100 dreams
“'Cause every night I lie in bed
The brightest colors fill my head
A million dreams are keeping me awake.”—“A Million Dreams” from “The Greatest Showman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”
This year instead of making a New Year’s Resolution, I decided to make my list of 100 dreams and check off at least a few of the items. It’s already been productive!
This concept is inspired by the author Laura Vanderkam, whose work I got turned on to when I read “Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Things Done” last year. She often covers the idea of creating a list of 100 dreams on her blog.
My husband and I each started our list in the new year, and already we have plotted out a trip to take this year that will let us both achieve a few of our dreams. Colorado, here we come.
The thing I love about 100 dreams is it’s a bit of a stretch to come up with all of them. According to Vanderkam, a lot of people have a bucket list with 25 items or so on it (often filled with travel destinations). That’s great, she says, but aiming for 100 allows you to make room for both the big and the small. Some of the items are things you’d put on a to-do list, but that’s OK. Having small, attainable dreams lets you make progress quickly, which builds momentum and brings you joy. It’s a bit of a snowball effect.
I was tempted to add things I’ve already accomplished to my list. Quit my job to freelance and spend more time with my kids—check! Grow my hair long enough to donate—check! But that’s not the point. Vanderkam also advocates making a “done” list, so I’ll do that some day, too.
Here’s my list:
TRAVEL
Go on a solo trip.
Visit all 50 states.
See the Grand Canyon.
Do an annual family trip to an Ohio state park.
Take an Alaskan cruise.
Visit Scotland.
See the beaches of Normandy.
Take a backpacking trip.
Eat lobster in Maine and visit Acadia.
Do a Colorado trip and see Rocky Mountain National Park. DONE! We took a family trip to Boulder, Estes Park and Denver in August 2019.
Visit Yellowstone and go to Jackson Hole.
Take an RV trip.
Do a family NYC trip, including Coney Island, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Take a family trip to Washington D.C.
Go to Boston and do the Freedom Trail.
See Sedona.
Go to Australia.
Visit Philadelphia.
Take a summer trip to Lake Michigan. DONE! Sort of. While not what I originally had in mind, the girls and I joined my sister and her family for a weekend at my brother-in-law’s family cottage at White Lake and Lake Michigan. It was so fun!
Go away for a month.
Take a train trip.
Go back to Italy to see Cinque Terra and spend time at the coast.
Continue annual Michigan trip with my girlfriends. DOING IT! We’ve gone several years in a row.
Continue every other year trip with my sisters and parents. DOING IT, SORT OF. COVID-19 disrupted this plan, but we merged it with the Michigan trip.
Do a “big” trip with my girlfriends, maybe for 40th birthdays.
Take a family Niagara Falls trip.
Go to Savannah.
See the Tribe at spring training one year.
PERSONAL, FAMILY + HOME
Write and publish a children’s book. Participate in 12x12 children’s book writing course.
Do a full family tree.
Blog consistently.
Have a capsule wardrobe.
Visit all of the Cleveland Metroparks reservations.
Do a Whole30 or try the AIP. DONE! I started the Autoimmune Protocol in January 2020 and as of April I’m successfully reintroducing some foods. I needed to do an elimination diet to get my migraines under control (it’s working!). I opted for this one because I also have Hashimoto’s disease and I’m interested in slowing the progression of it and other autoimmune disorders.
Quit caffeine for 30 days. DONE! I quit caffeine for the month of March 2019. It was silly but I did it.
Learn to knit or crochet.
Really learn to use my sewing machine.
Make a quilt.
Take an art class.
Watch all the Godfather movies. (I have never seen them!)
Take the Girl Scout leader first aid and outdoor essentials training. DONE! Spring 2019
Become a facilitator for one outdoor Girl Scout activity (canoeing, low ropes, archery). DONE! August 2020. Although, I haven’t led a group yet. I think I need a refresher first.
Keep doing the community garden every summer. NOT DOING. We opted not to keep our plot in 2020. We didn’t get to the garden as much in 2019 as we thought we would.
Learn to compost better. DOING IT! With the help of a 90-gallon compost bin my daughter won for Earth Day.
Try canning.
Refinish the table and chairs in my basement for our dining room.
Make our family photo books.
Learn to braid the girls’ hair well (french braids, etc.) DOING IT! I can now do a french braid, although I still need practice.
Have my mom teach me how to bake pies.
Do “morning pages.” DOING IT, thanks to 750words.com.
Get real furniture for our bedroom.
Get into a good skincare routine (preferably an inexpensive one).
Establish a family chore rotation.
Become a regular volunteer somewhere.
Help regularly in the girls’ classes. DOING IT! I helped Sadie’s third grade class with their writing during the second half of the 2018-2019 school year. I’ve gone into Paige’s second and third grade classes about once a quarter.
Get real family photos (just the four of us, Palmieri side, Shugrue side)
Do a Take a Hike Tour in Cleveland.
Visit famous Cleveland movie filming locations and see the movies.
Have a device-free day of the week.
See the Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit and spend a day at the Cleveland Museum of Art. DONE! 2019
Frame my watercolor from high school.
Continue getting together with my friends the third Thursday of every month. DOING IT! Although not quite monthly.
Read the Anne of Green Gables series. DOING IT! First one down in 2019.
Read all the Harry Potters. I’ve read the first.
Kayak through the Flats.
Zipline somewhere scenic. I’ve done Orlando and rural Ohio.
Take a cooking class or do the Gatherings Kitchen Supper Club.
Read at least two books a month and post my reviews on Goodreads. DOING IT! I’ve kept up with the star ratings but have slacked off on writing reviews.
See Hamilton.
Pay off mortgage and remain debt-free for life. DONE! July 2020.
Get to $1 million.
Support the girls through college.
Renovate kitchen/first floor.
Renovate backyard and add outdoor fireplace. Build a new garage.
Redo front lawn and front bed plantings.
Do “Bike Aboard” the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railway.
Take the girls and Sylvie to the American Girl store in Columbus. DONE! May 2019. We also went to Legoland Discovery Center.
See the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus.
Adopt a dog. DONE. We tried to adopt Sunny in 2019. Unfortunately, she bit Sadie in the face and we returned her to the rescue. Buddy, our pandemic puppy, joined us in June 2020.
Go to Ohio Military Kids family camp annually. DOING IT! We’ve gone annually since 2016, with the exception of 2020 (canceled due to COVID-19).
Frame the girls’ flags Mike had with him overseas. DONE! Grandma bought frames for them for Christmas 2020.
Do puzzles as a family.
Do one-on-one “dates” with the girls.
Go to the West Side Market more often.
Do Cedar Point and the water park.
Go to the top of the Terminal Tower.
Go tobogganing.
Try snowshoeing.
Go horseback riding. DONE! We did a trail ride at Camp Willson family camp in September 2019.
Learn to fish.
Try to ski or snowboard.
Do the family mission/vision activity in “The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family.”
Pick strawberries in the summer. We seem to miss the small window every year. DONE! June 2019 with my sister Gina and her kids.
CAREER
Start my website. DONE!
Make a good, part-time salary freelancing. DOING IT! My first year, 2019, exceeded my expectations.
Pitch and write for local magazines (Cleveland Magazine, Edible Cleveland). DOING IT! Starting in mid-2019, I scored a bunch of bylines in Cleveland Magazine on fun topics like travel, home design and food. 2020 brought the opportunity to write for Ohio Magazine (here) and Northeast Ohio Parent (here). More to come!
Pitch and write for a national magazine (Parenting, Real Simple or others).
Have my own small business (other than freelancing).
Do NaNoWriMo.
Get a new headshot.
Updated: April 2020
Photo: ©Kaboompics.com Pexels via Canva.com
