bucket lists
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| Shannon (left) & Gillian (right) with homemade funfetti rainbow cake |
G: I am a frequent listener of a podcast called Under Our Roof, led by queer couple Grace and Lizzie Baldridge (more on my para-social relationship with them in this post). Something I love about Lizzie's approach to life is her use of bucket lists - she makes seasonal ones, as well as personal bucket lists for different eras of her life.
In the spirit of Lizzie, last fall, Shannon and I made a Fall Bucket List for the months of September, October, and December. We created a list of a bunch of activities we'd like to do in the fall, and then we set out to do some of them! Among the many things I love about Shannon is her perspective on to-do lists (and budgets and many other life things), which is that she's never too precious about making it perfect. Instead of focusing on finishing everything on our bucket list, it's more like a menu of options, especially for those times where we turn around and say, "What should we do tonight?"
S: This idea made me so excited. I have always wished to do a better job of savoring small moments in the seasons of my life, and Gillian has brought so much of this to me. Their attention to sweet moments and their capacity for ritual have improved my life immeasurably. This was just another small way they have brought reflection and remembering into my world and I am so grateful for it.
G: We've since completed Fall, Winter, and Spring bucket lists, with a Summer one underway. In this post, we wanted to share our previous bucket lists and give our thoughts on some of the adventures we had!
fall bucket list
Favorite bucket list item:
G: Personally, my favorite one from our fall list was baking the rainbow layer cake. I think we did it on a random weekend in November when we both needed to rest. We spent the whole afternoon baking, and the cake turned out delicious!
S: I loved when we first made sourdough bread together. My mom traveled with a sourdough starter for Gillian all the way from MI during the summer of 2021 and Gillian has been doing an excellent job keeping Tweedle-Dee-Dum alive ever since. Getting to help them bake their first loaf of bread (with help from my mom via a 1-hour long private youtube instructional vid) was a blast. It turned out delicious!
One we didn't get to that you want to do in the future:
G: Winery! I still want to go to one in the area (maybe this fall?)
S: Visiting Louisa May Alcott's Orchard House! Gillian has wanted to go for a while and I would love to join them.
Something we did that didn't make it onto the bucket list:
G: We got cider at the apple orchard we went to, which wasn't specifically on the bucket list, but was a perfect fall activity.
S: A very important member of my family is Chocolate, AKA The Puff, a miniature dachshund my parents got when I was in elementary school. She is still kicking, happy and spunky and sweet to everyone. After a health scare in August of 2021, my mom planned a surprise trip with her to visit me and my sisters, in case she didn't make it much longer. A moment I will never forget is seeing her again for the first time in almost a year and being able to feel her age (she'd lost a lot of weight and had an inner ear issue that resulted in an adorable cocked head). Gillian also got to meet her, something that I will cherish forever since Chocolate has had a huge and positive impact on my life. Lucky for all of us, she fully recovered and has been thriving ever since! She is a happily retired doggo and enjoys snoozing 20 hours of the day and getting pet the other 4.
Most likely to fail, but didn't:
G: We took a weekend trip to NYC to visit friends and Shannon's sister. I remember feeling exhausted at that part of the fall (I had just changed jobs), so I was nervous about going to the City. That was our first real trip together too! It ended up being such a relaxing weekend. We spent a lot of time sitting in parks and enjoying the weather. It was dreamy!
S: We put "Play Hooky" on the list, which became less and less realistic as we both settled into our new jobs that fall. However, we had forgotten that Veteran's Day was a school holiday in our county and got a surprise day off!
Most surprising:
G: We got to see Shannon's sister Melanie not once, but twice! We stayed with her one night on our aforementioned trip to NYC, and then she also came to visit us over Thanksgiving.
S: Our hike to Bash Bish Falls was a blast! However, somewhere along the line, I forgot to tell Gillian I had already been on that exact hike the year prior. They spent the entire hike thinking it was also my first time there, and then when we got to the falls, they realized that I had already gone. It was a very silly miscommunication and led to some great laughs.
winter bucket list
Favorite bucket list item:
G: New Year's Kiss! Shannon was my first one ever. *swoon*
S: Ice Skating! I grew up figure skating so it has always been a silly romantic dream of mine to go on ice rink dates with the love of my life.
One we didn't get to that you want to do in the future:
G: Sledding!
S: Build snow people!
Something we did that didn't make it onto the bucket list:
G: We moved! Rather unexpectedly, Shannon and I moved in together on January 1, which meant we spent most of December packing and most of January unpacking. We had been talking about living together for a while, and then very casually started apartment hunting. The second apartment we saw was incredible, and we jumped on it! We've absolutely loved living together so far (it's made my life infinitely better).
S: On a random trip to Hudson, NY, Gillian and I spotted a cool poster for a dance performance at a venue we'd been interested in visiting, PS21. The show was called "Knots" and we ended up attending a few weeks later out of the blue and had a blast!
Most likely to fail, but didn't:
G: For me, it has to be ice skating. The last time I ice skated, I was probably 10, so I was nervous about falling. We ended up going a few times to The Boys and Girls Club and even bought our own skates at the end of the season!
S: Our trip to LA was the biggest logistical undertaking on the list, and we lucked out with travel going really smoothly!
Most surprising:
G: We went to NYC and back in one day to take a dance class with Yue Yin, one of our current favorite choreographers. She teaches something she created called FoCo Technique™, which blends Chinese dance, folk forms, ballet, and contemporary movement. It's a high intensity, low impact class that I love, and it was absolutely incredible to be moving in a room with almost 200 people. Plus, Peridance Center was offering a set of free workshops, so we only spent money on the train ticket!
S: Watching Desert Hearts! It was so cute and lovely and I am so happy I watched it.
spring bucket list
Favorite bucket list item:
G: On our anniversary trip, we went to the Citizen Cider taproom in Burlington, Vermont. This was a trip highlight for me. The environment was super fun and relaxed, everyone including our bartender was gay, and the flavors were delicious. Our go-to flavor is the Dirty Mayor, a ginger cider, and at the taproom, we had a flight that included Spill the Tea, a green tea infused cider.
S: Celebrating our anniversary. After our bout with COVID, our weekend trip in Vermont felt like coming back to life. It was magical and special all throughout in so many big and tiny ways.
One we didn't get to that you want to do in the future:
G: Ummm, pretty much the whole spring bucket list! COVID really knocked my socks off, so I was too tired to attempt most of the items. If I had to pick one, it would be going to a roller rink.
S: Same. I would go with the Botanical Garden.
Something we did that didn't make it onto the bucket list:
G: We went to Vermont on our anniversary trip, as well as the original Ben & Jerry's store in Burlington and the Ben & Jerry's factory in Waterbury. Both of these were on previous bucket lists, so it was fun to be able to check those off retroactively!
S: Gillian and I got to take a really fun contemporary partnering workshop from a Bay Area dance artist we know and love, Moscelyne ParkeHarrison.
Most likely to fail, but didn't:
G: Spring thrifting! Shannon got a haul of pants from a new Goodwill near us.
S: Seeing Charlie Brown the Musical (which starred some of our sweet dance students) was definitely most likely to fail (and it lowkey did - we only watched a video of it). We got COVID the weekend the show ran, and only got to see video snippets afterward. However, as a consolation prize to our COVID woes, we marked it as completed.
Most surprising:
G: Our whole anniversary trip was lovely and surprising. From the sweet bed and breakfast we stayed in to the delicious food we ate, every moment was so precious to me.
S: We went Spring Thrifting together (after a good Spring Clean) and Gillian helped me try on a solid SEVENTY pairs of pants, give or take, to help me overhaul my wardrobe. It worked, and I left with 10 pairs of pants that day.
G: We're currently in the middle of our Summer Bucket List. We'll post an update when we finish that one!
xo
the roommates
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