45 New Things: Shaking It Up

Lanterns at PF Changs

A few weeks ago I wrote about my 45 in 45 list: 45 new things to try in my 45th year. Well it seems like I'm busting out new things every week these days, and sometimes several times a week!

None of these things are earth shattering wild and crazy  "new" things, but they are out of my normal routine. Most of them have to do with food and drink, but hopefully I'll be able to branch out into more adventuresome new things soon.

Still, I've had a really good time shaking things up a bit. Not just because I'm doing new things, but by doing them I get to see more of my friends. Yay friends!

Here are the new things I've done so far:
(At least the one's I've remembered to write down...)

1. Had dinner at Sweet Ginger in Cherry Creek
2. I took a Shamanic Journey
3. Drinks at the Front Porch
4. Karaoke at Benders
5. Lunch at Five Guys Burgers and Fries
6. Drinks and jazz at Jazz at Jacks
7. Dinner at Annie's on Colfax
8. Pretended to be married with kids to get away from a crystal salesman at the Taste of Colorado. That was definitely a new experience!
   
9. Went to Oktoberfest - fun!
   
10. Took a Fresh City Life class at DPL - made little terrariums.
    
11. Happy Hour with Duggio - divine!
    
12. Tried the sweet potato fries at Smash Burger instead of the regular Smash Fries - that was a mistake. But at least I tried, eh? 
13. Wings at Madison Street - delish!
    
14. Went to a student produced play at CSU - it rocked!
15. Appetizers at Bar Louie - yummy McYum-yum!
16. Dinner at PF Changs - the lettuce wraps were every bit as good as I'd heard!
17. Had a drink at the Elephant Bar... some sort of raspberry lemon delish martini
18. Tea at Wystone's in Belmar
19. Karaoke at Ogden Street South (which is now my favorite karaoke bar...which are words I never thought I'd say...)
20. Sang my first hard rock song at a karaoke bar: Cult of Personality. That was a lot of fun, but I must say that my 45 year old neck did not like me banging my head like I did when I was 23 and the song first came out! But I do still LOVE this song! Here's the video - thankfully it's Living Colour's version, not mine... :)

Edit: I never finished blogging about the 45 new things, but I definitely completed them. My life spun out at a crazy pace and I ended up in NYC in the spring of 2012, which took care of an awful lot of the 45 new things.
On that list included trying Japanese ice cream (not a fan), Polish food, going to my first cathedral (SO amazing!), visiting SOHO galleries, spending a day in the city on my own... so many more things. Stories for another time. 

45 in 45

I turned 45 in last month. Shocking. I'm not sure where the last ten years went, and worse yet, people older than me says that time will only speed up!! Yikes, I'd better get busy.

This year I've decided to do 45 new things in my 45th year. Yes, that is a lot, I'm well aware. But I've always been kind of a "tried and true" girl. I go to the same restaurants and order the same dishes. I rarely venture out and do new things; I think its because I hate to be disappointed. Yeah yeah, I know that no one likes to be disappointed. But I seem to avoid it like the plague. So I figure it's about time to risk disappointment and shake things up.

I'm still working on my 45 in 45 list, and am open to suggestions. Please make them things that will NOT have a good chance causing death (I'm damn sure not going to jump out of an airplane!), are very affordable (unless you're buying...lol) and are in the Denver area, or a quick road-trip away (again, if someone wants to buy me a plane ticket...). These can be as easy as trying a new restaurant or a new dish. This is NOT a bucket list, or about conquering fears (although those may overlap). This is just about doing NEW things.

So far here is what I have on my list of possibilities (in no particular order):

  1. High speed go carts
  2. Snow Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge
  3. LaCross or soccer game (spectator)
  4. Snowmobiling
  5. Go to a wine tasting
  6. Volunteer at a shelter
  7. Teach Children's Hospital kids to paint
  8. Go to a parade
  9. Visit a museum that I haven't visited
  10. Horse-drawn carriage
  11. Ride on a Harley
  12. Colorado winery tour
  13. Hay ride
  14. Needle felting class
  15. Read a book of poetry
  16. Visit a wildlife sanctuary
  17. Singing bowl - or gong healing
  18. DPL Fresh City Life class  Done!
  19. Participate in a flash mob
  20. WWF
  21. Vegas
  22. Cirque show
  23. tattoo
  24. Sing at Dazzle friday lunch
  25. Go to a show at Lannie's Clocktower
  26. Check out that hotdog place on Colfax
  27. Oktoberfest Done!

  28. Sleigh ride
  29. Corn maze
  30. Parade of Homes
  31. Give blood
  32. Coors brewery tour
  33. Cave of the Winds
  34. Butterfly Pavillion
  35. Aquarium
  36. Denver Mint tour
  37. Visit a wildlife sanctuary
  38. Chamberlin Observatory 
  39. ???

New things that I have done so far in my 45th year:

1. Dinner at Sweet Ginger
2. Took a Shamanic Journey
3. Drinks at the Front Porch
4. Karaoke at Benders
5. Lunch at Five Guys Burgers and Fries
6. Drinks at Jazz at Jacks
7. Dinner at Annie's  
8. Pretended to be married with kids to get away from a crystal salesman
9. Went to Oktoberfest
10. Took a Fresh City Life class at DPL
11. Happy Hour with Duggio
12. Tried the sweet potato fries at Smash Burger instead of the regular Smash Fries - that was a mistake. But at least I tried, eh?