#86 Still in Play

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Losing weight is not.

#29 Done

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#29: See a Sunrise. Getting up at 5am has its advantages.

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#86 in Progress

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Starting the New Year off as healthy as possible.

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This was the Disney World vacation the kids never had. Great weather. Spent every day at the pool. They even had craps at the pool which turns out not to be a good thing. Anyway, first and last time at a mega resort.

#35 in Progress

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#35: Three Beaches

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#33 In Progress

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Poppin’ cheap bottles poolside.

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Lazy river has rapids.

#1 Done

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#1 Done. Happy New Year from Nassau, Bahamas.

The 2015 List

  1. Ring in the New Year
  2. Compete in a Spartan Race
  3. New York Fashion Week
  4. Camper with Mom
  5. N’awlins
  6. Try 10 New LA Restaurants
  7. Have a catch
  8. Pearl Jam
  9. Smart fit my home
  10. reduce my energy bills by 30%
  11. A better closet
  12. Start the morning reading a physical paper
  13. Do not buy a Patek Phillipe Watch
  14. Weigh 175
  15. Weigh 170
  16. Weigh 165
  17. Grow LA Fashion Insider
  18. Off Roading
  19. Take the top off of the Bronco
  20. Fish a river
  21. Design a sport coat
  22. Spend a day at a lake
  23. Go to a baseball stadium I’ve never been to
  24. Get a Physical
  25. Company retreat
  26. Have lunch cliffside
  27. Sleep in a tent.
  28. Draft our wills
  29. Watch a sunrise
  30. Watch a sunset
  31. Star gaze
  32. Nap in a hammock
  33. Lounge by 5 hotel pools
  34. Attend a music festival
  35. Three beaches
  36. Walk accross a bridge
  37. Host a party
  38. See 10 new movies in the theater
  39. Visit something ancient
  40. Take a class
  41. A New workout
  42. Train ride
  43. Kayak
  44. Boat Ride
  45. Have a picnic
  46. Enjoy a waterfall
  47. Stay at Chateau Marmont
  48. Fashion Show
  49. Don’t eat out for two weeks straight
  50. Go to a Giants game
  51. Have a pint in a bar over 200 years old
  52. Commission a Pearl Jam/MU Concert poster from 92′
  53. Read 10 Books
  54. Become TSA rechecked and Global entry approved
  55. Learn how to disassemble & clean my gun
  56. Eat at a top 100 Restaurant
  57. Take the dogs to the beach
  58. Become Platinum at the Vegas Cosmopoiltan
  59. Complete Budapest,Vienna & Prague album
  60. See a game at Wrigley Field
  61. Visit a National Park
  62. See Basically Me in a magazine
  63. Golf with my dad and brothers.
  64. Go South of the Border
  65. Visit a Museum
  66. Stay in a cabin
  67. Go to a Marquette game
  68. Bike ride in another city
  69. Get my teeth whitened
  70. Go to a comedy show
  71. Walk a path toward enlightenment
  72. Jet Ski
  73. Aurora Borealis
  74. Set my watch to 6 different time zones
  75. Make the most of a layover
  76. Go to Disneyland
  77. Visit a state I’ve never been to
  78. Have a drink at the bar it was created
  79. Five new hikes
  80. Garage Sale
  81. Go to a drive-in movie
  82. Go on a Road Trip
  83. Celebrate Oktoberfest
  84. See a Broadway Show
  85. Start drinking green tea on a regular basis
  86. Wake up at 5am for at 10 straight business days
  87. Have dinner on a rooftop
  88. Buy a new suit
  89. A New Mattress
  90. Relax in a hot spring
  91. Visit an LA tourist attraction I’ve never been to
  92. Small town festival
  93. Grow a Cocktail Garden
  94. “Publish” a mezcal cocktail book
  95. Ride on a rickshaw
  96. Personal Stationary
  97. Frame Festival Posters
  98. Rain 2
  99. Add a few pictures to each city in the “travels” menu.
  100. Watch the full series of “The Wire”

The Final Tally 2014

Despite the fact that my goals get a little bit harder, I beat last year’s tally by eleven for a grand total of 61. Despite limping to the finish (whoa is me), 2014 was a great year.

    1. Ring in the New Year
    2. Grow LA Fashion Insider
    3. Charleston, S.C.
    4. Drive a Race Car
    5. Prepare 12 meals at home
    6. Eat at Hakkasan
    7. Weigh 175
    8. Performance at Disney Hall
    9. Off Roading
    10. Go to New York without any luggage
    11. Take the top off the Bronco
    12. Fish
    13. Full work up with a cardiologist
    14. Annual fashion show
    15. Stay at Chateau Marmont
    16. Attend a LA Magazine Calendar event once a month
    17. Marquette game in Milwaukee
    18. Small Town Festival
    19. Swin in a lake
    20. Eat at Nikita
    21. Palm Springs
    22. Bears game
    23. Out of State Concert
    24. See Brittany Score a Goal
    25. Baseball game at a stadium I’ve never been to
    26. Bespoke shirt
    27. Visit a civil war battlefield
    28. Reroof the garage
    29. New closet doors
    30. Garage Sale
    31. Ski Trip
    32. Sleep in a tent
    33. See Five Bar Bands
    34. Bet on the long shot
    35. See an Opera
    36. Frame festival posters
    37. Draft our wills
    38. Don’t buy a watch in 2014
    39. Eat at Jose Andre’s secret Cosmo Restaurant
    40. Watch a sunrise
    41. Watch a Sun Set
    42. Have a drink in a Hemingway Haunt
    43. Complete Safari Album
    44. Star Gaze
    45. Nap in a Hammock
    46. Eat at Fishing with Dynamite
    47. Lounge by five hotel pools
    48. Attend a Music Festival
    49. Complete 10 Nagging Home Reairs
    50. See a classic movie on the big screen
    51. Design a sports coat
    52. Enjoy Three New Beaches
    53. Cross a Bridge
    54. Host a Party
    55. Sell our home
    56. Trade in a car
    57. See 10 new movies in the theater
    58. Visit something ancient
    59. Set my watch to 6 timezones
    60. Take a Class
    61. Wine Refrigerator
    62. Stay at one of Conde Naste’d gold list hotel
    63. A New Workout
    64. Eat at a top restaurant in the world
    65. See an SEC Football Game
    66. Hockey Game
    67. Company Day Retreat
    68. See Basically Me in a Magazine
    69. Train Ride
    70. A Better Closet
    71. Build an iPhone app
    72. Write a letter
    73. A Forever Pen
    74. Kayak
    75. Try a top 10 Zagat burger
    76. Have a Picnic
    77. Boat Ride
    78. Movember
    79. Enjoy a waterfall
    80. N’awlins
    81. Try a Zagat Guide Top 5 Pizza
    82. Eat at Dan Tana’s
    83. Make Xmas great for someone I don’t know
    84. Go to a Giants Game
    85. Have a pint in a bar over 200 years old
    86. Eat a NYC street dog
    87. Kentucky Derby
    88. Certified wine professional
    89. Commission a Pearl Jam/MU Concert poster from 92′
    90. Eat at Bestia
    91. Weigh 170
    92. Weigh 165
    93. Weigh 160
    94. Read Ten Books
    95. Complete a photography project
    96. Maximize credit card rewards
    97. Become TSA rechecked and Global entry approved
    98. Eat at Providence
    99. Jet Pack
    100. Find a regular barber

 

#59 Done

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#59 Done: Set my watch to 6 time zones.

Always a challenge, but we just made it.

Pacific Coast Time: Home, Palm Springs, San Francisco, Las Vegas
Central Time: Chicago, Dallas
Eastern Standard Time: New York, Atlanta, Charleston, S.C, Savannah, GA, Monroe, L.A., Baton Rouge, L.A., Nassau, Bahamas, New Orleans, L.A.
Hawaiian-Aleutian: Oahu, Kauai
GMT/UTC: Puerto Rico
Central European Time: Budapest, Vienna & Prague

#40 Failed

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#40: See a Sunrise

Amazing how something so simple, is so hard to make time for.

#72 Done

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#72: Write a Letter

Wrote it to myself. Cheaper than therapy.

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Fake smiles. Crapped out on the tables.

Swimming with Dolphins

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#2 Not Happenin’

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#2 Grow LA Fashion Insider, Inc.

We thought we would have a chance this year, but Ebola wiped out our fourth quarter and contributed to our own poor efforts to beat last year’s mediocre numbers. Other than luxury brands, apparel continues to drag through the mud of this new economy. We may fail again in 2015, but we are determined to fail better.

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A little R & R in Nassau, Bahamas.

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Housekeeping

We’re days away from 2015. Here are a few more of my “failures”.

#8. See a Performance at Disney Hall (Next Year)

#13. Full work up with a cardiologist (Too Young. Just Need a New Workout)

#15: Stay at Chateau Marmont (Next year)

#16: Marquette game in Milwaukee (Next Year)

#17: Attend a LA Magazine Calendar event once a month (Some months were too uninteresting)

#19: Swim in a lake (Next Year)

#22: Bears Game (May be years away)

#26: Bespoke shirt (Next Year)

#30: Garage Sale (Definitely Next Year)

#31: Ski trip (May not be on the horizon)

#32: Sleep in a tent (Next Year)

#36: Frame festival posters (Next Year)

#37: draft our wills (Next Year)

#51: Design a sport coat (Next Year)

#63: A new workout (Next Year)

#67: Company Day Retreat (Next Year)

#68: See Basically Me in a Magazine (Next Year)

#70: A better closet (Next Year)

#81: Try a Zagat Guide top 5 pizza in US (The #1 spot is in Long Beach)

#89: Commission a Pearl Jam/MU Concert poster from 92′ (Next Year)

#95: Complete a photography project (Next Year)

#97: Become TSA rechecked and Global entry approved (Next Year)

#94 Done

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#94: read ten books

11/22/63. An entertaining Stephen King historical time traveling fiction tale.

#83 Done

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#83: Make X-mas great for someone we don’t know

After a fabulous Christmas Eve and Day, we stopped off at a grocery store in the valley to give a little back. Devin took the lead and gave away gift cards to people shopping for food on X-mas day. Driving home, it became clear that this no longer needs to be on the list to be completed.

Merry Christmas

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I only remembered to take a few iPhone pics of x-mas day. Nevertheless, it was a great reminder to all of us that we are truly blessed.

Xmas Eve

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Tight jeans bro.


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A new hot dog joint opened by the house. That puts a nail in the coffin of #7, #91, #92 & #93. Will end the year at my heaviest.

#57 Done

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#57 See 10 new movies in the theater

Brittany and I took in the stellar, Interstellar.

#9 Done

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#9: Off Roading

Turns out we only needed one horse under the hood to traverse the back roads of the Hollywood Hills. Thanks to our dedicated brethren at LAFI for making it happen.

#50 Done

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Seeing a classic movie in Burbank is literally like stepping into a time machine. Nevertheless, It’s a Wonderful Life was the perfect movie to see to get into the holiday spirit. Thank you, Tomiko, for the tickets.

#43 Done

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#43 Complete Safari Album

” I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not happy” ~ Ernest Hemingway

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Caught a Clipper win with my Dad. Not as rare as it used to be.

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Dinner at the newly opened BBQ joint, Barrel & Ashes. One of the best dishes was the chili served in a bag of Fritos.

#78 Done

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#78: No Shave November. Most of my sweaters match my beard.

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Lunch and X-mas shopping in the Hills of Beverly.

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Enjoyed this beef tongue and the 10 meat dishes that followed at Totoraku.

#57 in Progress

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Love is way more complicated than quantum physics. Excellent movie.

5th Annual LAFI X-Mas Party

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Asenabo. Best sushi we’ve had in LA. And we’ve known that for years. It’s a shame we’ve only been here a few times.

MLS Final

Landon Donovan’s last professional game was a good one. LA Galaxy win the MLS Cup final 2-1 in double overtime.

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The whole band was back together again. They killed it.

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Hate to judge a book by its cover, but I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed hanging out with my great, great, great grandmother, Letitia Youmans.  She’s the one on the right on the cover of her autobiography, Campaign Echoes. I actually toasted her last night, rather her husband Arthur, my great, great, great grandfather for having the good sense not to have any children with her. You see, Letitia was also known as the Apostle of Temperance and one of the leading players in prohibition.   Here are a few words from the Canadian encyclopedia.

Letitia Creighton (Youmans) was born in a log cabin in Hamilton Township, Upper Canada. Raised in the Methodist Church, she became a school teacher and married widower Arthur Youmans. Her concerns about the evils of alcohol led to her involvement in the temperance movement, and Letitia Youmans became a prominent speaker and campaigner. She was the first president of the Dominion Women’s Christian Temperance Union

Youmans believed in temperance and prohibition. She called for individual discipline to fight the evils of alcohol and legislation to prohibit its sale. Visiting prison inmates, she declared them privileged to be in an environment free from accursed beverages.

Youmans excelled on the platform, where her long, turgid, but emotionally inspired speeches based on biblical themes were enthusiastically received.

When Arthur’s first wife, Sophia “the baby maker” Youmans passed away, he needed someone to help raise his eight children while he tended to the farm.  Letitia got the call and was quick to accept Arthur’s proposal ensuring that there would be an ironic branch on the Youmans family tree. So, in honor of repeal day, I say nice try grandma. Cheers.

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Great Day in American History

prohibitionweb4f-1-webEvil spirits be gone! Prohibition shut down St. Louis Breweries but didn't stop the flow of alcohol

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An after work bite in the concrete treetops of LA.

Man, it got here fast.

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When it Rains….

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One last good meal for Brit before heading back to school.

USC/Notre Dame

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#57 in Progress

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#57: See 10 Movies on the Big Screen

It was like looking in the mirror.

Post Thanksgiving Trim

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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