all i want is a voice so that i can be heard

Just thought I'd do a quick update since I have some lovely photos to share! :) Last weekend was first Fridays in downtown Phoenix, so David and I decided to head that-a-way to relish in some fabulous art.

I would always attend FF in Indianapolis in Fountain square and had plenty of great memories. The FF here in Phoenix is quite a bit bigger and there's more an emphasis on music and entertainment than there as in Indy. One other major difference was the type of art. Perhaps it's the urban setting of downtown Phoenix, but the art is much grungier, much dirtier (in a good way) and much more street-inspired.

Some photos. :)

How cool is this VW bus? It was huge and flashed all sorts of enticing colors!


I couldn't resist taking a picture of green cacti against a green-lit background. :p


Love the colors here!


Interesting gallery.


From the same gallery as above. David liked this piece.



This gallery was really cool, too. Lots of NSFW art, but this one was kid-friendly (somewhat). I didn't catch the artist's name, but much of the art was mixed media-based. Lots of photography done in well-thought out sets and then edited to the max. Very cool.

Adios!
Wendy

when i catch your eye, you give me a smile

Well, I'll be darned.

A double feature blog update in one night. :) I'm already doing better at blogging this year than last! And, as you'll see, blogging more frequently is one of my five resolutions for the year 2011. Speaking of my top five resolutions, I'd like nothing more than to present them to you right now:

There she is! Let me explain in minor detail what they each mean.
a. be more crafty. I was a little more crafty in 2010 than I was in 2009 (being in Korea made it a little difficult for me to get supplies and whatnot), but in 2011 I plan to be even craftier! Nothing major, just a focus on spending more time with glue on my hands and glitter on the floor, 'tis all. I've made a goal to do at least one craft per month, but hopefully more. I'll share them with you here and perhaps include tutorials. :)

b. pitch to more magazines. As a freelance writer it's important to have all sorts of eggs in your basket. I plan to pitch to at least two different magazines a month (pitching means proposing a story with the hopes of being hired to write it on a contractor basis).

c. read more books. Twenty ten was a dreadful year in terms of reading for me. Don't get me wrong, I read plenty of news articles, divulged in myriad glossies and spent hours perusing my favorite blogs. However, I only read one or two books. Isn't that just dreadful? I'm embarrassed to admit it. So this year, I plan to read many more. Recommendations are gladly accepted!

d. update blog more often. The frequency of my blog postings has been nothing short of abysmal. The goal is to at least improve. :)

e. pay it forward. That simply means doing more random acts of kindness. Who knows what it'll be and I'll probably keep it all to myself unless a story is warranted. I just feel like throwing more positive energy out into the universe.

And that, betties, is my personal list.

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Now, it's the moment you've all been waiting for (Well, maybe not all/many/any of you. And maybe you haven't been waiting for it... Hmm. Anyway): Our 2011 bucket list.

We've shortened it from 50 to 25, but more of the listed goals carry a bit more weight than last year's. And because it's shorter, we fully intend to cross off every. single. item. :D

1. Visit the Grand Canyon
2. Have a real life picnic with a basket/cheese/wine
3. Make homemade mustard and catsup
4. Run a 5k
5. Go to Europe
6. Play the Powerball
7. Go on a horse ride
8. Read a book together
9. Make a lobster meal
10. Go to Los Angeles
11. Eat at best pizza place in the nation
12. Make tiramisu from scratch
13. Make our own soap
14. Go to a hot spring
15. Visit Tombstone, Ariz.
16. Go sledding
17. Make prickly pear jelly
18. Go to an AZ brewery
19. Make macarons
20. Go to a comedy show
21. Make a Korean meal
22. Take a class on something
23. Skinni-fy goguma
24. Visit Jerome, Ariz.
25. Do an extreme sport

Obviously, this year we'll be doing a lot of traveling and eating. :P haha

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wendy

Whence comes this melody constantly flowing

Bonjourno, friends! :) Can you believe it's already 2011? What an exciting, exciting year that lies before us, eh? I can hardly believe that it's been nearly 1.5 years since we returned from Korea, 6 months since we moved to Arizona and 25 years since I was born! Holy smokes!

Anyway, with 2010 having come to a close and 2011 starting off, I figured I'd do an update on...dundundun...the list! We didn't manage to get everything crossed off, but we did do a lot of things and many of them were things we may have not otherwise done without a little resolution push! Behold:

The whole list:

• build an igloo (pictures here)
  
• go strawberry pickin' (pictures here)
  
• make tofu
  
• don't eat processed food for 30 days
• read a book together and talk about it
• make ice cream
• try a new restaurant (we hit up the Red Lion Grog House in Fountain Square - yum!)
  
• pull an all nighter
• color a picture
• grow a garden
• buy a bike and ride it
• go to a museum (pictures here)
  
• host a dinner party
  
• pay off a credit card boomchickawowow!! (newbie!)
  
• buy something at a farmers market
• go fishing
• go to a music show **We went to a Jimmy Eat World concert in Tempe for the New Years celebration. Just in the nick of time!
  
• go to noraebang (karaoke)
• make wine
• shadow a beekeeper(pictures here)
  
• walk in a park
• go bowling
• no technology for 3 days (including phone, computer and TV)
• draw on the sidewalk with chalk(pictures here)
  
• go to a festival (any kind)(we went to the Indianapolis Brew HaHa!)
  
• go camping w/ no whining from wendy
• make homemade ravioli from scratch (pictures here)
  
• take a road trip(pictures here
  
• try a restaurant from diners, drive-ins and dives (pictures here)
  
• take a class on whatever
• go to the indy 500(no pics! but it was fun. :P )
  
• practice our german and spanish
• bring food to our neighbors
• buy a $20 lottery ticket (don't judge)(that was an unfortunate $20 down the drain!)
  
• try miracle fruit KACHING!
  
• make our own pizza from scratch
• go to the zoo
• go to a place that makes cheese (pictures here)
  
• go to the shipshewana flea market
• volunteer somewhere **I performed at a nursing home for Christmas!
  
• move out of the state(pics here!!)
  
• have an international skype party
• make a play jungle for goguma and lamia
• have a picnic with wine/cheese
• go a week without air conditioning in the summer
  
• have a dance party
• take a nice picture together (we've totally taken a bajillion)
  
• repurpose a piece of furniture from flea market/garage sale/craigslist (picture here)
  
• don't drive for 1 week

Okay, so new ones crossed off were:

• Make Tofu

David and I tried several times to make the tofu, but we weren't very successful. The first time we tried making our own soy milk and then curdling it. No go. The second time we used store-bought soy milk and curdled it, got the water out and then it just fell apart! We tasted it though. 'Twas a bit chalky, but at least we gave it a good go! :P

• Pay off a credit card

Since this was on our list, we made a conscious effort to really pay down a credit card over the course of a year. It took some hefty payments, but we're proud to say we accomplished our goal with a final payment of $100 going straight to Mr. Discover. Whew, that feels good!

• Go to a music show

On New Year's eve we headed to downtown Tempe for their NYE celebration. Tempe natives Jimmy Eat World (a favorite for both David and me) performed outside in the brr brr freezing cold brr and we all counted down to 2011! Sadly, no pics, though I do have fond memories!

• Try Miracle Fruit

David lamented in early December that it'd be impossible to try a miracle fruit as we'd run out of time. Little did he know what I had up my sleeve! I surprised him with a sampling of miracle berries as an early Christmas present. We prepared ourselves a fabulously weird meal, including blue cheese, vinegar shots, lemons and mustard. Pictures:

What each berry looks like. You need to chew on it for about ten minutes for the tongue to be affected by its zany properties.

Our "meal."

Verdict: Miracle berries are freaking weird! The vinegar was SWEET, the lemons tasted like you were eating lemonade and the oranges were so sweet it was almost unbearable! Very cool and I totally recommend this experiment.

volunteer somewhere
I performed at a nursing home for Christmas with my voice teacher and her other students. We sang lots of Christmas carols and David came, as well. :)

So, there you have it. A whopping 36 items crossed off out of 50. Not too shabby, eh? I promise I'm going to unveil version 2.0 of the annual bucket list after this update. It doesn't seem right to combine last year with this one in a single post. Stay tuned!

Wendy City