the spontaneous list

This year I'm so thankful for the totally unplanned fun. In between the mundane and the hard, there is so much good.

going to a night time ice skating party on Belle Isle where the guests shoveled larger and larger patches to skate on

volunteering to take Kaia out on a very short walk when it was -14 degrees

going along on Matt's business trip to L.A. and walking along Venice Beach with an old friend and taking the bus to Griffith Observatory on my own and going to a planetarium show

going to the Mall of America and getting Haagen Das

having a slumber party with high school friends then heading for lunchtime margaritas

getting Pho for lunch at the world's coolest recycling center on a cold day

taking a cab to see the Vivian Maier exhibit in Chicago before my train left town

eating at my second Stephanie Izard restaurant

eating the best potpies in a West Michigan town I'd never heard of before and ordering one extra to take home

going on a hike up my favorite Blue Hill and going disc golfing with my dad and brother

Skyping with Matt while he was working in Paris(!) and I was working in Baltimore

eating expensive Parisian truffles on my graduation weekend

seeing Les Miserable with my mom for the first time and liking it

playing in a golf scramble and winning $10 for woman's longest drive

biking to the Detroit Institute of Arts with Matt just to see a photography exhibit before it ended

deciding on an evening out with lots of sushi for our 13th anniversary

biking along Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and walking our bikes over a mile up hill to Inspiration Point overlooking Glen Lake

biking a Detroit Slow Roll and seeing a woman pedaling in the highest red leather pumps

going to a Jimmy Buffet concert and watching the Parrotheads just because, and then being totally surprised and thrilled by a special James Taylor appearance

waiting anxiously for Matt to call with a new tale from his working Alaskan cruise(!!) 

buying the girls jerky and sour cherry candies and taking them to a new swim spot in the country, while the others stayed back and took care of business

getting caught in a huge storm at the ball game and waiting it out with family and neighbors

having fried avocado tacos, platanos,and aqua fresca with a friend in Harvard Square

meeting cousins' girlfriends and seeing Matisse and Carroll Dunham and other great exhibits in Denver

going wine and hard cider tasting with friends in the Leelanau Peninsula during the most breathtaking fall weekend

buying a groupon and touring the Saarinen house one Sunday afternoon

being the second shooter for a toddler's first photo shoot

finding the best roast chicken recipe to make for my mom's 60th birthday

booking a last minute vacation to Phoenix the week of Thanksgiving, just for the sunshine and rest

Totally unplanned, but totally fun.