Bucket List

I keep seeing things about people's bucket lists and thought I'd try my hand at my own list... While I don't have a terminal disease like the viral lists that have been popping up in my news feed, I figure it's always good to have goals, and to not be afraid to dream a little bigger (darling).

• Travel More
• Europe
• Visit the Louvre
• Go to Greece
• Ride in a gondola in Italy
• See the Tower of London
• The Coliseum in Rome
• The beaches in the South of France
• Drink wine in a Cafe in France
• Visit the island my grandmother was born in in the Azores
• Visit Ireland
• Stonehenge
• Australia
• Sydney Opera House
• The Great Barrier Reef
• The Outback
• High Five a Kangaroo
• Spend significant time staying in New Orleans
• Go back to the Big Island of Hawaii
• Go to NYC 
• see a play ON BROADWAY
• Central Park
• Statue of Liberty
• Radio City Music Hall
• Middle America
• meet some awesome internet friends I've made over the years, I'd love to see you in person at least once or twice in my lifetime.
• Pacific Northwest
• Seattle
• Portland
• Chicago... and taste test the difference between Chicago Pizza and New York Pizza and declare a winner once and for all.
• Write a novel (or maybe finish one of the many I've started)
• See Green Day in concert
• Take a digital photography class and really learn how to use my camera to it's abilities and become a better hobbyist photographer.
• Find a career that grows me, instead of just having a job to pay the bills
• See the big waves at Mavericks
• Find new favorite places
• Sing Karaoke with Taylor Swift
• just seeing if you're paying attention
• Go to a Spurs basketball game, a Cowboys football game
• Learn how to decorate cakes/cupcakes beyond my current skill levels
• Have a house with a library/art studio in it
• pay off credit card debt, so that my family isn't stuck with extra bills
• goals can be responsible ones too 
• Learn to be spontaneous (Can you do that? Is it like planning to be unpredictable?)
• Learn to truly forgive, forget, and let go of old drama

I know this list is far from finished, and some of the goals are loftier than others, but what's the point of having dreams if they have to be based in reality? 

I plan on adding to this as I come up with more ideas and crossing off items that I complete as time wears on. 

Album Review: Taylor Swift 1989

Taylor Swift: Shake it Off 

Artist:  Taylor Swift
Album: 1989
Point of Purchase: iTunes (pre-order baby!!)
Price: $12.99

Thoughts:  Okay, not even going to lie, I've been excited and on the edge of my seat for this album since I head "Shake It Off" awhile back... you know when Kelly Clarkson posted the link to the video on her Facebook page. I'm 33 years old and dancing in my seat like a tweenager.  Last night I watched an episode of the Graham Norton show simply because Tswizzle was a guest on his couch, and there's an InStyle magazine on my BF's couch that she graces the cover of. I feel like I should be embarrassed at the extent of my fangirlishness when it comes to Miss T, but really, I'm not.  I want to bake cookies and talk about boys with her... is that weird? Probably... I'm going to go ahead and embrace the fantasy. My name is Lauren, and I'm a Swifty. 

Track Listing/Favorite Lines:

1. Welcome to New York: Everybody here wanted something more
   Searching for a sound we hadn’t heard before
2. Blank Space: darling I'm a nightmare dressed like a daydream
3. Style: Cause You got that James Dean day dream look in your eye
   And I got that red lip classic thing that you like
   And when we go crashing down, we come back in every time.
   Cause we never go out of style
4. Out of the Woods: The night we couldn’t quite forget
   When we decided
   To move the furniture so we could dance
   Baby, like we stood a chance
   Two paper airplanes flying
5. All You Had To Do Was Stay: people like me wanna believe you when you say you've changed
6. Shake It Off: Just think while you been getting down and out about the liars
   And the dirty dirty cheats of the world
   You could have been getting down to this sick beat
7. I Wish You Would: I wish you know that I miss too much to be mad anymore
8. Bad Blood: Band-aids don't fix bullet holes
9. Wildest Dreams: Say you'll see me again even if it's just in your wildest dreams
10. How You Get The Girl: I want you for worse or for better
11. This Love: This love is a life back from the dead
12. I Know Places: Lose lips, ships sink, all the damn time, not this time
    Just grab my hand and don't ever drop it
    My love, they are the hunters, we are the foxes
    And we run
13. Clean: And that morning, gone was any trace of you, I think I am finally clean

Bonus Tracks: Ms Swift is releasing more songs to iTunes 

1. Wonderland: In the end in Wonderland we both went mad

This album is so fun, and well worth the wait... It's not on Spotify yet, or I would have linked the whole album, but seriously, go drop the $13 and get your own copy. You too could be getting down to this sick beat. 

A Mommy and Me Date at the Malibu Getty

Last weekend my mom and I took a drive down the coast to explore the J. Paul Getty Museum: The Villa in Malibu, California.  We had found out about it a little over a year ago when we toured the other Getty Museum which is off the 405 in Southern Ca. 

This was an unforgettable experience, and one that I'd love to repeat.  The museum is full of ancient artifacts, some of which have survived THOUSANDS of years. These sculptures, bronzes, and mosaics have seen more of the human condition than any of us could ever hope to.  They have stood silent witness to the horrors of war and the joys of family and friends.  If they could speak, they would never shut up and still wouldn't be able to tell us everything.

We also ventured down the to Historic Santa Monica Pier and the end to the Route 66 (to get our kicks?). Neither of us had been there before and it was fun to munch on corn dogs and take in the sights.  People watching is never boring on a beach in Southern California. 

Here are a few of my favorite photos from the day, I haven't uploaded the ones that are on my camera yet, but this is the iPhone collection. 

Enjoy!