Café Con Monica

Goodreads: 2017 Reading Challenge!

I love to read. I read more than anyone I  know personally(not online most of you have me beat!), which actually makes me kind of sad because it would be great to have more people to talk to about the books after I read them. Joining book clubs is hit or miss, they usually want to read books that are more serious than I am interested in reading at this time (I have to read textbooks…no thanks to anything else serious).

Anyway! I set a goal of 75 books for 2017. I knew it was kind of low but I also hadn’t been reading as much as I like to for a few months so I just wanted to make sure I hit the goal. Towards the end of spring I got my groove back and started powering through books again and ended up finishing out 2017 with 113 books read! Much better!

You can check out the entire list of books I read on my Goodreads page, also feel free to add me because I love seeing what everyone is reading and finding new books that way.

Here were my top 2 favorites and my least favorite.
I thought it was a great read, I loved the back and forth of the timeline and the characters. I hate to give away too much but I found this one through a book club and everyone in the group also really enjoyed the book. 
 
 I really enjoy YA books, as I’ve mentioned before. I thought this was a great read. I loved the mystical aspect along with the revolution and, of course, a little love mixed in! 
Choke was one of the few books I really really wanted to enjoy but just didn’t 
 I  love loved Fight Club so I really thought that I would be a fan of anything Palahniuk wrote. To be honest I think it just tried too hard to be like “I don’t give a shit if you like this or not” and because of that it came across as ridiculous. 
There you have it. What was your favorite read of 2017? Did you make have a challenge??

Winter Break: To Do!

Last week of work and school till January 8th! I can make it through this week right?? I have a terrible habit of overbooking myself and not giving myself time to relax so I am going to try this winter break to give myself some “me” time to do things I have wanted to do…but also still be social! 
without further ado I give you…

{1} READ!
I have been doing so much reading for school..and don’t get me wrong I read a lot but I want to sit and read some books without interruption!  I have a few books I just got from the library so that gives me 22 days to read them and one or two that will hopefully pop up available before then. 
*also hoping I will be getting some Barnes gift cards to blow through for Christmas! 
{2} Clean up
Ooh the mess that is my room, and it will only get worse as I tear it apart right before I leave to my sisters for 2 days for Christmas. I want to clean, rearrange, do my GIANT laundry pile….
{3} Purge
Its time. I usually do so well but this year I accumulated a lot of shit. I don’t know how but I also don’t like it. So starting to get rid of things before I really get into it for 2018 
{4} Set my intentions for 2018
I don’t necessarily do resolutions, I aim for the goal of “happy & healthy” and I am usually able to say I hit that goal every year. I’d like to be a little more intentional in the healthy aspect and work on smaller goals along the way…maybe a monthly goal type thing. 
{5} Blog 
I really would like to get some posts ready and ideas down, maybe change up the layout around here so I am hoping to take some time and figure out where I would like to go with this blog in 2018 
{6} EXERCISE 
OOoh man. I have been sooo lazy, there is no excuse not to workout when you aren’t working or going to class. So hopefully I can get by butt in the gym 

{7} Not overthink or overspend on vacation
I’m super excited for Disney but I also have a tendency to find ways to spend a ridiculous amount on random things “i need” before a trip so I am going to do my best to make sure I don’t go out and buy a whole new wardrobe and all new travel stuff for a 4 day trip! 
 
also…I need to relax.
Do you have a winter break? What do you have planned?

On 101 in 1001

I’ve wanted to try 101 in 1001 since Stephanie @ Not Entirely Perfect posted her first round but I am a slacker.  Some of these will be super easy because I know I do them yearly but I figure why not make sure I don’t stop? Others will take an actual effort to not be a slacker.

If you have any that are similar or would like to help me knock some of these out feel free to let me know!!

Dates: November 10, 2015-August 07, 2018

Chicago- Some of the other items actually could be listed here but these are pretty basic tourist type
1. Go to Chriskindlmarket Done on 11/29, first of the list!! 
2. Visit Starved Rock in the Winter
3. Visit Botanical Gardens
4. Visit Brookfield Zoo
5. Take a Bike ride down Lakeshore Drive
6. See a comedy show at Second City
7. Go to the Museum of Science & Industry
8-10. Go to a sporting event for 2  major teams (Bears, Bulls, Cubs, Hawks) *no White Sox…no thank you.
11. Have a KTV(karaoke) night w/friends in Chinatown

Foodish.…all things food/alcohol related
12. Take a cake decorating class
13. Take a cooking class

14. Make my own sushi 

15. Make a fancy birthday cake for someone
16. Make Holiday cookies
17. Host a themed(food) dinner party
18. Try a new recipe every week for 2 months
19. Try all the restaurants on my Yelp Bookmark list before adding more (as of 11/10 there are 20 restaurants on the list)  
20. Try 1 new restaurant a month for 6 months

Get Physical– physical activities I want to try or do again
21. Go ice Skating
22. Go Rockclimbing
23. Go Kayaking
24. Go Hiking
25. Go Snowboarding
26. Go Paintballing

Go…go…go...places & things I want to do/make/see
27. Build a snowman- where do you put this??
28. Go to the Beach
29. Go to a Concert
30. Go to a Luke Bryan Concert
31. Go Camping
32. Go to a music festival
33. Go to the shooting range
34. Go to a Haunted House
35. Go to Trivia night

36. Attend a wedding 
37. See a musical 
38. See a drive-in Movie 
39. See a Burlesque show 

40. Get a tarot card reading

Blog: 
41. Have a Chicago Blogger Meetup
42. Blog at least 3 times a week for 2 months
43. Celebrate my 5 year blogiversary w/a  giveaway
44. Join in a swap

Health 
45. Take a Jiu Jitsu Class
46. Take a Barre Class
47. Drink only water for 1 month
48. Do morning yoga for 1 month
49. Run a 10K
50. Lose 20 lbs
51. Stick to a workout routine for 1 month
52. Do not complain for a week

Home
53. Buy a full length mirror
54. Buy a matching bed set
55. Make my bed everyday for 1 month
56. Paint my dresser
57. Get a desk
58. Completely organize my closet
59. Decorate for Christmas

Travel
60. Go to Salt Lake City
61. Visit Karen in NYC
62. See a Broadway show in NYC
63. Visit Courtney in Ottawa
64. Go to New Orleans
65. Take another vacation with The Boyfriend
66. Have a romantic weekend away

Finance
67. Go one month without ordering take out
68. Do a spending freeze for a month
69. Save $2 for every task I complete
70. Pay off any debt not related to student loans
71. Make a business proposal
72. Attend a networking event related to #73

Get Crafty/Creative 
73. Complete my customized recipe cards/book
74. Learn to sew a dress
75. Sew a skirt for myself
76. DIY a Christmas gift for each family member
77. Read 100 books
78. Take classes for 1 year uninterrupted
79. Write in a journal everyday for a month
80. Organize my photos into photobooks
81. Make a date night book/cards
82. Buy a ______ for dummies book and learn something new
83. Make a vision board

Step up my hostess game…
84. Host a themed party
85. Host a game night
86. Attend or organize 10 meetups
87. Start a meetup group
88. Host a Slumber Party
89. Build a blanket fort
90. Have a picnic
91. Join a book club

Random…
92. Make a new friend
93. Take my parents out to a nice dinner & pay for it
94. Get my FOID card
95. Watch all the seasons of Friends
96. See 10 movies (older than 1980) that I haven’t seen
97. Volunteer
98. Donate Blood
99. Get a new tattoo
100. Send someone a written letter
101. Take a photo for every goal on this list

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