Summer 2011...Trying some things...

This is the first time in a while I've had a chance to catch my breath and post something other than photos for the BWD posts every other Monday.  I've been doing a lot of thinking about the things I'd like to accomplish from my list this summer---some of which I'll be able to enjoy with my parents, others on my own or with other friends---and wanted to share a few of these adventures!  It seems as though I discover something every day that I haven't yet tried, and am excited to start the experience!

A few of the items are going to be summer-long endeavors:

• Reading and watching the Harry Potter series (I've completed the first)
• Reading Jane Austen (I'm going to guess this will take me from today's date, 5/24/2011 through the end of the year!)
• Reading three books I read during high school

Some are crafty:

• Create five sewing projects for myself (and I just fell upon a website for a store in SPOKANE of all places that sells both the patterns AND the fabric for a particular designer)
• Learn to crochet
• Finish a knitting project...more specifically, I'll root for a scarf to be completed
• Use scrapbooking supplies---for cards, frames, etc
• Make homemade soap
• Make homemade candles

And finally, some are for the culinary artist:

• Make doughnuts at home
• Make candy at home---something that challenges me, using a food thermometer
• Try eating a new ethnic cuisine
• Eat at one of Austin's famous trailers
• Eat at Magnolia Cafe without buyer's remorse (or guilt)
• Make homemade s'mores---marshmallows AND graham crackers
• Make homemade preserves (with my brand-new pressure cooker)

And some are just plain fun:

• Visit the Alamo
• Go swimming in Barton Springs
• Have a themed party---I'm thinking something like 80s aerobic?
• Take self-defense
• Go on a roadtrip
• Try bikram 
• Take a trapeze lesson
• Swim in an ocean
• Go to gospel brunch
• Buy cowboy boots
• Visit Schlitterbahn---look it up!

I'll track my progress more diligently---with five classes last semester, and four of them being labs, I barely had time to sleep if it wasn't in my schedule.

The summer night is like a perfection of thought.  ~Wallace Stevens