Day Zero

Back in October of 2011, I started a Day Zero list. I'm not sure why, other than I was probably looking for something to do that night, and that night turned into the next 1001 days. Sometimes, it makes for great material to blog about.

Day Zero has its own dedicated website where you can keep track of your life's to-do's. I like this better than assigning things to a bucket list, which I find morbid with a less definite timeline.

Try it. It's kind of fun, but I warn you, it's difficult to come up with 101 things in one sitting. I'm still trying to fill all the slots.

Here is the first list I completed by the deadline of July 2014.


  1. Learn how to play something on the accordion
  2. Knit a sweater for myself (that I actually wear) (proof) (more proof)
  3. Get a new job (proof)
  4. Eat gelato on the Spanish Steps
  5. Return to Paris
  6. Buy a DSLR camera (proof)
  7. Make the perfect crepe (proof)
  8. Record myself singing
  9. Cut my hair short (proof)
  10. Make two new good friends
  11. Finish a bottle of mutivitamins (proof)
  12. Learn basic HTML
  13. Be vegetarian for a week (proof)
  14. Go to a zoo (proof)
  15. Read 15 books in a year
  16. Spend my 30th birthday somewhere warm (proof)
  17. Dye my hair brown
  18. Stay off Facebook for a week (part 1) (part 2)
  19. Create a table cloth guest book (proof)
  20. Stop watching TV on weekday mornings
  21. Get a nice winter coat (proof)
  22. Take Rachel, Rebecca and William on an outing (separately)
  23. Make my own liqueur (proof)
  24. Host a dinner party for new friends (proof)
  25. Make something with Brussels sprouts
  26. Close my Wells Fargo account
  27. Deep clean my car
  28. Make frozen yogurt (proof)
  29. Save $100 extra dollars a month
  30. Pay off my car ahead of schedule (proof)
  31. Soak in some hot springs (proof)
  32. Take an acquaintance out to coffee (proof)
  33. Go to the opera (proof)
  34. Knit a pair of socks (proof)
  35. Take a class just for fun (I took French!)
  36. Go paddleboarding (proof)

Here are the remaining goals and growing list, post July 2014:


  1. Exercise at least 3 days a week (Tues/Thurs/Sat at the Bar Method as of April 2015) (proof)
  2. Ride a moped  (a motorcycle counts - July 2015)
  3. Fill up my journal (December 2015)
  4. Ride a bike in Amsterdam (April 2016)
  5. Go to a Mariners game  (September 2014)
  6. Read from a genre outside my comfort zone (The Hunger Games, April 2015)
  7. Cut my hair even shorter (December 2015)
  8. Spend Christmas somewhere tropical (Mexico 2015!)
  9. Drive across the US
  10. Learn how to write grants
  11. Visit Liz in Prague
  12. Live somewhere with good public transit
  13. Take a sewing class
  14. Shop once a week at a farmer's market for 4 weeks
  15. Donate blood five times
  16. Blog at least once a week
  17. Go to New Orleans
  18. See Paul Simon in concert (May 2016)
  19. Go camping
  20. Revisit the Smithsonian Museum
  21. Swim a mile
  22. Learn the lyrics to Mas Que Nada
  23. Watch Lord of the Rings
  24. Go snowshoeing in the moonlight
  25. Send a care package to someone
  26. Can something
  27. Go skiing at Schweitzer
  28. Call my mom every day for a week
  29. Make slippers for my parents and siblings
  30. Make crackers
  31. Stick to my budget for 2 months in a row
  32. Travel domestically on a train
  33. Drink at least 24 oz of water every day before leaving work
  34. Create a brand for The Sentimental Club
  35. Deliver cookies to neighbors
  36. Use a lunch hour twice a week for pilates or yoga
  37. Get in a sea kayak
  38. Play tennis
  39. Go to Hawaii
  40. Organize an elementary school reunion
  41. Buy nothing for a week
  42. Crochet something
  43. Write 3 thank you notes to people who influenced me
  44. Open a cookbook to a random page and make whatever comes up
  45. Read 10 classics I should have read but have never got around to
  46. Watch a roller derby match

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