What’s On YOUR Bucket List?

 That’s right, we’re talking bucket lists today. Though, to be honest, I’m not sure I’d ever heard the term “bucket list” until fairly recently (perhaps that’s because I’m getting old enough to need one).

So I’ll tell you some of mine, if you’ll tell me some of yours , okay?

Here we go (in no particular order)…

1) I’ve always had a bizarre desire to climb to the top of a working lighthouse. Doesn’t matter where, I just want to walk up the spiral staircase and stare out at the ocean. Maybe imagine the ships that have been called home because of that actual light…

2) I’d like to spend an entire summer at the beach one year. Doesn’t have to be some fancy house…just something comfortable. Seriously, how cool would it be to walk out your front door into sand and then ocean?!?!?!

3) I’d like to go to Walnut Grove, Minnesota and all the other places Laura Ingalls wrote about in her books. 

4) I’d like to see Paris. This is a new entry onto the list because, until this past year, I had zero interest in ever going to this city. For some reason that’s changed. I think, in part, because I realize how much I truly enjoy the hustle and bustle of a real city.

5) I’d like to drive a Zamboni. Just once. I have no idea why.

6) I’d like to meet Mary Higgins Clark and tell her how much she influenced my writing career (not that she probably hasn’t heard that a million times from a million writers but still…).

Oh…and here’s one more. Although I must confess it wasn’t ON my list until after I did it (yes, I’m one of those people who adds things I’ve already done to my to-do list just so I can check it off–*insert evil laugh*) .

7) For those of you who may have read my blog toward the end of January, you know I was asked to speak at the President’s Circle NY event for the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America. The venue? Um…Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Podium location? Um…in front of a floor-to-ceiling glass room overlooking Times Square. So that’s why I’ve added it to my Bucket List after the fact. Because it was cool and a true once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing.  (I think you can click on the picture to get a better look…just remember, I’m in the process of speaking…hence the facial expression).

Those are a few of mine at the moment. Now it’s your turn…

~Elizabeth

What Can YOU Do?

Everyone has one…   

In The Breakfast Club, Molly Ringwald could slip a tube of lipstick in her bra and paint her lips.  Her nemesis in the film, Ally Sheedy, could play Heart & Soul on the piano with her toes. And, Emilio Estevez? Well, he could tape everyone’s buns together…

Ace Frehley from KISS could sit on bent legs and drop his head back to the ground (I, too, could do this in my younger days)…

And me? I can recite the famous Big Mac Slogan (in its entirety, mind you) BACKWARDS.  Just don’t ask me to recite our country’s presidents, okay?

So c’mon, come clean. What’s your weird thing?

~Elizabeth

A Little Bit of This and A Little Bit of That

Question # 1:

 What do you get when you cross a magnet with an autographed nameplate and throw in a bookmark?   

Give up?

A: Something in your mailbox that isn’t a bill.

Question # 2:

Want one?

A: If so, then drop me an email at ElizabethLCasey@aol.com and be sure to give me your snail  mail addy. Oh…and if you’d like your autographed nameplate to have something other than my signature (like if you’re giving it as a gift to someone), let me know to whom it is going and any other pertinent information. The nameplate is essentially a large sticker (with a cool graphic) that can be afixed to the inside front cover of my sewing mysteries. 

Have a great weekend!

~Elizabeth 

What’s In Your Arsenal?

I don’t know about you, but I have certain comfort items I call on when things happen in life.

For instance, if I’m not feeling so hot, I like to pop in one of a handful of movies–true-blue cinematic friends who are guaranteed to put a smile on my face.   

*Housesitter
*The Devil Wears Prada

Why? I’m not exactly sure. But I know that they make me smile. And laugh.

When I’m struggling with a question or a problem that I just can’t fix easily, I find that a drive in the car with the music blaring helps. A lot. Some of my favorite songs for that…

*Midnight Blue
*Anything by Survivor
*And, really anything with a good beat

So that’s what I’m curious about today. Do you have a favorite movie you tend to pull out and watch depending on a particular mood? Any songs you tend to play? What and why?

~Elizabeth

Okay, Spill It…

It’s Friday and time for our weekly “Bits & Pieces” questions.  And since my curiosity is in overdrive at the moment, I shall skip any further chit chat and get straight down to business…  

1) Did you ever play a part in a school play? What was it?

2) What do you miss most about being a kid? What do you miss least?

3) If you were stuck in a jail cell for the next year of your life, what would you want to do/teach yourself to pass the time? And for those extra creative souls out there…amuse us with what you did to get in there.

4) If you could go back to high school and learn a different language, what would it be and why?

5) You’re about to get dumped off on an island for the next six  months. You must go alone. You can only take three things with you…what would you take?

Okay, bring ‘em on…

~Elizabeth

That’s a Fact, Jack…

And it’s also a bit of a quiz, but I couldn’t resist the title.

For today’s Q & A type questions, I figured we’d look to the fridge…

And the cabinet…

And the car (the best place to hide a treat you don’t want the kids to find :)  )

Fact #1: Did you know that the shape of a pretzel was quite deliberate. When first made, the ropes of rolled dough were twisted upward to resemble hands on the chest in prayer? Pretty cool, huh? 

Fact #2: It’s no secret I am a Milk Dud fanatic. And, truth be told, that’s generally what my car stash consists of. But that’s not our fact. At least it’s not the main one. Do you know how Milk Duds got their name? Well, “milk” reflects the large amount of milk found in the product (so, see…they’re good for you :)  ). And the “duds” part came about during production. You see, the original idea was to have a perfectly round piece of candy. However, when the maker realized that was impossible, the word “duds” was used.

Fact #3: Did you know that on average, each person in the U.S. eats 23 pounds of pizza in a year?

Which leads me to the Q & A portion of today’s post… A Food Q & A.

1) What’s your all-time favorite Girl Scout cookie?

2) When you’re standing in front of the candy aisle in a store and you’re craving a treat, what do you generally grab for?

3) What’s your favorite kind of pizza?

4) What’s your go-to food for a pick-me-up?

5) If you could remove one particular food from the face of the earth, what would it be?

6) Any fun veggie stories from your childhood?

~Elizabeth

Answer Time

It’s Bits & Pieces Friday again! Which means, questions from me….and, hopefully, answers from you. Little by little they form pictures.

Ready? Set? Go (and remember, Elaboration =  Fun)!

1) Your favorite childhood book?

2) The first poster you hung in your room?

3) Do you remember the name of the first boy/girl you had a crush on as a kid? And did it ever pan out?

4) The first record (or CD if you’re younger than me) you ever bought?

5) Worst gift you ever got?

6) Best gift you ever got?

7) Have you ever re-gifted?

Have a great Friday, everyone!

~Elizabeth

Fill in the Blank

I remember going through a stage where I though Ad Libs (the little books where you filled in the blanks with nouns, verbs, adjectives) were the coolest thing. They kept me busy for hours, sending me in pursuit of semi-willing participants who didn’t mind tossing a few good words in my direction.

Fortunately for all of you, I’ve moved on. Sort of.

These days I’m not as into silly little words as I am into hearing stories and getting to know people better. Sooooo, I’m going to borrow the fill-in-the-blank idea from Ad Libs and give it a little twist.

Ready?

Here goes…

1) When I was a little girl/boy, my favorite thing to do after school was _____________.

2) The Brady Bunch episode I liked best was _____________.

3)  The one thing I vowed I’d never tolerate from the opposite gender was/is ______________.

4)  My favorite teacher ever was _______________.

5) My favorite must-have ice cream topping is ____________.

6) The one thing that makes my blood pressure boil is __________________.

7) My favorite place to people watch is ___________________.

The name of my very first pet was _______________ and he/she _______________.

9) The first pair of shoes I *remember* from my childhood were _____________.

10) If I could compete in one olympic area it would be _______________.

Now humor me and fill in the blanks, okay?

~Elizabeth

P.S. The computer thought my # 8 question was a smiley face symbol. And since everyone can use a little smiley face in their day, I left it!

Did You Know…

Did you know my favorite TV show as a little girl was Little House on the Prairie?

Did you know I used to dislike candy so much that when I went trick or treating I’d simply say “no thank you” and move onto the next house?     

Did you know I got to speak to my favorite author–Mary Higgins Clark–on the telephone one day?

Did you know that I love the smell of lilacs?

Did you know I was part of a study in 1979 to see if appendicitis could be contagious (this after eight kids linked to the same classroom fell prey to this within two weeks)?

Did you know that I’d be perfectly content eating nothing but meat, potatoes, and chocolate for the rest of my life?

Did you know that I write romances, too (my first one, Kayla’s Daddy, debuts this month under the name Laura Bradford)?

Did you know I love the smell of a just-used eraser?

Did you know the faint scar above my right eye is the result of a run-in with a door knob when I was five?

Did you know yellow is my favorite color?

Now it’s your turn. Tell us some neat-to-know things about you…

~Elizabeth