Day Zero: Challenge 68

Last night, instead of watching a rubbish England match, I managed to persuade hubby to go out for a meal! I'm very lucky!

Challenge 68 is 'Try a cuisine I've never eaten before'. It was always going to be tricky, as the most commonly available cuisines are ones I've tried before - Italian, Indian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Spanish - and a lot of other cuisines are not so friendly for the veggies. But then I remembered a friend telling me about Bistro Saigon in Ilkley, which is a Vietnamese restaurant. So I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Vietnamese food is a lot like Thai which I really like, but I'm still counting it! I had vegetable spring rolls for starter, and sweet potato curry with sticky jasmine rice for main, both of which were delicious and very filling! The scariest bit was using chopsticks, which I haven't done in years and I never really got the hang of, but after a few drops I got the knack. The atmosphere of the restaurant was lovely, and the staff were very friendly. I would thoroughly recommend it.

As I complete Challenge 68, I add Challenge 86 (go on a RailRover holiday) - how neat is that?! Just 15 more to think of and then my list is complete. As ever, I'm open to ideas!

Day Zero: Update

Well, I went quiet on here again, but that's not because I've forgotten about my Day Zero list - far from it! Here are some of the challenges I've completed recently:

Challenge 1: Buy something from Etsy - I love this website having only recently discovered it, and I hope to set up a shop over the summer. In the meantime, I bought a gorgeous screenprinted notebook from summersville for my best friend and a cute pencil case from funkydivadesigns for my goddaughter. Anyone who appreciates artistry and handmade items should look at this website. It has also led me to add another challenge - Buy something from Folksy, which is like Etsy's British counterpart.

Challenge 5: Write a letter to a friend - Written to my best friend for her birthday instead of a card. I cannot believe how hard it is to write a letter, I'm so used to e-mails (or worse, status comments on Facebook) that a sustained piece of writing was a real struggle! I must practise this art!

Challenge 14: Have a picnic - This one was completed quite by accident! We visited friends in Oxford at the weekend and as it was such good weather they prepared a lovely picnic for us which we enjoyed by the river. What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon ...

Challenge 23: Make something out of Rachel Allen's 'Bake' - I bought this book mainly to just drool over the pictures, but I recently baked the rhubarb and strawberry version of the 30-day muffins (so called because the batter keeps for 30 days). They were absolutely scrummy and conquered my fear of baking muffins!

Challenge 25: Wear a skirt to work - not an easy task when you hate your legs as much as me! But with the mini-heatwave recently, I was forced to bare my pins on Friday and Monday (and over the weekend but I wasn't at work then!) and was shocked that I could hardly fit into one of my 'work skirts' any more. Just goes to show how long it's been since I wore it!!

I've also been making progress on some of the longer-term challenges, but will post about them when they're done. I only have 18 more challenges to think of before my list is complete - and I'm open to ideas!

Day Zero Challenge 70

Choosing challenges with a set deadline turns out to be a good idea. Challenge 70 - Read the Manifestos of the three major parties before the General Election - is a good example of this. While everything else on my list I can do pretty much any time in the next two and a half years, I was on the clock with this one. And it turned out to be not as easy as I thought.

I don't know why I expected a manifesto to be short but I did. Well I was wrong: Labour's manifesto was 76 pages, Lib Dem's was 57 and Conservative's was 113. That's a lot of reading. But when I've voted in previous years, I've always felt guilty for not knowing what the parties really stood for. Now I've read all three manifestos, I may not understand all the policies but at least I know them.

This challenge hasn't helped me choose who to vote for, I already knew. But it has confirmed that decision. There was one manifesto that stood out as being clear and understandable and that had policies that made me smile. It also happened to be the manifesto with the least backbiting about other parties. I won't say whose it was - you'll have to read them and see if you agree!

Day Zero

Sometimes serendipity throws good things in your path. The other day I stumbled upon Day Zero, a project whereby you make a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. Recently I've been feeling like I'm not achieving anything fast. Despite doing my OU course (which is giving me a greater sense of achievement in my life) there was still something missing. But this project has captured my imagination, and might well give that sense of purpose I'm looking for. My list is here, and combines study goals with crafty tasks, baking tasks, environmental/ethical tasks and many more. So far I've only got to 62 items, so if anyone has a suggestion do let me know!

I will post on my blog whenever I complete a task from my list, so you can follow my progress. If you want to.