27. Have 1 designer article in my closet

This one may be stretching it a little. Okay, maybe a lot. But, it's my list and I can stretch if I want to.

About 6 years ago I threw a baby shower for a friend of mine. She is Australian and loves tea. So, the shower was tea themed. As favors for the guests, I put a tea candle inside tea cups. And since I wasn't about to spend a ton of money on something that would probably get tossed out anyway, I went to Goodwill to hunt for some tea cups.

I don't know about the rest, but I found a treasure in mine. I've loved it. It's beautiful and dainty and it warms my heart when I drink out of it.

Tonight I had an epiphany. What if it broke?! I needed to get another one asap just in case it does. I have 4 kids. Chances are, it'll break.

So, I started doing some research. Turns out this little tea cup is real China, from France, made in the 1800s. I'm still researching what the name of the pattern is.

So, what does this have to do with 27.? It's my designer item. No, it's not kept in my closet. But it is designer. And I'd rather buy more of this than clothing anyway. Drinking from my little old tea cup makes me happier than any designer article in my closet ever could.

1. Make a time capsule

Happy New Year! I have 4 small kids, so we celebrated early tonight. I found this great idea and decided to tweak it to fit our family. In our first envelope was our time capsule. We answered some questions about each of us, attached a picture, and put them away for next year.

I love this and would never have done it were it not on my list. So, thank you list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. You just helped me start a new tradition.

80. Get a new brown coat

I got a new brown coat. Well, technically the color is olive green. But it's in the same vein and goes with my brown clothes, so I'm checking this one off. The picture above is the coat...technically a sweater coat. I love it, even if the cute baby in the picture keeps trying to eat the buttons. I love the color. I love the length (slightly below the knee). I love the warmth. But what I love the best is this:

I was in a store the other day and an older man walked up to me and commented on the coat. He said it reminded him of his old Army coat. I got a warm fuzzy feeling all over. My grandfather was an officer in the Army. My dad went to West Point. Little known fact about me: my family has the longest direct line of generations that have gone to West Point. Seven. Crazy cool. My great-great-great-great grandfather went to West Point. Someone in my family has played a role in every conflict since the American Civil War.

So when someone says anything about the Army or West Point, I listen. And so now I love my coat even more.

26. Go horseback riding

I love horses. Those who know me well enough to actually read this blog probably know that I want to own a farm...just so I can have my own horse.

I've always wanted to take riding lessons growing up. So it's a good thing that Morgan, my 7-year-old, takes lessons every Saturday so I can vicariously live through her. We all go to Latta Plantation and we have a great time feeding the horses and watch her ride.

It's been over 8 years since I last rode. So, I put this on my list to make it a priority to do it again. My dear hubs took me on a trail ride this past Saturday (thank you mom for watching the girls).

I loved it. I saw a hawk glide through the trees right in front of me (and a buzzard later on, which is a remarkably large and surprisingly beautiful bird). I learned that the woods around Latta Plantation have bears. And I had a great date with Matt. So sweets - thank you for helping to check this one off.

71. Play darts with Matt

Abbey Road Live, singing the Beatles

In college, Matt took me several times to this great little bar that had darts. I have great memories of that place. When I made this list of 101 things, I wanted to find a similar place in Charlotte.

Matt recently planned a date for us that included McCormick and Schmick's (yum) and then The Visulite Theater to hear Abbey Road Live. I decided to count this fun date as playing darts. Because where ever we would have gone to play darts, it wouldn't have stacked up to our Raleigh place. And The Visulite may just become our new "darts".

9. Make baklava

I've always enjoyed baklava and have always been too intimidated to make it. I'm usually not intimidated by cooking or baking. But I have this crazy fear of Phyllo dough. It scares me. And while the baklava turned out beautifully, Phyllo still scares me.

83. Smash a pumpkin

I didn't smash a pumpkin. I realized what a waste that would be. Instead, I cooked it - something I've always wanted to do.

First (well, after I washed them, cut them, and pulled the seeds out) I baked them. I love this picture just for the steam that was captured.

Next, I pureed, adding water as needed. Yum. Me. I put them in the ball jars and plopped them into the freeze. Hello pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pie, and maybe even pumpkin soup.