50 People I'm Envious Of

(Warning: this isn't a celebrity post. That would just be me writing "Zooey Deschanel" 50 times and calling it a day.)

I have a problem with jealousy. One of the 7 Deadly Sins. (Wait, is it? I don't know. Let me look it up.......Envy! Boom-shacka-lacka. In your face, ME.) Okay, so envy. That's the one that I have a serious problem with. Not so much jealousy because Joe is all miney mine and when girls hit on him it just makes me feel proud. And also a little makey-outey.

But! I DO have a problem with envy. When I read blogs and Twitter and Facebook posts I become very aware that I'm not doing the exact thing that other people are doing, and then IMMEDIATELY worry that I'm doing it all wrong. My apartment should be more DIY design-y, I should be eating at more highly-rated restaurants, I should cook delicious food that looks so professional I can't help but post pictures of it to Facebook, I should wear more scarves.

I don't think it's wrong to have aspirations. Or to want to have/do/eat cool things. But when it starts to make me feel like the person I am is failing, that's when it becomes an issue. So I started making a list. Because I am INSANELY visual, nothing I ever think about can move forward until it is on a list of some kind. Everything in this list is true--I am envious of all these things. But It's made me realize that there's always something to be envious of, and you literally can't have everything. You can only do the things you love and be the person you want to be. Aaaaand maybe add a few more things to a Bucket/Life List so you make sure you're striving to be your best.

50 People I’m Envious of:

1. People who go out all the time
2. People who stay in and snuggle
3. People who travel the world
4. People who go to the same place every year
5. People who cook
6. People who go out to eat
7. People who drive
8. People who bike
9. People who have dogs
10. People with great nails
11. People with tattoos
12. People with kids
13. People in couples
14. People who are happy just being with themselves
15. People who take naps
16. People who’ve been up since their morning jog
17. People who love their boring, high-paying job
18. People who scrape by doing something exciting
19. People who buy everything from Crate and Barrel
20. People who can make a table with their hands
21. People who craft
22. People who hire someone to craft for them
23. People who live in the woods
24. People who live in the mountains
25. People who live by water
26. People who live in the middle of a city
27. People who know everyone in their town
28. People with straight hair
29. People with curly hair
30. People with really thick eyelashes
31. People who watch black and white movies
32. People who see every movie that comes out
33. People who spend their day playing video games
34. People who accomplish tons of stuff every day
35. People who buy all the latest fashions
36. People with a funky wardrobe from Goodwill
37. People who happily eat vegan
38. People who happily eat cheeseburgers
39. People with an hourglass figure
40. People with a tomboy look
41. People who know their cocktails
42. People who know their beer
43. People that change careers all the time
44. People who are successful by 28
45. People who still play a musical instrument
46. People who can do their own makeup really well
47. People who don't need makeup to look beautiful
48. People eating a cupcake right this second
49. People with more friends than me
50. People who don't get envious

Anyone else? Who are you envious of?

Life List: The First 50

(Me, on the right, distinctly NOT seizing the day two years ago.)

So I've been inspired by other blogs to make a Life List. Otherwise known as a Bucket List, but I feel weird pulling a phrase from something I've heard Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson say in sync. So it is my Life List. And it is halfway done.

With Joe gone, some slow days at work, and my improv classes has sprouted a new feeling in me. A feeling that can only be described (and I apologize but it's true) as Carpe Diem. But like LEGITIMATELY feeling it, not just reading an inspirational quote from Dr. Seuss or Yoda on your friend's Facebook info section and thinking for one second that you SHOULD, in fact, live in the moment...before you realize that Say Yes To The Dress is on and WHAT THE WHAT, you're willing to spend five grand on a dress and you are worried you won't find something?? Also, when they say, "It only comes in one color: ivory" THEY MEAN WHITE so I don't want to hear you say that you don't want the dress because this is your wedding day and you deserve to wear white--grrrrrl don't MAKE me come over there *z snap*

Breathe.

Okay, I'm back. Sorry I had to turn into an offensively fake sassy black lady for a second there, but something had to be done. ANYWAY, lately I've been feeling a lot more in-the-moment than I usually do and I'm loving it. And I want that feeling to stick around. So I thought a To Do list would help me because I can look at it and challenge myself to become the person I want to be, and in very specific ways. I'm not just sitting around watching Parks and Rec, waiting for something awesome to happen. Not that Parks and Rec is ever a waste of time--SHUT UP EMILY, NOT THE POINT.

I want to take more responsibility for my life and what I'm doing with it. Because (uh-oh, here comes another cliche) I'm not getting any younger. The time is now! Six of one, half a dozen of the other! Wait, crap, that last one doesn't work here. WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY is that my life isn't going to make itself happen and I don't want to wake up all wrinkly and realize I never did anything. I think that's the way I've been living lately. And here are the first 50 things I want to do to change that.

There are 50. I want to get to 100. Some things I could do tomorrow. Some things I could do this year. Some things I could do in five years. Some maybe not for a few decades. It's not so much about the timing, it's more about the fact that I want to be the kind of person who does it...eventually.

Life List

1 Grow vegetables in a garden
2 See my ancestor’s castle in Scotland
3 Swim in the Mediterranean
4 Go anywhere in Asia (But not Russia because that’s not what I mean)
5 Eat lobster in New England
6 Visit Lake Winnipesauke with Michelle
7 Watch enough Dr. Who to know what other people are talking about.
8 Write a script
9 Write a book for young adults
10 Win an advertising award
11 Go on a production shoot outside the city I live
12 See a whale in real life
13 Snorkel
14 Join a funny-women-bloggers community or create one
15 Make baklava
16 Have a fruit tree
17 Send my parents on a vacation
18 Do good in a 3rd world country
19 Help change a struggling school.
20 Go on a girls-only group vacation
21 Be a bike rider
22 Own a vespa-esque scooter
23 Create art
23 Make something funny or cool out of snow
24 Write a new graduation speech for my high school self and friends
25 Become an improv pro
26 Paintball
27 Stay classy in wine country
28 Go to a Gay Pride Parade
29 Sing unconventionally-themed Karaoke (like show tunes)
30 Adopt a dog or two
31 Make a main dish from the Julia Child cook book
32 Get a tattoo
33 Eat at one of those raw, vegan, crunchy restaurants
34 Become a regular at a bar or restaurant
35 Go to an outdoor movie by myself
36 Go to a restaurant by myself
37 Go to a movie by myself
38 Take a sculpting class
39 Buy a nice camera
40 Take a class to learn how to take good pictures with said camera
41 Create a quilt (with help)
42 Crochet a scarf
43 Re-certify for CPR
44 Create a reading nook
45 Stand behind a waterfall
46 Do something cool at a spa, like a mud bath or seaweed wrap
47 Get Lasik
48 Get wisdom teeth out
49 Start a 401K (shut up shut up everyone)
50 Act in something again


So those are the first 50 I've thought of. I challenge you all to make one, too. You'd be surprised how quickly you use up the ones you've wanted to do (like travel) and you'd also be surprised by the things you come up with to challenge yourself.