Birthday Edition: My 30 Before 30

Do you have a 30 before 30 list?  Though I have a hundred-item Life List, I've been looking forward to making a shorter, more...plan-friendly and doable one and have been waiting for a sort of natural starting point.  Then, when I turned around and my 27th birthday was staring me right in the face, it seemed like -- dare I say? -- fate.  Ugh, I really hate that word.

And the 30 before 30 list was born.

For those of you who are getting a little List Fatigue at this point, I feel you.  But the past several months has been about me trying to figure out what I want out of life, and lists are a great tool to use when working through that.  However, the next stage of this little journey I'm on is going to be all about putting these goals in action.  I'll be perfectly honest, I'm a little nervous...

My 30 Before 30 List - in a semi-chronological order:
[Brackets refer to Life List items]

1. Establish a regular workout routine
2. [84.] Meditate regularly
3. Quit my current job
4. See at least 6 live music shows [seen 2, have tickets to see 3 more so far]
5. Go on a road trip along the East Coast [possibly happening in August]
6. Attend a taping of the Colbert Report
7. Complete the NaNoWriMo challenge
8. [25.] Write a novel
9. Run a 5k [training begins next week]
10. [15.] Sign up to go on a service trip abroad [in the early planning stages now]
11. [64.] Become comfortable driving on freeways and learn to parallel parking
12. [32.] Take public speaking courses (public speaking is one of my biggest fears)
13. [18.] Begin language classes (Spanish?  French?  Hawaiian?)
14. Visit an out-of-state national park
15. Attend a Stratejoy workshop/event 
16. Meet some bloggers in person
17. [61.] Run a 10k
18. [43.] Go on an archaeological dig
19. Submit a piece of fiction for publishing
20. Spend a weekend at my favorite bed and breakfast
21. Cook my way through an entire cookbook
22. Apply for grad school
23. [8.] Take a 3-month-long backpacking trip around the world
24. Take mom to Ireland
25. Run a half marathon
26. [62.] Finish paying off my credit card debt
27. Start eating only humanely/naturally raised, free-range products (and less meat in general)
28. [80.] Start a retirement fund
29. Get engaged (Possibly.  Hopefully.  This one's obviously negotiable.)
30. [81.] Start the process of moving back to Seattle (Again, hopefully.)

What's in a Name?

So recently I've begun seeing this "Ten on Tuesday" thing around the blogosphere (like here, and here) and, though it's actually Wednesday -- I'm late so much -- this week's Ten featured the following little questionnaire, and it seemed like a fun one so I thought, why not?  Feel free to fill one out yourself, and make sure to post your name here, where it all began.

1. How did your parents decide on your name?

So first things first, Kahea is actually not my first name.  It's my Hawaiian name -- meaning I have an English first name, a shorter English middle name, a Hawaiian name, and then my last name.  But for the sake of my blog, I'll treat Kahea as if it's the first.  My parents didn't decide to name me Kahealani, my grandmother on my Hawaiian side of the family did.  She's a pastor and perhaps that's why she gave me a name which means "the call of Heaven." 

2. Do your initials (First, Middle, Last) spell out anything fun/funny?
Nope.  They're AMKP.  Totally uninteresting.

3. Did you take your middle name from childhood or did you take your maiden name as your middle name? (If unmarried, what do you plan to do?)
I don't think I'm going to give up my last name when I get married.  I sort of like the way it all flows together, and keeping my last name is pretty important to me, especially since my dad has been blessed with all female children.  Plus, Nate's last name all by itself really, really doesn't match either my name or face.  Hint?  He's half Chinese.  I'll probably hyphenate.

4. Are you or will you name your children thematically (ie. same first letter, all of same origin…)
I don't really have a preference.  My sisters and I all have the same letter to start our first names and its been fun listening to our parents when they're trying to call one of us -- so much mixing up.  It's come to the point where my dad has us numbered.  My kids will all have Hawaiian names, and probably a Chinese names too (though that won't go on their birth certificate).  I like the flow of having an English name, a shorter English middle name, a Hawaiian name, and then their last name (which will probably be Nate's last name).

5. Did you decide on baby names as a little girl? Did you stick to them or change your mind?
Oh, I've definitely changed my mind over the years.  I used to like Abcde a lot for a girl, and Elena after I read "The Vampire Diaries" when I was 12, and Josh.  But now I have a running list that I add to as time goes on, and that Nate and I confer over once in a while.

6. Does your family have any names that have been passed down through generations?
My English middle name is Mae, and that's my grandmother's middle name as well.  My cousin's Hawaiian name is also Kahea, and my younger sister and Aunt share a middle name as well.  I think my dad's middle name was passed on too.  I'm not really stuck on passing down a name, though I like the idea of passing Mae on in honor of my grandmother. 

7. Do you look at the meaning of the name or just the name itself?
When it comes to English names, the meaning is interesting, but it definitely wouldn't bar me from naming my child something.  Unless it was like, a blatant meaning.  For example, my older sister wanted to name her daughter Brazen for a split second, and the only thing I could think was that I'd end up calling the poor child a brazen hussy at some point or another.  Thankfully, my sister chose (read: stole from my name list) another, much prettier, name.  But when it comes to Hawaiian names, meanings are just so important culturally.  You really need to be careful when naming the child after someone, and you want the name to imbue qualities into the child that you hope they have in life.

8. Do you name pets with human names (Sally, Henry) or with pet names (Fluffy, Mr. Bo Bo)?
Meh, depends on how I'm feeling.  We named our current dog Finnegan because he's an Irish sheep dog.  My family also has cats named Mija (Spanish for sweetheart) and Isabella, and dogs that have a variety of Hawaiian names.  And some names I like for animals also include Story, Indie, Miso, Maggie and Kaya.

9. Are there any names that you have an affinity or dislike for based on a childhood experience/someone you once knew?
Ugh, yes.  But Nate seems to know more people (or dislike more people) than I do because it's been a challenge for us to find names that don't remind him of someone.

10. What are some of your favorite names? Why?
None of the following English names really have special meaning to me, I just think they're beautiful names and they don't have terrible nicknames that I can think of. 

• Emmaline
• Quinn
• Ethan
• Noelle
• Noah
• Lena
• Margaux
• Brenna

And some of the Hawaiian names I like include:

• Malanamekahulu'ohemanu: light as the feather of a bird (referring to a light spirit)
• Kuna'e: to stand firm against opposition
• Nohea: handsome, lovely, beautiful
• Imaika: (I'm still unsure about the meaning of this one)
• Nainoa: free spirited
  

A Wishlist

I've gone quite a while -- relatively speaking -- without shopping, and this has been a huge accomplishment for me.  Shopping, as you know by now, has always been my go-to activity whether I've been stressed or bored or excited or upset.  The purchase of a new item made me feel better, it made me feel like I'd accomplished something.  But after the budget overhaul I've been talking about, and after some massive self-reflection, I realized how sad that was.  Why did I need to buy something to feel good about myself?  Why did I need to control that just because I felt out of control elsewhere?  Weren't there other, more productive and constructive (and inexpensive) things I could do to get those same results?

Well, the answer is yes.  And I've started doing more of that, and less of the spending.

But that doesn't stop the occasional want for something.  So, because I'm not perfect and I'm not a robot, and because I still like to buy things now and then (with money already allocated for that purpose), here is my current, somewhat strange, wishlist:

I am obsessed with Laurie R. King's "Russell/Holmes" books right now.  I can't stop reading them, they are so good.  So next month I want to spend some of my allocated money on buying the next 6 books in the growing series.  If you haven't checked them out yet, you should put it on your book list!

So I used to have an industrial piercing like this, and for some stupid reason I thought that it would be best if I took it out at the start of law school.  (Note to those who may be in this boat: it's unnecessary).  And ever since taking it out, I've wanted it back.  I don't know why, I just do.  So I may spend some of my March money on a piercing.

Since I've finished Stratejoy's Joy Equation and it now has a snazzy self-created cover, I'd like to get it bound and printed.  I think it's important to keep this with me as I go through the next couple of years of my life, so having it held together by more than a pretty pink paper clip sounds like a pretty good idea.  But I just never realized how expensive Kinko's can be!  It'll happen though.

This one's weird, isn't it?  I have dye on my wishlist?  So this goes back to the fact that I haven't been shopping in a while, and I've really been wanting some black skinny jeans.  However, after rifling through my closet and stacks of denim, I realized that I own a pair of unused gray skinnies.  So I plan on picking up some black Rit dye and turning those suckers into some nice, dark jeans.

Nate and my birthday is coming up (same day, remember?) and, since all our camera's were stolen when our apartment was broken into, this is the only thing on that specific wishlist.  I'm pretty sure his mom is getting it for us.  This camera seems to cover all our bases, since it offers the lens flexibility of a DSLR, but the lightweight and compact convenience of a point-and-shoot.

This is not on our bday wishlist, and I don't expect to get it anytime soon (or possibly ever), but I just think they're so cute and convenient.  I played with a friends Flip a while ago and didn't want to give it back.

 Maybe it's because it's been raining cats and dogs lately, but I really want a pair of Hunter's black wellies.  I had a crappy pair of wellies a few years ago that, even though they sucked, I was regretting getting rid of when I was soaked through my jeans and socks in the rain the other day, so I think maybe I'll save for these.  Because they're kind of nice looking, I'm thinking they could possibly double as just a pair of black boots.

Every single time I step foot into Sephora, this is the first thing I head towards.  I have never loved a scent as much as I do Philosophy's "field of flowers."  It's so fresh and simple and bright.  Love, love, love.

Update: The Life List (formerly known as The Bucket List)

So yesterday was a bad day, depending on how you look at it.  On one hand, I may get fired from my job today and that would suck.  On the other hand, I may get fired from my job today and that would kick some serious ass.  You see my confusion.

To make myself feel better, I decided to read over my Life List (I'm going to stop calling it a Bucket List since I want to think of my life when I read it, rather than thinking of...kicking the bucket) and remind myself of all the awesome things I'm going to do in my life.  Because, God knows my life is definitely more than this job that I don't even like.

But after reading it, I realized that it's totally time for an update.  After all, there are new things I want to do, new experiences I want to have, and new memories I want to fill my years with.  This list should reflect all of this each step of the way.

The Life List

1. Graduate from a 4-year college [University of Washington, '05]
2. Travel to Ireland ['03, '08]
3. Have a rustic, vintage, outdoor, handmade wedding
4. Fall in love [with Nate]
5. Live outside of Hawaii for an extended period of time ['02-present]
6. Retire on the Big Island, HI
7. Build an incredibly stylish and versatile wardrobe
8. Take a backpacking trip around the world
9. Adopt an animal that needs a home [Mija the cat, Finn the dog]
10. Hike regularly
11. Sky dive at sunset in the Bay of Islands, NZ
12. Bungy jump [Kawarau Bridge, NZ, '05]
13. Cage dive with great white sharks
14. Zip-line in Whistler, BC
15. Volunteer with an international humanitarian organization
16. See U2 live [Soon!  June '11]
17. Take a vacation abroad with my mom and sisters
18. Learn to speak Spanish fluently
19. Get my PhD
20. Go ATVing on Mauna Road on the Big Island, HI
21. Stand under the Eiffel Tower when it's lit up at night
22. Walk through Old City, Jerusalem
23. Take a trip to Alaska and see the Northern Lights, grizzly bears, and go dog sledding
24. Pet a tiger [Thailand, '06]
25. Write a YA novel
26. Own a hybrid car
27. Cultivate a personal relationship with God
28. Keep a journal and try to write in it as much as possible
29. Have my writing published [academic publications, '09]
30. Vacation in Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard
31. Meet someone famous
32. Overcome my fear of public speaking
33. Watch a sunset in Positano, Italy
34. Study abroad [Northern Ireland '02, New Zealand '05]
35. Learn to snowboard
36. Go on an African safari
37. Take annual vacations somewhere I've never been
38. Work or intern for a travel/lifestyle magazine or publisher (i.e. Sunset, Lonely Planet)
39. Go white water rafting [Wenatchee River, '04]
40. Play in the falling snow [first time: Seattle, '04]
41. Open a bookstore (and possibly a cafe)
42. Visit all the National Parks
43. Go on an archaeological dig
44. Get backstage at a concert and meet the band [Band of Horses, '10]
45. Work/volunteer on a ranch or wildlife preserve
46. Give birth to a child
47. Adopt a child
48. Practice yoga and pilates at least 2x a week for a year
49. Spend a few days in Santorini, Greece
50. Get certified and go diving on the Great Barrier Reef
51. Own a home in Hawaii
52. Lose 40lbs in a healthy way
53. Get a tattoo [Got 2, so far]
54. Take a week-long rafting trip in the Grand Canyon
55. Visit Crater Lake, OR [Northwest Roadtrip, '09]
56. Camp in Yosemite National Park
57. Visit the Great Pyramids of Giza
58. Have a marathon LotR extended version movie night (b/c I'm a nerd)
59. Go horseback riding [with Nate, '08]
60. Work to increase/protect the rights of indigenous peoples
61. Run another 10k
62. Get out of credit card debt
63. Take a cross-country roadtrip
64. Learn to drive comfortably on freeways
65. Have a career where I can work from home
66. Get Lasik eye surgery
67. Visit the fjords and Alesund, Norway
68. Ring in the New Year in NZ (it's the first place to experience it!)
69. Go to the Olympics [Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC, '10]
70. Own a house with views of the great outdoors
71. Restore a fixer-upper
72. See New England in the Fall
73. Drink beer at Oktoberfest in Munich
74. Go ghost hunting
75. Learn to sew and reupholster
76. Be on the winning team at my family's Annual Cook-Off
77. Earn a stable and comfortable income doing something I love
78. Own a horribly expensive, but utterly fabulous, pair of shoes
79. Grow a garden
80. Start and maintain a savings and retirement fund
81. Move back to Seattle for a period of time 
82. Get my mother's secret recipe for her Energy Bars
83. Go hot-air ballooning
84. Meditate 5x a week for a year
85. Trace my genealogy ['10]
86. Go to a Renaissance Fair ['07]
87. Crowd surf at a rock concert [No Doubt, '98]
88. See the ruins of a lost civilization
89. Buy (and wear) some amazingly sexy La Perla lingerie
90. Raft +5 rapids
91. Stop drinking Diet Coke [January '11]
92. Take a Girls Trip out of the country
93. Hire a personal shopper/stylist for a day
94. Visit a place I've read about in a novel [Monterey, CA and Ireland]
95. Participate in La Tomatina in Spain
96. Take a photography class
97. Travel to Bali, Indonesia
98. Learn to cook one fabulous go-to "company" dinner
99. Relearn to play the violin
100. Call home weekly

Resolutions

In case you haven't noticed by now, I'm notorious for making resolutions.  And not just on New Year's Eve.  I make them all year long -- my goals, plans, decisions, etc. etc. etc.  They're all resolutions in one form or another.  So it should come as no surprise that I'm making more of them at the traditional time as well.

After much thought and debate, here are my 2011 resolutions:

• Stick to my budget plan: While I had a budget plan last year and things started off well, I don't know that I thought that plan through.  So when things changed on me, or expenses came up that I didn't expect which altered my budget that month, I got so frustrated that I just gave up.  This year, I have a more carefully thought out plan, and a more carefully thought out mindset.  I think I'm beginning to understand money a little more, and my relationship to it.  So while I have an overall budget plan for the entire year, I also recognize that I'll probably have to replan a few times.  And while a majority of my money is funneled into paying off credit cards, I've built in pockets of spending money and emergency money as well.
• Be more mindful of myself: I need to stop and listen to myself more.  I think I've been in this rut with this job for so long because for months I told myself to suck it up, or I worried about disappointing my boss or something.  Instead, I should have been worried about the fact that this job makes me unhappy and it began to get unhealthy for me.  So this year, I'm trying to be a little more aware of my thoughts and feelings and will hopefully find myself in a better place when 2012 rolls around.
• Take steps to get where I'm going: I began doing this earlier in December and I can already see how good the changes are making me feel.  I started 2010 with all of these plans to get started with and all I ended up doing was putting them on the backburner to deal with in 2011.  Well, 2011 is here...let's get going.
• Travel: Even if it's within the country.  Hawaii and traveling to weddings for a weekend does not count.

There are few smaller resolutions, which are more hopes than actual goals (i.e. build a better wardrobe, get back into my work out routine, write more, see more live music, get outdoors more, take a western national parks road trip, get my dog into a training class), but those are all sort of contingent on something or other.  That's not to say I won't work on accomplishing them, but the resolutions are the real focus here.

I hope you all had a very happy New Year!

the road less traveled

if measured against the lives of many others i knew growing up in my small town, my life would be considered anything but ordinary.  anything but run of the mill and typical.  anything but expected.  that's how i've always wanted to live my life.  i've always wanted to do great things, adventurous things, meaningful things.  things that seem so far away from the girl i was growing up.

so it's no surprise that, when faced with this huge gaping hole in my future plans, i've come back around to that truth: i want to do great, adventurous, meaningful things.  i have some ideas about where to go with this.  nothing set in stone and even less rationally thought out.  but a starting point none-the-less.

i want to go back to school.  i know it's hard to believe since i just came out of three of the worst academic years of my life but, if nothing else, law school helped me to finally realize where i think i've been headed all along.  in light of that, i've been looking at pursuing an advanced degree in either anthropology or ethnic studies.  if i go the anthropology route i'll have to take the GRE's and eventually apply for the PhD program separately.  if i go the ethnic studies route, i won't have to take the GRE's and can go straight into an MA/PhD combined program.  in either case, i'm hoping to apply for admission in the fall of 2011.

both of these programs are as close an area of study as i'm going to find to my undergraduate major (which in a weird way combined them and is really what i'm qualified for), and both will allow me to continue learning about and researching indigenous cultures.  isn't that what i've been working toward all this time?  isn't that what i tried to transform my law school study into?  isn't that what i think of when i think of "what i would have done if i'd never gone to law school"?  yes, to all of the above.  now, do i know where having a PhD will lead me?  no.  it could be teaching, it could be working for a private organization, a museum, a library, or an ngo.  i don't know.

but i do know that i want to do it.  i just need a little time before getting started.

you see, i'm one of those people who never took time off.  i always felt that, if i did, i'd never go back to school.  so i'm hoping to take somewhat of a "gap year" now.  and i have some ideas on how to fill my time:

• [first and foremost] work for a little while so that i can save some money to do it all.
  
• a girl i know (who i've often sadly thought is living the life i've always wanted) did a summer program in which she was hired to be a group leader for a tour company that took a handful of high school students on international cultural adventure trips.  her particular trip was to australia, new zealand and fiji.  this sounds like something i'd love to do, and i've looked up the company and the application process.  i'll be applying to be a group leader next summer.
• when i was a little girl, i was so sure i was going to be an archaeologist one day.  it was all i thought about: digging through the dirt for old artifacts, bones and lost cities.  i obviously haven't gone that route, but that doesn't mean i can't find out what could have been.  there are a bunch of different programs through which people can volunteer to work for a couple of weeks on an archaeological dig in places like israel, turkey, jordan, italy, greece, scotland, etc.  there's usually a fee for volunteering, so i'll need to save some money first, but this is also on the list.
• i want to teach english abroad.  in particular, i've been looking at programs which place you in the northern territories in australia.

and when i'm in school again there are a few things i'd like to do as well.  i'll have to see what kind of schedule the particular program i'm applying for has and if they'd allow me to do them, but here they are just in case:

• apply for an internship with the UN's permanent forum on indigenous issues, based in new york city.
• apply for an internship with the unrepresented nations and peoples organization, based at the hague.
• possibly study abroad in new zealand, australia, and hawaii.  if it seems like new zealand and australia are mentioned a lot, it's because i have a particular interest in researching indigenous issues there (which i am hoping to work into a dissertation topic i've got swimming around in my head).

and in between/during/after all this, i'd like to find some time (like now) to volunteer or intern in other areas i'm interested in:

• with amnesty international
  
• with oxfam
• with americorps
• with a tribal organization
• with a publishing house
• with a magazine

this all may seem really rash to you, but it's honestly not.  being the anally organized person i am, i have a huge binder with print outs and brochures and informational packets on programs and organizations, i've emailed both the academic programs i'm considering applying for as well as the diversity office for graduate student admissions (even though it's 2 years away), and N. and i have already begun discussing it all.  i'm preparing.  i'm even thinking of making spreadsheets.

i feel very rory gilmore-ish right now.

but in all seriousness, what it came down to was this:

1. i wasn't happy with the path my life was on.  
2. so i wrote a list of the things i want to do. 
3. this is me starting to do them.

simple as that.

fall for me

it's october, and this means that it has officially become my favorite season of the year! i know, i know, strange because i'm from the land of eternal sunshine and i'm currently living in california, but whatever. i love the fall and everything about it!

so in honor of this most festive feeling i've got going on, i thought i'd try my hand at a polyvore collage. i see a lot of the writers on my favorite blogs using polyvore for fashion and interior design, and i thought i'd just cheat a little and use it for my own devious ends. kidding, kidding. nothing devious about it, just wanted to share with you why fall is as great as it is!

Fall for Me by kaheainthecity

clockwise from top-left:

1. the leaves are changing color, which has to be one of nature's most beautiful things. also, fall colors just happen to be my favorites! burgundy's and golds and rusts and forest greens and browns...love 'em!
2. it's time for cold weather clothes! great peacoats and cute hats are back and i get to cozy up inside them. this coat can be found at alloy.com.
3. i'm obsessed with this sweater and have been for more than a year. it's almost cheap enough, but not quite. i can't get over those buckles... this came from victoria's secret.
4. we all know i can't resist a good cardigan, right? and the stripes? and the ruffles? looks so...collegiate! lovely cardi is from alloy.com.
5. so i know i'm about six years late, but i finally got suckered into adoring uggs. i'm not really liking the purple, but the rest would look great with a pair of skinnies. luckily, my older sis had a pair of knock-offs that she never wears (she lives in hawaii) so she sent them to me! these classically short uggs can also be found at victoria's secret.
6. how soft does this cashmere scarf look? brown. cashmere. scarf. need i say more? get it at abercrombie.
   
7. if you don't think of pies when you think of the fall, i don't know what happened to destroy you in your childhood. and i'm not even much of a baker.
8. halloween! thanksgiving and halloween are my two favorite holidays, and these little wicked cupcakes are about as cute as they come. you can learn to make them (and a whole lot of other holiday goodies) at foodnetwork.com.
9. the weather gets cold and the food gets hot. cooking and eating soups and stews are one of the best parts of fall. especially when you've got some friends over, some games and/or movies to watch, some PIES for dessert!, and it's windy and rainy outside. my favorite beef stew recipe can be found here. i suggest you make it on the first cold day of your year (though watch out, it needs to marinate overnight!). it's awesome. i promise.
10. these next two pictures are not up here because i love jennifer aniston or because i've even seen her movie, "love happens." (though i may because it's set in SEATTLE!). i just adore these beanies. she has one in almost every color according to the previews. and they're cashmere (or so i've discovered through research). they're also hideously expensive, but are apparently The item to have this season.
11. finally, last but definitely not least is the return of starbuck's wonderful pumpkin spice latte's! you know how certain things, everyday ordinary things, can be triggers for very specific memories? well, pumpkin spice latte's trigger the memory of me and my friends walking from our apartment down to starbucks during college to get these drinks, totally decked out in our coats, boots, scarves and gloves, with cold air on our faces and fog moving in and out of bare tree branches. these drinks will always make me think of college, of seattle, and of the fall.

HAPPY OCTOBER, EVERYONE!

The Bucket List

i've been thinking a lot lately about the things i want to do versus the things i should do. whether or not those two things are mutually exclusive? i'm still figuring out. but it got me thinking of a bucket list. i wrote one for my psychology class right before graduating from high school, and stored it in my culminating psychology project which was supposed to be a look back at my life from the end of my life. (it was a very creative project). unfortunately, the project was found, but sometime in the last seven or eight years, i took the bucket list out and it has not been seen since. hence, i've written another. and i think it's useful to write another every so many years, keeping on the list the desires that still remain true, and replacing the ones that don't with new desires as you grow older.

i've tried to remember as much of the old list as possible, and have included those items in my new and improved bucket list to make sure that the record is as accurate as possible. i've crossed out the ones that i've already accomplished.

i guess it's this whole, "what do i do now?" thing that's got me realizing that these things are really important, you know? i think too often we forget about what we've also wanted to do in the face of what we feel we need to do. but the thing is, all we really need to do is lead a fulfilling life. i think you'll see where i'm going with this in my next few posts.

do you have a bucket list?

100 Things To Do Before I Die

1. graduate from college
2. travel to ireland
3. get married
4. fall in love
5. get out of hawaii
6. return to hawaii "for good"
7. do an "around the world" trip
8. sky dive at the bay of islands, NZ
9. bungee jump
10. cage dive with great white sharks
11. go zip-lining
12. work for the U.N.
13. see U2 live
14. get my PhD
15. stand next to the eiffel tower when it's lit up at night
    
16. go to the old city, jerusalem
17. see the northern lights
18. pet a tiger
19. write a novel
20. get published
21. go to cape cod and martha's vineyard
22. meet someone famous
23. wake up in positano, italy
24. study abroad
25. learn to snowboard
26. work for a magazine
27. white water rafting
28. play in the snow
29. open a bookstore/cafe
30. go on an archaeological dig
31. live in a foreign country
32. work on a ranch
33. give birth to a child
34. adopt a child
35. go to the greek island
36. go diving on the great barrier reef
37. own a home in hawaii
38. work at a wildlife reserve
39. lose 40lbs
40. get a tattoo
41. swim in the dead sea
42. raft the grand canyon
43. go to crater lake, OR
44. sky jump from the sky tower, NZ
45. take a black and white picture of the great wall of china
46. swim on a beach in tahiti
47. camp at yosemite national park
48. see the great pyramids of giza
49. go to NYC
50. ride a horse
51. work at a publishing house
52. write my dissertation on indigenous issues
53. run with the bulls in spain
54. go to the vatican
55. go rock climbing
56. learn to salsa dance
57. learn to surf
58. run another 10k
59. climb a redwood tree
60. get out of debt
61. work abroad for an ngo that fights for human rights
62. learn hula
63. have a home library
64. go to alaska
65. ring in the new year in NZ (it's the first place to experience it!)
66. own a room with a view (preferably of the ocean)
67. restore a fixer-upper
68. drink beer at oktoberfest in munich
69. go ghost hunting
70. own a horribly expensive, but utterly fabulous, pair of shoes
71. spend an entire day reading for fun
72. find a job that i love
73. grow a garden
74. go hot-air ballooning
75. trace my genealogy
76. learn to love and accept myself just as i am
77. go to a renaissance fair
78. sleep under the stars
79. write a "postsecret" letter in a bottle
80. crowd surf at a rock concert
81. visit machu picchu
82. paint a self portrait
83. bury a time capsule
84. see the ruins of a lost civilization
85. wear lingerie and feel sexy doing it
86. raft +5 rapids
87. go scuba diving
88. spend a few guiltless days doing nothing on a beach
89. take a girlfriend trip out of the country
90. hire a personal shopper/stylist for a day
91. get to know a foreign city like the back of my hand
92. visit a place i've read about in a novel
93. dance in a thunderstorm
94. watch a sunrise and sunset
95. read the Bible
96. participate in la tomatina in spain
97. learn the skill of photography
98. follow my dreams each and every time
99. ensure that everyone i love knows i love them
100. live a life of little regret
     

101

1. It took me almost a week to come up with this list.
2. I would consider myself an animal rights activist.  I'm not a member of PETA though.  Yet.
   
3. I think my fingernails and toes are my best features.
4. I want to be a writer.  There, I said it!
   
5. I'm in the process of trying to kick a really bad Diet Coke habit.
   
6. I don’t know the parts of speech. I can actually remember the day in second grade when they were taught and I was absent.
7. I once heard someone say, "plagiarizing is sacrilegious."  My response?  Word.  Up.
   
8. I’ll stop conversations mid-sentence if my favorite line in a song is about to be sung.
9. I’m an OCD kind of organized person. But only with certain things. Like my desk, bookshelf, and the kitchen cabinets.
   
10. I want to be artsy and poetic and am just so not.
11. I read cheesy romance novels.
12. I like cheesy pop songs to go along with my cheesy romance novels.
13. I never learned to drive on freeways.
    
14. I want to live abroad again. Desperately.
15. I can't hang with racism, rudeness, and incompetency. I worry that it’s because I see those things in myself.
16. For most things I have the attention span of a 5-year-old girl. But I also have the stubborn streak of 70-year-old man, so it balances out quite nicely.
17. I’m painfully shy.
18. I’m more lyrical than I am musical.
19. I think indigenous peoples deserve all the special programs/benefits that they can get.
20. I’m really very silly. And excitable. It only gets worse with alcohol.
    
21. I own more sweatpants than jeans.  I see nothing wrong with that.
22. In my honest and seriously unbiased opinion my nephew is the cutest kid I have ever seen in my life.
23. It's hard for me to be dependent on anyone else. It makes me edgy.
24. I love rainstorms.  There's just something so clean about them.
    
25. I'm Portuguese, Native Hawaiian, Filipino, Spanish, Chinese and French.  People usually just think I'm Mexican.  Works for me.
26. I rarely get through arguments without crying. Which embarrasses me. Which makes me cry even more.
27. I had a pen pal in the 5th grade who asked me if I used a canoe to get to school. I think I told her yes.
28. One of my prized possessions is a poem my boyfriend wrote for me on our first anniversary that he put in a box filled with origami paper cranes.
29. I’m horribly indecisive. I can’t even decide what to eat for dinner most nights.
30. I get unbelievably infatuated with celebrities. Like, 14-year-old-girl-staring-at-a-Backstreet-Boys-poster kind of infatuated.
31. I wonder what happened to the boy I was obsessed with liked in high school. And I don’t always hope he’s doing well.
32. I hate beans, multiple choice exams, and public speaking.
33. I have to read the ending of books before I start them. I have to. It’s a sickness.
34. I often buy those big variety bags of candy just so I can pick out and eat the bite-sized Mr. Goodbars.
35. I have weight issues. I’ve pretty much been trying to lose 50lbs since I was ten years old.
36. I used to wear really thick glasses and was made fun of a lot.  Kids can be mean.
    
37. I think an entire half of my family are pastors. I grew up really Christian. And have fallen in love with a Buddhist.
38. In law school I specialized in federal Indian law. It's ridiculously interesting.
39. I reread books right after I finish them. I literally start them over again as soon as I finish the last page. I feel like they’re always better the second time around.
40. I'm a slippers (versus flip-flops) and soda (versus pop) kind of girl.
    
41. I’m vain about tan lines.
42. My mother has green eyes. So when I’m in an exceptionally good mood, my usually brown eyes turn a little green too.
43. I have a tattoo.  Will have 2 more soon.
44. I have no hand-eye-foot coordination. As a result, I can't really play sports and I'm not the best dancer you've ever seen.
45. Apologies make me cry.
46. I graduated from the University of Washington with a major no one understands.
47. I’m not as smart as people think I am. But I think I may be smarter than I think I am.
48. I want an iPhone like it's going out of style.
49. When I was a kid, I wanted to be Indiana Jones with breasts.
50. I’m a product of the *NSYNC generation. JC all the way.
51. I attended boarding school from age 12 until I graduated high school. I think it made me a private school snob.
52. The smell in bookstores and libraries makes my stomach ache. But I still want to own one. A bookstore, not a library.  Though that would be kind of cool too...
    
53. Hot coffee and hot chocolate also makes my stomach ache. I don't know why.
54. My best friend and I met for a week at "camp" in the 5th grade (though I'm not sure we ever spoke), then began living together in our 7th grade dorm.  We still talk every day.
    
55. In high school I was given "unlimited detention" for sneaking out of my dorm to go to a Britney Spears concert.  So.  Not. Worth it.
56. I’m deathly allergic to shellfish.
57. I have the memory of an elephant. It drives my boyfriend absolutely nuts most of the time.
58. I usually don't watch or read the news.  I hear about current affairs through word of mouth.
59. I'm terrible at calculating tips at restaurants.
60. Upon seeing Yosemite Valley in real life, my first words were, "Are you f**cking kidding me?!"  I still can't believe how beautiful it is.
61. I curse, sometimes a lot.  But never in front of my parents.
62. My magazine subscriptions: Women's Health, Sunset, Saveur, In Style.
63. I like country music and know the lyrics to most Garth Brooks songs.
64. Seattle is probably my favorite city.  I would love to live there again, but the boy can't deal with the gray.
65. Team Edward.
    
66. Is there such a thing as selective dyslexia?  Because if given a set of number, chances are I'll read/write them down backwards.
67. At age 25 I began developing a fear of commitment.  Says the girl going into year 6 of her relationship.
68. Kahea (short for Kahealani) is one of my middle names.  It means "call of heaven."
    
69. If it's a bad movie I probably already love it.
70. I don't eat lamb, duck, venison and veal because they're cute animals.  I wish I could stop eating beef, pork and chicken in general.
71. My dog probably hates your dog.  It's his one flaw.
72. I hate cold-calling people.  Even the pizza delivery place.
73. Retail therapy is my favorite kind, and I have the credit card debt to prove it.
74. My first concert ever was Bone Thugs-n-Harmony.  I was 9.
    
75. I absolutely cannot watch something if Tyra Banks is in it.
76. My fingers are double-jointed.  I'm not gonna lie, it's kind of gross.
    
77. I don't understand the obsession people have with Prince. It baffles me. He's a little man who sounds like a woman. Am I missing something?
78. My first "language" was Hawaiian Pidgin English. I still speak it when talking to family, and my mainland friends never understand a word I'm saying.
79. I love going to sporting events regardless of whether or not I like/understand the sport itself.
    
80. I think the Dos Equis guy really does seem like The Most Interesting Man in the World.  They're my favorite commercials.
    
81. I love to travel. I’ve been to Canada, Ireland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore so far. I get travel fever every 7 months or so.
82. I'm a sucker for accessories.  Earrings and necklaces preferred.
    
83. I cry when I listen to Death Cab’s “I Will Follow You into the Dark”. Every single time.
    
84. I believe that everything happens for a reason, though things may not necessarily be "meant to be".
85. I've never lived alone.
    
86. I hate The Daily Show.  I love The Colbert Report.
87. I think John Muir has written some of the most beautiful things I've ever read.
    
88. I quote lines from “My So-Called Life” in my head on a regular basis.
89. My boyfriend, his brother (his ex-girlfriend), their cousin, my last piano teacher, my childhood friends' grandmother and I all have the same birthday, different years. It's okay, I know it's weird.
    
90. I rearrange my furniture every five months or so. I can’t stand when things stay the same too long.
91. I have a bracelet I've worn every single day since I was 18.  In that time, I think I've taken it off for probably less than an hour, total.
    
92. I often think of Coldplay as the soundtrack of my life.
93. I tend to be an introvert, but I love friendly people and am usually really friendly as well. I want people to feel as comfortable as I can make them.
94. I love ghost stories.  I watch all of those paranormal TV shows too.  But I hate horror movies with a deep, burning passion.
95. I like going to places I've read about in novels.  I've planned entire trips with this in mind.
96. I don't own any lipstick.
97. I’m often told to stop trying to please everyone.
98. Fall-going-into-winter is hands down my favorite time of year.  I'm pretty much giddy during the stretch between Halloween and Christmas.
99. Those in the know have developed the ability to make me feel bad for inanimate objects.  Like the broom.  Or a sock.  Apparently, my bleeding heart doesn't discriminate. 
100. I'm really bad about procrastinating.  If it were a sport, I'd be the world champ.
     
101. I’m extremely surprised that I was able to think of 101 things about myself. It’s difficult to be this honest sometimes.