Marriage Musings: Single Lady Checklist

You probably thought that you could somehow escape my random thoughts on marriage and such this week. No dice, pal. I figured that after a few very heavy posts, I'd lighten it up a little bit. I'm getting married in November (YIKES!) which is less than 31 weeks away at this point. (I know, super short engagement. We're crazy. We get it. We're tired of hearing it.) Despite being only a few months away, I think I have time to cross off some items from my bachelorette bucket list. Since we're foregoing the "traditional" wedding and semi-eloping to another country, I don't have to spend as much time on trivial details and have more opportunities to live out my last days as a single lady.

If I hadn't had a chance to check off some of my long-term goals, I probably wouldn't be okay with heading into marriage. Everything happened to work out that I was able to start my career and spend some time living on my own before the proverbial question was popped. I've even started getting my finances together and have developed quite the penchant for cooking.

1. Go on a little road trip with my lady friends. Is this the most financially-wise decision? Probably not. We're not talking about some grand cross-country adventure here though, just going somewhere somewhere that's not Philadelphia for a few days. You know, something akin to the Nashville trip that I took with Deb last Spring. There's nothing like the sense of camaraderie that the open road brings to the table. That, and after driving for 10 hours straight, (including the hour spend driving in the wrong direction and trying to recover from it) I felt pretty damn powerful. There's this magical thing that happens when you and a close friend are stuck together in a small space for 14+ hours. I can recall a certain moment of exhaustion when we just started jamming to hits from our teen years (think t.A.t.U.) and old recordings from my band in high school/"college." I want more moments like that. Bring 'em on. 

2. Put another tattoo on myself. People get weird about tattoos. It's just skin, it's going to get ugly and wrinkly when you get old anyway. I love thinking of tattoos as chapter titles. I've overcome some real tough stuff since my last one and I want to close out this era with some fresh ink.  

3. Overnight trip to Lancaster with my family. One of my favorite things to do as a kid was to go on overnight trips to the Amish Country. It's such a nostalgic place for me and I can't wait to do the same thing with a family of my own. My dad loves the countryside and to see him in his element is so sweet. Now, if only those beautiful Mennonite ladies could whip me up some low-carb mashed potatoes. (I know. It's an actual impossibility.)

4. Make more music and write at least one new song. I kind of stopped writing music, which really bums me out. I've tried picking it up again a few times and just grew frustrated with myself for not being able to create melodies anymore. I think that it's not so much that I lost the ability but that I was trying to make something that sounds like "the old me" and I'm a "completely new person" now. I'm shaking it up by picking up the bass again. I used to be really into it and then realized my love for the piano. I forgot how much fun it is to play and doing so also makes me feel so punk rock.

5. Do at least one pull-up. I'm getting closer every day. 

6. Start writing a book. Numerous people have told me to do this and it's starting to sound better and better every day. I don't know/care if anybody else would read it but I think that this would challenge me and my writing in the best way possible. I don't want to finish this hypothetical book before November but I would love to have knocked a few chapters out by then.

8. Write an op-ed. I've tried this a few times and ended up wimping out before submitting it. Now that rejection has become nothing more than a necessary evil, I think I may finally be ready. I'll let you know when I do it and of course share a link with you guys. 

9. Sew a dress from scratch. I used to be really into sewing. Because it's such a practical hobby and way of crafting, I feel like I would be more likely to indulge. I don't have a lot of time on my hands so as much as I want to make something like a macrame plant hanger or some sort of bedazzled succulent, I would rather buy one from Etsy and use my very little free-time to hang out with Brenden or play some of the aforementioned music. Wearable art, however, I can justify. I love the feeling of creating something unique. Being able to say, "I designed and put that together with my own two hands" is pretty dope.

10. Bake a cake. I'm 23 and I have never made a cake. I can't/won't eat it but I feel like if I bake it, they will come. And by "they," I mean people who will eat the cake. I pretended to make a cake for a project once in high school but I really just bought one form the grocery store and smudged the icing so that it looked homemade. I know, not a great thing to do, but why was I being graded on my cake-baking abilities to begin with?

xo,

e.m.

*photo by Amberlee. Follow her on Instagram!