my bucket list

Side note: When I first started thinking about this post I badly wanted to have a picture showing a list of buckets. Get it? A list of buckets cuz this is a bucket list...? I know, freakin' hilarious huh?! Sadly, I could not find any pictures of a list of buckets, only a bucket that had a list in it which, as we all know, is not nearly as funny.

This is my bucket list. I quite like it. I hope you do too. If not that's alright. I just wont be friends with you anymore. Except that I will, because that would be stupid if I stopped being your friend because you didn't like my bucket list. Although, it would be pretty stupid if you didn't like my list. I mean come on, it's a list of totally awesome things that everyone should want to do.

I have issues.

1. Run like Phoebe from the tv show Friends
2. Go on a hiking tour of New Zealand
3. Visit the Black Forest in Germany
4. Visit France, specifically:
1. The Louvre
2. The Champs Elysee
3. Normandy
4. Paris
5. Versailles
6. Marseilles
5. Tour all of Scotland
6. Tour all of Ireland
7. Try haggis
8. Visit Crete and Meteora, Greece
9. Go on an Alaskan cruise
10. Go backpacking in a different country (other than those listed above)
11. Tour the sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica
12. Go cliff diving
13. Run a half marathon
14. Kiss a complete stranger
15. Go skinny dipping
16. Learn the entire dance routine for Thriller 
17. Learn the entire dance routine from Napoleon Dynamite
18. Learn how to knit
19. Grow my very own vegetable garden
20. Learn how to reupholster furniture
21. Bake a pie
22. Attend a masquerade ball
23. Learn the tango
24. Audition for a play
25. Be an extra in more movies
26. Write a letter to each of my family member letting them know how much I love them
27. Try Kobe beef

28. Go rock climbing
29. Build a fort in my living room
30. Volunteer at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving or Christmas
31. Go to the airport and take the first flight that leaves
32. Dance in the rain
33. Play in the mud
34. Skip somewhere instead of walking
35. Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (at least once)
36. Attend Mardi Gras
37. Visit every state in the US
38. Create my own super hero outfit
39. Pay for a stranger's groceries
40. Provide Christmas gifts/dinner for a family in need
41. Give $100 to a stranger
42. Spend Independence Day in Boston
43. Spend St. Patrick's Day in Ireland
44. Go snorkeling
45. Get a degree in French
46. Volunteer at a Children's hospital
47. See a Broadway musical
48. Be in a flash mob
49. Learn to snow board
50. Learn to ski
51. Go sailing
52. Visit Stonehenge
53. Learn Gaelic
54. Travel via train
55. Ride a horse bare back
56. Make a quilt

57. Swim in an ocean
58. Have family pictures taken
59. Go on a family vacation
60. Take Archery lessons

love you, love me

serious post about cheese

I would like to talk to you today about something very dear to my heart: my favorite cheeses.

What? Are you laughing? HOW DARE YOU!!!!! Cheese is no laughing matter, sir and/or madame! Cheese is one of the few things that brings happiness to life. Cheese makes everything better. I'll have you know that not liking cheese is akin to hating puppies, rainbows, sunshine and America!

ahem... So without further ado, I give you my top 5 cheeses (in ascending order)

5. Brie

I first came into contact with brie a few years ago at a darling Scottish restaurant located on 1300 East. The brie was served warm and slightly fried, as is Scottish tradition, with slices of green apples and a raspberry puree. To say this dish was amazing would be an under statement. My roommates and I devoured the thing and almost bought another. Although the Scottish restaurant is no longer open :( this cheese has now made it to my favorites list because of their dish.

4. Cheddar

Cheddar - oh how I love thee! I don't remember a time when cheddar wasn't a part of my life. Whether it be medium or sharp, yellow or white I love it. Probably one of my favorite dishes containing cheddar would be my grandpa's tuna fish spread. This stuff is made of legends and we guard it most diligently (not really). My grandpa says he came up with the recipe by "taking all the things no one else liked so I wouldn't have to share it". It  contains the usual suspects like tuna fish and mayo relish but the key ingredients are a sharp white cheddar (must be Cracker Barrell) and a butt load of jalapenos. You would think that with the amount of jalapenos we use that you couldn't taste much of anything else. But you'd be wrong. The white cheddar is a perfect complement to the the jalapenos. It tempers the heat a bit all while adding a tang and creaminess that is just as powerful.

3. Havarti

Not much to say other than I love it! It is uber creamy and has a beautiful light taste that is not over powering but can still hold its own.

2. Muenster

This is probably my favorite sandwich cheese. I'm not a fan of mustard but I like to have a little kick when eating my ham sammiches. In comes the muenster. Just as creamy as Havarti but it has a nice powerful pungent taste that I just love!

1. Chevres (Goat Cheese)

My all time favorite kind of cheese ever. EVER! It is creamy and rich and earthy and delectable! My eyes were opened and my world changed for ever when my mom took me to a spectacular restaurant called Baci's. This restaurant, which has been closed for many years now much to my chagrin, had amazing food. The best I have ever had. On this particular afternoon, my mom and I felt a little adventurous and decided to get an appetizer of rosemary pita bread served with goat cheese and of dash balsamic vinegar. I was a little hesitant at first, but after my initial bite I was hooked. It had the most glorious flavor I had ever tasted. It was earthy, gamey but not disturbingly so. And its creaminess was almost sinful. I ate almost the entire plate, becoming more and more in love with each bite. And that love has only grown. Now, if I ever see anything on a menu that contains goat cheese I order it. Hands down. No questions asked. Because cheese, especially goat cheese, makes everything better.

ummmmm......

So I haven't been around much lately. Or at all, really. It's certainly not because I don't have anything to write about. Because I do. Life has been pretty interesting as of late.

No, the biggest issue regarding the lack of posts comes down to confidence. For a while I was reading several blogs that were extremely witty, funny, intelligent, etc. and it made me feel a little ashamed of my own blog. I started feeling like my blog (and therefore me (or is it I?)) wasn't even remotely funny enough, witty enough or smart enough to write  a blog that anyone would want to read. :(

Sadly, this has been a theme in my life for quite some time. Always comparing myself to others and always coming to the conclusion that I, Ashley Garrett, fall horribly, disturbingly short.

Luckily for you, but especially for me, I am now working through these ridiculous and irrational thoughts and have come to realize this: I enjoy writing. I enjoy blogging. Just because someone else has a funny/witty/intelligent blog out there does not mean that my blog is worthless. Or less than theirs. It's just different. And that is just fine. It's better than fine actually!

So, I guess what I am saying is that I am back people :)


p.s.

After writing this I did a spell check and nothing needed to be fixed. I repeat NOTHING NEEDED TO BE FIXED!! That, my friends, is a freaking miracle!