My bucket list includes meeting a handful of people I admire – comedians, authors, actors. And my goal in meeting them isn’t just to stand in a line for their autograph. I’d like to get even a few seconds to have a real conversation with them. Except given the chance, I don’t know what I’d…
What Could You Give Up to Have More of What You Want?
I tried giving up sugar once. I drank my tea and coffee black, skipped carbonated drinks, avoided desserts. And I read labels, checking for insidious ingredients like corn syrup and artificial sweeteners. But the prevalence of sugar in the foods we consumed became so overwhelming and my desire for sweets so strong, I gave up…
Why I Didn’t Create an Over-the-Top Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day yesterday was low key at my house. My husband cooked an amazing meal for me on Sunday. I gave him chocolate and each of my girls a little Valentine’s candy on the 14th. Compared to the heart-themed-breakfast, love-notes-in-lunch-boxes fusses many of my fellow moms made, it doesn’t sound much like a bucket list…
Universal Studios Family Bucket List Trip on a Budget
Your teen loves Harry Potter. A trip to Universal Studios’ Wizarding World of Harry Potter would make her year. But you’re frugal. How do you reconcile the two? How do you create a bucket list experience of it, without breaking the bank? The secret is knowing where to splurge and how to find deals. I’m…
Ensure Your Wizarding World Visit is Truly a Bucket List Experience
Next to Disney World, a trip to Universal Studios tops many family vacation bucket lists – especially with the addition and expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in the last few years. And rightly so! Universal has come a long way in creating amazing experiences for their theme park guests. Since our family…
31 Days of Everyday Adventure Recap
What a month it has been! I had every intention of participating in The Goal List’s 31 Days of Everyday Adventure (you can read more about it here and here). And indeed, I looked at the list of small things to do every week and noted what I would do. Each week I accomplished one…
November Bucket List Life Dare: The 31 Days of Everyday Adventure Challenge
This month I’m honored to team up with Shelly of The Goal List in her month-long challenge: 31 Days of Everyday Adventure. Shelly and I share a very similar outlook on bucket lists – that not every bucket list experience has to be over-the-top expensive or in some way monumental. Adventure comes in all shapes…
Bucket List Bonds: Another Reason the Cubs Win Was Such a Big Deal
I have talked often about the way going after life goals brings connection (it’s the theme of my video course, Build Stronger Bonds Writing Bucket Lists). And usually I’m talking about connection in the present tense, with those in your life today. But this past weekend in Chicagoland I witnessed how powerful that bond can be…
When Life Goals Yield Big Visions: An Interview with Bev Hawley
For the most part, a bucket list contains straightforward personal goals. But for some people visions for something beyond themselves come out of a bucket list goal – like a vision for opening a gallery to showcase a bucket list project. Bev Hawley, a professional children’s photographer in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, is such a…
Bucket List Life Dare: Your Scariest Life Goal
There’s no way. That’s impossible. I hardly dare to dream. Admit it, you have aspirations for your life that you don’t even speak out loud because you’re afraid the mere mention will negate them ever happening. You’re afraid people will call you arrogant or foolish for thinking you could go after something so audacious. You…