What’s on Your Bucket List?

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” (Emerson)

Those were the first words stated by my first professor in my first class of my freshman year at Notre Dame.  He momentarily got the attention of the 12 of us sitting in his classroom.  Quickly our attentions again wandered…some of us looking quiet and unsure of what to make of his first powerful (LOUD) statement, others looking green from a first freshman party in their new dorm room and some just more interested with the buildings outside the classroom.

It was what followed after this statement that engaged us all.  “What will you be remembered for at Notre Dame?  What will you accomplish in the next four years?” Quickly the competitive nature of us all kicked knowing that whatever we said would have to be better than our neighbor sitting aside us.  One girl raised her hand eager to share and our professor said…write it down, don’t say it write it down.

Our professor left the room and we all looked at each other before erupting into…”that’s it?”  We all left class thinking to ourselves, wow easiest assignment ever and we only had to be in class for 5 minutes to learn it.  So this seemingly easy and even stupid assignment is something that consumed us all for an entire semester and engaged not only the 12 of us but all of our roommates, friends, etc…do I dare say there was viral before Facebook??

At lunch that afternoon there was chatter about what was on your list and do you think we could ever do really do that?  The conversation was loud and then came each of our “Bucket Lists.”

I wrote my bucket list with many fun, adventurous exciting things and continued to evolve it as the years went on because I realized that this question of “where will you be? What will you do?” confronts each of us all the time.  So I update my list every couple of years and approaching my 30^th birthday I think it’s time to revisit it again…some things have not changed and some things I have attained, so now it’s time to reach higher because as Michelangelo put it:

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss, but that it is too low and we reach it.”

 

So here it is…the Bucket List

 

Graduate from the University of Notre Dame…this was on my list at 9 years old

Get a Job

Start my own business by the time I am 30 (feels good to check this one off- also thrilled that I didn’t demand immediate success, maybe I was wiser than I thought at 18)

Skydive over the Alps

Heliski in Whistler

Rescue (2) Golden Retrievers (Bert & Ernie)

Be on the Board of a not for profit that helps children all over the country

Go back to Italy once a year and always visit Assisi when I am there

Visit Nantucket once a summer (may have actually surpassed this one with living here)

Go to the Coliseum in So Cal to see Notre Dame beat USC (no pressure guys)

Go on  Safari in Africa

Coach a sports team (any age)

Give back to my schools in any way possible

Donate a scholarship to Notre Dame for a pre-med student in my dad’s name

Run the NYC Marathon

Finish the Nantucket tri-athalon

Fall in love and elope to Italy

Live in New York City

Speak in front of 10,000 people

Visit the White House

Make a TV appearance (preferably on ESPN or FoxNews)

Throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium

Be asked to sit on the board at Notre Dame

See U2 in concert

Shake hands with Richard Branson (maybe he’ll take me skydiving)

Learn to surf in Hawaii

Plan an inauguration gala for a president

Mentor kids to get into college, get jobs and just be successful and happy in life

Write a Book

The Facebook Break-Up

“You accepted her friend request” were the words that over a $200 bottle of sake and a LOLA Burger ended their already distant relationship.

Passer bys wondered what had sparked a feud of words and shards of dirty looks at a table that earlier on in the evening seemed to be on a romantic rendez-vous.  Whispers could be heard throughout the restaurant about the moments that had led up to the now quite obviously bickering duo whose distain for each other in the moment was obvious to everyone.

The reason for their fight…Facebook.  An acceptance of an apparently inappropriate friendship had led to the demise of a 2-year relationship that just earlier that had spoken so strongly and passionately about.  Is it possible to break up over Facebook?  I’ve heard of online dating but online breaking up?  Is this something new?

The topic of breaking up over Facebook was now being discussed throughout over martinis, red wine and of course bubbles.  The consensus…one that seemingly is the man’s answer for everything, “girls are crazy.”

Ok let’s be clear not all girls have majored in crazy for four years of college or all 16 years of school for that matter.  Yes girls all have their moments of crazy, but usually us “normal” girls are pushed to crazy by reaching a breaking point, a miscommunication, some toxACK bachelor (I defer to Holly on this one).

The topic, breaking up over Facebook.

Is the simple acceptance of a friend request of some other person a reason to end a relationship?  Is it a normal reason to have a fight?  I would assume that if he accepts a friend request while his relationship status reads “in a relationship” one of two things has happened…

1. She is just a friend

2. He is just that dumb that he accepts her friend request so that you will see it, hopefully flip out on him while enjoying a $200 bottle of Sake and a LOLA Burger, accuse him of sleeping with her and then break up with him before your 5 hour flight home the next day.

Girls…it’s Facebook, don’t overthink it.  But this episode was quite the ending to a rather interesting Monday night.  Look for the next check please.

Check Please…

“Check Please” two seemingly simple words, but so many wonderful stories behind those two small words.

It’s 5AM and I am at the gym on this cool fall Monday morning…it’s so early that even the dog has rolled her eyes at me and rolled over to avoid the bright light that I turned on next to my bed.  Stretch, gym clothes, ipod…ok ready to go, oh darn KEYS!  At least my doormen know that I have a tendency to forget my keys and have stopped judging me for it, well at least publicly judging.

Ok gym…get a run and training session in with crazy trainer before work and then shower, blow dry my hair (such a pain), pick out a couple of pairs of jeans to wear on my (wait for it…) blind date.

Yes, I agreed to go on a blind date, mark your calendars people October 2007…a life changing moment in time.  Do I dare say that I’m actually a bit excited for this blind date…my boss is even actually going to let me leave work before 10PM so that I can be on time, I get the feeling everyone is more excited about my night out, is that weird?

Ok 2PM and I think I have finally scripted a crisis at the office that will get me out of this horrible blind date idea, the only problem…EVERYONE in my office is on to me and my self-made crisis.  Shoot, there is no getting out of this…wait I’ve got it, well I could go and get a sandwich from the “street meat” cart on 8^th Ave…that is sure to get me sick enough that I can’t go or maybe it was the Jameeson that got me sick that night?  Ok so “street meat” and Jameeson I’ve got a plan!

Now it’s 3PM and I’ve had no time for leaving the office and my boss has taken all the booze off the in-house bar…I am screwed, so I guess now it’s time to just keep checking my makeup every 10-15 minutes, yup check #9 and the makeup is still on, phew I thought it was fading on check #7.

5PM…I’m nervous, I don’t remember being this nervous for anything…well I actually I am more nervous on Saturday mornings for Notre Dame football games, but that is for obvious reasons.  All right my boss tells me we are going to his “satellite office” for a glass of wine first, maybe if I drink wine I won’t bite off all of my newly manicured nails…I look down, oops too late!

Two glasses past 6PM…time to go, I’m scheduled to be 15 minutes late, can’t be the first to arrive, you need to have the upper hand and have first shot at scooting out the door and sending the infamous “I’m stuck at work, my boss is such a jerk” text and never having to see or hear from him again.

Oh my god I hate the GAME…ok so maybe I should give this guy a chance.  Ok “be nice” I say to myself as I walk in the door…maybe 5 inch heels were aggressive for a first date, but my friend said he was tall and let’s face it they are hot shoes.  Scan the room…all good looking guys, hmm maybe this will be ok, get waved down to the corner of the bar.  Wow tall, dark and handsome…maybe she did know what she was doing. Great smile…hopefully he is funny and smiles a lot. (insert prrrrr noise for my initial reaction)  I think I might be glowing!!

6:45PM Order glass of red wine and ice water, chug ice water while he talks about his job as an Investment Banker and his MBA…I think he said Merrill Lynch, maybe he said Morgan Stanley?  Oops I wasn’t listening…bartender no where to be found and I need more water, why am I so bored this guy is actually good looking, smart, interesting (I think from what I heard or ignored while seeking out H20), an athlete PHEW cause I can only date athletes…everyone knows that, man maybe my friend nailed it with this guy.

This guy is long winded…ok maybe he is nervous and this is how he deals with his nerves.  Knock it off, he is nice and cute and look at his smile and perfect teeth oh and he went to Harvard…I did hear that a couple of times in his story.  I bet he is just saying that over and over again cause he is nervous.

Glass of wine #2…man he isn’t getting better looking with the second glass of wine and his stories are kind of getting boring.  Ok I’m going to interrupt with something funny and relevant…ready set, so I was so nervous about meeting you.  Come on cut me a break, it was the best I had at the moment.  His response, “I went on one blind date when I was at Harvard…” OH MY GOD was in my head as I finished off glass #2 and poured my own glass #3.

And then it happened…7:58PM….He asks me, yes this is the first question Mr. Arrogant has asked me all night, hence why I have basically polished off a bottle of red wine and maybe 23 glasses of water.  “Where did you go to college? I went to Harvard, did I mention that,” he so eloquently inquires.  I went to Notre Dame, majored in- “Notre Dame? In South Bend? Oh god so now I bet you are going to want to talk about football and tell me that you are one of those girls that knows everything about football- “

8:01PM…Check please…

 

Thank You to Our Veterans

Let us never forget the brave men and women that have served and continue to serve our great nation.  We are free today because of their bravery.

Ronald Reagan 11/1988 Veterans Day :

We’re gathered today, just as we have gathered before, to remember those who served, those who fought, and those who — those still missing, and those who gave their last full measure of devotion for our country. We’re gathered at amonument on which the names of our fallen friends and loved ones are engraved, and with crosses instead of diamonds beside them, the names of those whose fate we do not yet know. One of those who fell wrote, shortly before his death, these words: “Take what they have left and what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own. And take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind.”

Well, today, Veterans Day, as we do every year, we take that moment to embrace the gentle heroes of Vietnam and of all our wars. We remember those who were called upon to give all a person can give, and we remember those who were prepared to make that sacrifice if it were demanded of them in the line of duty, though it never was. Most of all, we remember the devotion and gallantry with which all of them ennobled their nation as they became champions of a noble cause.

“Our young friends — yes, young friends, for in our hearts you will always be young, full of the love that is youth, love of life, love of joy, love of country — you fought for your country and for its safety and for the freedom of others with strength and courage. We love you for it. We honor you. And we have faith that, as He does all His sacred children, the Lord will bless you and keep you, the Lord will make His face to shine upon you and give you peace, now and forever more.”  Thank you and god bless.

Take A Break…seriously?

From the day I was little I had the spirit of an entrepreneur, I just didn’t know it back then…wow already I feel like I am re-writing “If I Knew Then, What I Know Now” but seriously, I promise this entry is different!

At age 11 I had a dog walking/boarding/concierge service in my neighborhood, I mean I only had one client, but hey I was 11 and I worked for this one client EVERY weekend.  The job started with a laid back lovable black lab and a really, really fat lovable and lazy cat and ended with an out of control until she was 13 chocolate lab and a frisky cat that tried to attack the dog.  Talking about getting complacent with the ease of a job and then having to quickly readjust.

Ok so where was I going with this.

So that was me at 11 and by 14 I was summering on Nantucket working all summer with 2 different jobs at about 60 hours a week all summer and that continued until I was 22 when I started my first full-time job after graduating from Notre Dame.  This pattern of working in excess has continued all my life, “hi my name is Sarah and I am a workaholic” but now I own a business on Nantucket and in Aspen (yeah I am LUCKY) so looks like it benefited me nicely!

People tell me all the time to “take a break” or “go on vacation” or “take a personal day”…umm I don’t know what any of those mean???? I wish I did, but I have never had the opportunity, even when I was making close to $.00001 an hour in NYC I didn’t have time (or funds) to take a break but that is why I am the way I am today…I didn’t say it was normal or healthy, seriously sometimes I lose my sanity.

Ok so I am out to prove that working hard doesn’t mean you have to burn out and that some people just don’t have a “rest and relax” button in their lives…so instead of “taking a break” I am going to step it up a notch and train for a half-marathon, a triathlon and finish with the NYC Marathon in 2011.

How about that for taking a break?

Each Monday will be dedicated to an entry about my training painless or painful and how I am coping with it, this should get interesting in the high altitude of Aspen!!  With the help of my trainers Jami Lower and my sister Katie I should be in good shape to do all of these things in the next year.

Ok enough typing time to make a move, I have work to do at the gym (it’s way too windy outside) and in my office…lots of projects to do- yup I keep taking on new things, this newest project is pretty awesome though…so I ask, take a break??

 

I’ll try that tomorrow…seriously.

 

If I Knew Then What I Know Now…Seriously.

It’s that common phrase that we have all used, seriously…it’s in movies, in song lyrics and it’s in probably a lot of everyday conversation that we have or overhear, so…

If I knew then what I know now…I would have eaten all my brussel sprouts instead of sitting at the table in utter agony while my mom cleaned the kitchen and turned out all the lights on me staring at my plate of greens.  Now I ask for seconds of them at dinner, who knew? Seriously…

If I knew then what I know now…I wouldn’t have complained so much about going to church, especially since it’s really the only hour of peace and quiet I get these days.

If I knew then what I know now…I would have said yes when my dad asked if I wanted to take a sip of his once a year Coors Light that he would drink instead of my “eww dad, beer?”

If I knew then what I know now…I would have stayed home more on Friday & Saturday nights to hang out with my family, whether it was Notre Dame games or 48 hours.  I always thought there was more time to spend with them all.

If I knew then what I know now…I would have been excited about long runs at lacrosse practice.  But seriously who knew I’d want to run a half-marathon before I turned 30?

If I knew then what I know now…I wouldn’t have wasted time applying anywhere else but Notre Dame.  Go Irish!

If I knew then what I know now…I wouldn’t have dated him, not for a day, not for a week, not for a year.  He did make me a stronger person, but wow what a waste of time and damn my roommates were right, again…

If I knew then what I know now…speaking of my roommates, I wouldn’t have overreacted to my college roommates simple request about needing my stuff out of the apartment…to this day I love them, but man what a fight.

If I knew then what I know now…I would never have agreed to a case race, I swear I was led blindly down that path.  Seriously…

If I knew then what I know now…I would have said yes, who knows where I’d be today, but sometimes no is the easier answer.

If I knew then what I know now…I wouldn’t have had Southern Comfort at Finnigans on my 21^st birthday…I would have had Patron.

If I knew then what I know now…I would have lived in Chicago a little bit longer and enjoyed the extended college life.  I miss college now, seriously…where did it go and when can I get college back?

If I knew then what I know now…I would have stayed at Sam Adams for a little bit longer.  I would have maybe lived in San Francisco for longer…god knows some of my closest friends are there and it’s the home of R Bar and Vertigo…oh well, it was far away from home.

If I knew then what I know now…I would have trusted my real girlfriends more and would have ignored the “user” girls that were after my guy friends.  Seriously…almost 30 years for me to know girlfriends can be great?? WOW…weird.

If I knew then what I know now…I would have enjoyed NYC instead of being a workaholic.  Oh and I probably would have had more first dates at Wine & Roses more often…maybe I could have had another iPhone stolen on video by the trench coat man!

If I knew then what I know now…I would have called him back and told him that I loved him.

If I knew then what I know now…I would have had the conversation, yes I would have had it, but it’s still easier not to despite what you outsiders all think…seriously it’s NOT FUN!

If I knew then what I know now…I would have walked away when my friends told me to.  Ok, that’s a lie, If I knew then, what I know now I would have done everything exactly the same, yup exactly even with it’s terrible ending. Listen to Garth Brooks “The Dance” for clarity.

If I knew then what I know now…I would have quit my job in NYC and moved to Nantucket to start my own business and then I would have launched my business in Aspen.

Seriously…there are very few things in life to regret (except for maybe the brussel sprouts), most things are great opportunities!

Oh and the MOST OBVIOUS…If I knew then what I know now…I would have listened to my mom, after all, she is always right…seriously.

Share your “If I knew then, what I know now”…I know you have more than one, seriously.