, switched to organic hand soap, started using reusable produce bags, switched to hormone-free dairy products)
12. Seek out five people I know who are getting married and offer my expertise (5/5 :: Joanne/Amanda, Caroline, Mike + Antonia, Amy’s friend, Marget)
13. Re-read “To Kill a Mockingbird” (my favorite book of all time)

Settled :: at home, wherever that may be
14. Reupholster a piece of furniture or have a piece professionally reupholstered (November 2011)
15. Get at least one room to a place where I feel it’s fully decorated
16. Make a fresh flower arrangement every month (see flickr set here)
17. Live somewhere with a window seat
18. Invest in IRA every year
19. Buy or install new shelving for books (October 2011 – post here)
20. Pickle something for John’s birthday
21. Transfer car insurance from parents (January 2011)
22. Acquire a KitchenAid mixer (generous wedding gift!!)
23. Acquire a new cookbook every year (too many to count!)
24. Buy that chair I really want at the flea market (bought on January 23, 2011!!)
25. Buy a car (May 2011)
26. Successfully transport vintage trunk from Island to apartment (July 2011)
27. Marry John! (married on September 15, 2012!)

Daring and Adventurous
28. Visit Canada (preferably Montreal, Quebec, or Prince Edward Island)
29. Attend an opera
30. Try an unusual type of milk (tried almond milk in May 2011!)
31. Go treehouse camping or glamping
32. Cheer at a Southern football game (went to a high school game in October 2011)
33. Eat vegetarian for three separate weeks (do not have to be consecutive) (1/3)
34. Camp at least once a year (2/3 – 2011, 2013)
35. Attend “The Nutcracker” every year (experiencing as many different versions as possible) (1/2)
36. Visit Chincoteague
37. Have a croissant at a French cafe
38. Stealth-plant tulips
39. Explore two more states/regions I’ve never been to (1/2 :: Charleston in August 2011)
40. Wear a large hat to the Kentucky Derby
41. Host an adventure dinner party like Jordan (August 2013)
42. Go to Europe
43. Attend the ballet (besides “The Nutcracker”)
44. Try ten new foods (hominy in 1/11, tempeh in 2/11, cod in 6/11, collard greens in 8/11, raw oysters in 12/11), fish & chips in 6/12, beef tendon in 7/12, farrow in 9/12, autumn olive in 9/12, maitake mushrooms in 9/12, wild boar in 12/12)

Faithful
45. Read the New Testament (began in June 2011, finished October 2012)
46. Go on a missions trip
47. Increase giving/tithing by at least 10% every year (2011 and 2012)
48. Invite someone to come to church with John and me
49. Go to church when traveling (to experience new pastors and ways of doing things — see flickr set here)
50. Do another service at the Island (2013)
51. Find a way to observe the Sabbath
52. Email Adam Hamilton sermons to three people who might be interested (to Mom and Dad in September 2011, and this one to Kim in November 2012)
53. Find a Bible study that meets regularly at FUMC (yay FYA!)
54. Add one piece to the Willow Tree nativity each year (1/2: In 2012 we added the star!)

Creative
55. Photograph and post 30 separate outfits for the world to see (1/30 — see all here)
56. Memorize another favorite poem
57. Acquire a sewing machine and make something with its assistance
58. Learn to tie the perfect bow
59. Put together a portfolio of projects I’ve worked on — both personal and professional
60. Make a quilt for picnics
61. Read biographies of five people I admire (3/5 :: Washington (“His Excellency” by Joseph Ellis in Feb. 2011), John Adams (“John Adams” by David McCullough in Feb. 2012), Julia Child (“My Life in France” in Jan. 2013))
62. Interview, shadow, or intern with three people who do things/have jobs I’d like to learn more about
63. Buy two new books of poetry every year (1/6 :: “Domestic Work” (2011))
64. Make another video commemorating a big trip or event (June 2011 — video here!)
65. Improve product photography skills (My 2012 Christmas cupcake flags were a huge improvement over past efforts!)
66. Improve product styling skills
67. Develop a product to collaborate on with Aunt Nan and open a dedicated Etsy store for it
68. Learn something from someone I admire (July 2012 – calligraphy from Melissa Esplin)
69. Consult with a calligrapher and then buy real calligraphy supplies (June 2011)
70. Get Peach & Pearl a spiffy new look (P&P is now Em for Marvelous!)
71. Grow blog to over 500 subscribers in Google Reader (47/500)
72. Get to 100 sales on Etsy (February 2013)
73. Institute Friends of Em system (January 2013)
74. Switch blog platform from Blogger to WordPress (December 2011)
75. Make or acquire a favicon (January 2011, then December 2011)
76. Design and print address labels for Em for Marvelous packaging (October 2012)

Warm and Welcoming
77. Start a book club like Brooke
78. Host an outdoor party when fruit trees are in bloom
79. Purchase six favorite books from my childhood — nice, hardcover copies (Gregory, the Terrible Eater (2011), Time of Wonder (2011), Make Way for Ducklings (2011), Frederick (2011), Where the Wild Things Are (2011), Burt Dow Deep-Waterman (2012))
80. Plan another backpacking adventure with as many friends as will come
81. Successfully dock a boat each summer at the Island
82. Host a series of collaborative dinners a la Sunday Suppers
83. Send news to “The Quarterly” at least once a year
84. Transfer Christmas card recipient list/log to Google Docs like Kate (January 2011)

Joyful
85. Buy cowboy boots (July 2012)
86. Learn a new form of dance every year (1/3 — foxtrot in 2012)
87. Send a fun unexpected package to a friend
88. Find a signature drink and learn how to mix it
89. Jump off the dock at the Island (August 2013)
90. Adopt a doggie
91. Learn how to French braid my hair
92. Learn how to French braid the hair of others
93. Master a reliable, versatile updo I can do on myself (the sock bun!)
94. Buy a classic Christmas book every year (2011 and 2012)
95. Buy new (vision) glasses (March 2012 – thank you, Warby Parker!)
96. Read my thesis every May
97. Publish our wedding announcement in our hometown newspaper (February 2013)
98. Read the entire Chronicles of Narnia series (finished in April 2012)
99. Begin a collection of Ostheimer wooden toys
100. Develop a classical playlist on Spotify
101. Begin a new 101 in 1001 list!

As promised, if any of you are also starting a 101 list, or have one in progress, I would love to check it out! Just leave a comment with the link below.

Here’s to a fabulous new year! Tell me: which goal do you like the best? Any you have a question about? Any you find intriguing? Let me know!

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