38) Host a wine tasting at my house for a few friends

I am so blessed! I have fantastic friends... you know the kind that have known you through your childhood, the awkward years and now support you in your adult life... we are talking about TRUE lifelong GREAT friends! Unfortunately we don't get to see each other too often but when we get together it is like nothing has ever changed and we are able to listen, encourage and support each other is so many ways... I don't know what I would do without these girls, like I said I am blessed!

My lovely husband organized the whole thing!

So, what a treat when a few of us were able to get together last weekend and spend the day laughing, sharing stories, and a few glasses of wine! My lovely husband Andrew set up a wine tasting at our house for a few of us girls. It was a blast, we had 10 different wines to try, all with labels hidden so we had no idea what we were drinking. Well, we knew what variety each wine was as we compared 2 wines at a time... so two Chardonnay and two Merlot etc... you get the picture.  It was a blast to compare our individual tastes in wine, and to see how we each rated the wines differently. We also guessed the price of each wine as we drank (yep, I was WAY off, I thought the $20 bottle was only $6, and the $8 was $22) just goes to show you... drink what you like, don't worry about the rest of it, there will always be overpriced wine! Andrew also prepared a cheese platter and chocolates to accompany our wines, I seriously could not have been happier that night surrounded by great friends a thoughtful husband, wine, cheese and chocolate, it doesn't get much better than that!

69) Make 3 recipes out of Bon Appetite (or similar) magazine each month (1/93)

Grilled Mustard Chicken with Fresh Corn Polenta.... Bon Appetite Magazine, August 2010.
This was an easy and yummy recipe, I just added steamed beet greens since I felt we needed something green on the plate and I had some in the fridge from a friends farm. I had never made (let alone eaten) polenta before but it's nice... I was shocked that 1 cup of polenta cooked into 5 cups of water and filled a sauce pan, that stuff expands, but it truly is a nice change of pace to rice, potatoes, etc.

I made a few modifications to the recipe.... 1) I used chicken tenders in place of chicken thighs  2) I baked the chicken in the oven to preserve the mustard sauce rather than grilling where we often burn sauces (since i didn't use the thighs with the skin on as suggested in recipe).... It turned out well and my husband seemed to enjoy it, so we may even have it again.

 here is the recipe from the Bon Appetite Magazine if you want to give it a try!
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2010/08/grilled_mustard_chicken_with_fresh_corn_polenta

#19 Walk at lunchtime for one month (even if raining or sweltering heat)

I walked every day during lunch at work for the entire month of July! A little late to post this accomplishment but here it is.... To be honest I found my walks quite enjoyable and a great mid-day escape from my work assignments and office with no window! Yes, my friends the sun does in fact shine during the day even if you can't see it!

So a little recap of my walks- Just down the road from the building I work in is the Columbia Slough, there is a nice quiet dead end road that runs along the slough... this is where I walk. Most days my best work buddy Leigh wlll walk with me which always makes it fun because you have someone to talk to and laugh with! Thanks Leigh! On several days I saw Blue Herons flying overhead or standing on the side of the slough fishing, I also saw turtles resting and soaking up the sun on logs over the water, and several ducks including a mama with her little ones paddling around (too cute), oh and the occasional snake that always makes me JUMP! It is these little wildlife sightings that I enjoy most about lunch time walks just seeing the beauty and perfect planning of nature and ecosystems and knowing that there is SO much more than whatever I was just working on in my office.

So a little walking math: There were 21 working weekdays in July, I walked on every one of them. My walking distance varies but in general I walk over a mile each day.... so in the month of July I walked approximately the distance of a marathon.

What I didn't do was remember to take a camera with me on my walks to share pictures of this success... I remembered the camera only once and well, just as it always happens I did not see a single duck, turtle, heron, or snake... are you kidding me? So I still owe a photo to this post as I still have yet to capture what I consider a good picture to share from my walk.... so stay tuned!