Saccharine Thoughts

As you may have noticed, I am falling further and further behind in my quest to complete 25 New Things before my 25th birthday in November. I only have 5 months left, so I am going to take this time to revamp my list a little bit. There are many things that have come up and taken priority far over others, so I would much rather expend my energy on the awesome and upcoming, than on the thought-I-wanted-to-do-a-year-ago-but-now-I-couldn't-care-less. But that's not fair, you say? Well, I like to think of it as simply giving myself the advantage in my own challenge. You call it cheating , I call it facilitating the completion of my goals . Tomāto/tomäto. Here, I present a revised list of 25 things that I plan to do in my 25th year... Yes, that means that I plan to give myself until the end of the year to complete these things. I know, now you think I'm REALLY breaking some rules. But! Here's the deal: Saccharine Thoughts will turn 2 on January 1st, 2011, and if ...

I realize that I am way farther behind on these 25 Things than should be acceptable, so here is an installation that is long overdue. Let me rave about my city for a moment: Austin rocks. Really. As long as I remain in Texas, I will be in Austin. Having access to so. much. to do. around me is just not something I could give up. Local shops, eateries, the lake, semi-obscure classes and one-of-a-kind community events give this city some serious character, making it a haven for weirdos like me. One of the many kick-ass things offered here is Austin's Free Day of Dance in January - a city-wide celebration of dance . This consists of several dance studios across town teaming up and offering free classes all day long . Does it get much better than that? MissK and I took the Arthur Murray Studio up on this offer and checked out the bellydance class with Bahaia . This little lady was out and about teaching bellydance workshops just weeks after birthing a child. Uhm, intimidating much? ...

I got the job . *happy dance*

As you may have noticed, #7 on my list of 25 Things to do Before 25 is to get a tattoo. Allow me to expand on that - the idea is actually to get an addition to the tattoo I got when I was 19. To add some color and embellishment and likely a second sparrow to the design is something I have wanted for, oh, five years and counting. In the spirit of that and the excessive amount of free time I've had on my hands, I have been doodling away, thinking that having this bit of long-awaited ink done would be my triumphant self-indulgence upon completing #4 - finding that job that I lovelovelove, as well as a permanent celebration of the huge transition that this year has brought with it. I will share said doodles and artwork for your review, my imaginary friends trusted audience. But for now, an entertaining tangent: While doodling away one evening a couple of weeks ago, my dear friend Jack was visiting and excitedly shared the tidbit of news he had discovered while at work that day: ...

A year or so ago I took on the personal challenge of trying out two dozen new and exciting things before my 24th birthday. You guys? I failed. Hard. But this is a new year, one already full of surprises and opportunities, a time for new beginnings right? Or at least, a good do-over? Today, I am 8 months from the imminent quarter-century, so here goes- ChristaLou's 25 before 25: Find an organization to volunteer and become actively involved with Hostess a breakfast/brunch, with Saturday morning cartoons Take voice/singing lessons Find a new job that I lovelovelove Take a stripping/pole dancing class Finish 3 of the 5 classes for my second BA Get an addition to my tattoo Take a bellydancing class Go camping Spend a day thrift shopping Have my tarot cards and palms read Finish a video game NOT on NES Take level 2 at the Hideout Theatre Take level 3 at the Hideout Theatre Reupholster my couch Go blues dancing Compile/organize...