#25 - Buy a lottery ticket

The Mega Millions jackpot was $133 million yesterday, and one of my Day Zero goals is to buy a lottery ticket, so I figured I might as well make this the drawing I bought a ticket for. I mean, it's $133 million.

I spent $10 on two full tickets...because 10 chances in 32172489712 are better than 1, right?



The cashier actually asked to see my ID before she would sell me the tickets. The legal age to purchase lotto is 18. I mean, ok, I look young, but I don't think I look 17. At least maybe I can stop freaking out about turning 25 in two weeks...because, after all, I'm tricking people into thinking I'm a minor. ;)

I didn't win, but then, I didn't expect to. At least I can say I tried. And besides, I may not have won $133 million, but I did save the $10 I spent on the tickets, thanks to goal #34. :)

#73 - Bake Gourmet Cupcakes

Mike and I had a busy weekend! Between going to the Bronx Zoo and making "gourmet cupcakes," we had a lot of fun and completed two goals. That's another $20 in the savings account!

I figured when it came to "gourmet cupcakes," I had two options. I could either do some super complicated recipe OR I could do something super cute and fairly easy. I opted for the latter. I've definitely never made anything this cute before and it wasn't nearly as much of a pain in the arse as something truly gourmet would have been, so I'm putting it in the W column and calling it a day.

I knew when Mike heard I was baking cupcakes, he wouldn't be able to resist helping, so on Friday night, August 13, 2010, we began our cupcake crusade together (which is my favorite way to bake). Ours didn't turn out quite as well as Bakerella's, but we're still pretty proud of ourselves. The fries were super difficult to do, and ours came out...not really looking like fries at all...but the burgers actually looked pretty cute!

We knew we wouldn't be able to finish it all in one night, so we divided the work in two. On Friday night, we baked the sugar cookie fries, the brownies, and the cupcakes. We also cut the brownies into circles to make burgers (with a champagne flute!). On Saturday, all that was left to do was to cut the cupcakes in half (to make buns), mix the frosting into three colors for the ketchup, mustard, and lettuce, add the sesame seeds to the cupcake buns, and assemble.

I've decided to continue the theme of chronicling my goals through my facebook photos, so here they are. What can I say? I'm lazy and that's easier than posting them all here.

To anyone thinking about baking these, I encourage you to try it, maybe with kids. Because it's made from mixes, it's pretty easy, and it was definitely a lot of fun.

#69 - Go to the Bronx Zoo

On Saturday, August 14, 2010, Becca and Nick joined Mike and me on an adventure to the Bronx Zoo. We invited them because we thought it would be fun to go with our friends (of course), but Becca's military discount didn't hurt, either. The zoo offers a free ticket to anyone with a military ID, along with up to 3 half price tickets, which means all four of us were able to get in for $40.50, when it would normally have been $108. Sweet, no?

We had a great time walking around the zoo, but I think my favorite part was the camel ride. I had a feeling that it would be, so I'm not really surprised. The monorail was also pretty cool, since it allowed us to see a lot of different animals, including the elephants, some wild horses, and Nick's much anticipated rhinos.

One of the best parts of completing all these goals is the time they're allowing me to spend with my friends. I hope Nick and Becca are enjoying going through this list with me, because there are a ton more fun things left for us to do together!

Photos from the zoo can be found here.

Already Completed...

So I suppose I should talk about those goals I completed before starting this blog. To date, I have completed five goals:

#2 - Influence a person to make a day zero list - I peer pressured convinced Jenny Qu Hu that it was a great idea and she went for it! I have a hunch she'll really follow through, so it will have been a successful goal. Thanks, Jennayy!

#28 - Shop at a farmer's market - Mike, Dad, Marlene, and I went down to Union Square Farmers Market, which, at around 2 acres, and host to around 140 producers a week, is the biggest farmers market in NYC. We bought fresh blueberries, wheat bread, honey/orange/nut chevre, garlic, onions, green beans, yellow and green zucchini, and so much more. These amazingly fresh ingredients were used to make a variety of good eats, including Fried Zucchini and the most amazing Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins. Completing this goal was especially fun because not only did it allow me to spend time with my family, but Mike and I got to spend time together in the kitchen, which is one of my favorite things to do.

#31 - Visit Washington D.C. - The timing could not have been more perfect for Becca to want to surprise Nick with a trip to Washington for his birthday! I got to kill two birds with one stone by completing a goal and spending time with friends at the same time! We had a great time at the Smithsonian (Air & Space and American History Museums), which contributed to goal #75 - Go to five different museums I've never been to before. The monuments were amazing to see, especially the WWII Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. One day was not nearly long enough for us to see everything, though, so I'm sure we'll be back. Photos from DC can be found here.

#69 - Go to the Bronx Zoo, and #73 - Bake Gourmet Cupcakes, were both completed yesterday and will be receiving their own blog posts shortly. :)

But I'm Not a Blogger!

I am not a blogger. I don't keep up with journals. I'm not good at it. I just need a way to keep track of this damn list...

Ok...so I started this Day Zero list...and I'm pretty sure I know why. It seems to me that we don't give ourselves enough credit. None of us. What have you accomplished in the last 2.75 years? I bet you can come up with at least a few things. What about 101 things? Didn't think so. The thing is, you probably HAVE accomplished 101 things over the last 1001 days, you just may not realize it, and that's a shame.

The point is, I'd like to be able to say, "This! This is what I've accomplished over the last 2.75 years!" and I think this is the way to do it. I'm basically just planning to keep track of the things I probably would (or should!) have accomplished anyway. I refuse to scrapbook because I lack the creative skills, but I want a way to document my triumphs, so alas, I turn to the blog.

So I guess I am a blogger. At least for the next 2.75 years. Or at least until I get tired of it. ;)

So here it is, the list: www.dayzero.com/user/barilauren

There are only 77 goals on there for now, which means I still need 24. Please feel free to make suggestions, but don't be offended if I don't use them. Thanks!