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The Year of Art and Things I've Never Done Before

Welcome to Jan's Birthday Blog. This blog exists to keep me planning and taking action, share this year with those who are interested, and also to invite you to do things you have always wanted to do but never have. What are you /I putting off till it is the "right time"? What is it, that if you and I look back at our lives years from now we will regret not having done?

Please share what you dream of doing or have taken action on and gotten done. Tell me what you are up to. Make suggestions that I can add to my list! Use some of my ideas. Join me or invite me to do something with you.

I invite you to consider that all any of us has is right now.... there is no "later". This blog is a reminder of that for me.

(I am not promoting anything that is reckless, illegal, or negative! I am out to create life-enhancing experiences. Please plan accordingly.)

Things I've Never Done

  • Take a train somewhere DONE! - To NYC for Lauren's Advanced Course. 2014 Thanks for the invite honey.
  • Create a blog - DONE!
  • Audition for pro musical theater - DONE! TWICE
  • Get a hot stone massage- DONE for the 1st time but NOT the last! See link for PCCHH
  • Raise money for a cause -DONE! Want to do more. Donated a quilt that auctioned for over $300 For Hair Peace Charities - see link. Vagina Monologues raised money for women & girls in Pittsburgh and around the world!
  • Go to a Chiropractor -DONE! Thanks Dr. Kukich UPDATE: began regular chiropractic treatment 2 days after I bought that house. Hmmm- any relationship to those two events?
  • Go to a spa with Lauren - DONE! We have the pretty feet to prove it.
  • Work for a floral design company - See link to Mocha Rose. I'M HIRED!
  • Take my daughters to New York - DONE! 3rd weekend in May.
  • Yoga -DONE with first session. One session does not a practice make but I am on my way. YOGA update November 2011 - started going to Yoga On Freemont. My first week I went 4 times. I love it. I feel more open and my body is smiling! 2011 update : Yoga on Fremont, 2 times a week average. Good stuff!
  • Go to an "Iron Chef" restaurant. DONE! Bar Americain in NYC - Chef Bobby Flay.
  • Buy or build my dream house - I bought a 1925 Tudor Revival. It needs work before I move in. That work is creating another list of things I have never done before.
  • Tear down a wall - DONE! See photos of bathroom demolition.
  • Operate a steam shovel or some such machine. SOoooo DONE! Thank you Mike Isbir, Mark Miller and crew. See photos below.
  • Hop in the car for a trip with no idea where I am going FINALLY DONE! ORB to 51 S to 88S, eventually to Maryland and back
  • Dip my toes in the Pacific Ocean _ SOOO DONE!! Thank You Wendy!
  • Throw a pot - (on a wheel, not at a wall) DONE! Pittsburgh Center for the Arts 4 week crash course with my pottin buddy, Lauren.
  • *************************************
  • Detonate something
  • See Lindsay Benner live
  • Be an 'agent' for an Improv Everywhere mission
  • Learn to make glass beads
  • Teach my dog to make friends and play well with others - see Animal Friends link
  • Learn to weld - turns out I know two people that can weld
  • Hire a talent agent
  • Drive a classic Thunderbird - preferably Starmist Blue
  • Paint a mural
  • Fly a plane
  • Learn to sail
  • Drive a race car - Have I told you about Women-Drivers.com?
  • Be on TV
  • Write a book
  • Go surfing
  • Sky diving
  • Travel to Spain, Greece, Morocco, South America, The Grand Canyon, Alaska, Hawaii, pretty much anywhere in the US...
  • Eat vegetarian for a week
  • Get a tattoo
  • *************************************
  • BLOG BONUS - Stuff I didn't know I wanted to do:
  • Work as a standardized patient educator. Had no idea that's what I wanted to do. DONE
  • Do home staging to get a house sold - twice yet. Thanks for asking, Justin and Tom
  • Ride a lap at the Vintage Grand Prix in Schenley Park - DONE!
  • Go to the James Taylor / Carol King concert at the last event at the Civic Arena DONE! It was the BEST! Thank you Diane
  • Buy a share in a Community Supported Agriculture farm. DONE! Kretchsmann's to be exact. Thanks Edie and Mad.
  • Visit St. Anthony's Chapel in Troy Hill. DONE! Thank you Paula!
  • Make a web site - DONE - will be unveiled soon
  • Gravity Hill - DONE!
  • Eat a raisinette dipped in hot sauce - Done! I was double dog dared. I had to.

About Me

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
I was born on June 27th, 1960. Quick math will tell you I turned 50 in 2010. That milestone has inspired what I am up to this year. Now that the birthday has passed, what do I count down next?

Thursday, November 1, 2012

The West Coast

Ya know, I thought it was going to be warmer!  Whooo, it was chilly.  Pt Reyes California, an hour or two north of San Francisco. Dressed in layers as instructed by those travel guides.  Rain coat tied on just incase.  But the sun stayed out.  Had a most remarkable conversation and walk on the beach.  I'd go back in a heartbeat!

Thursday, June 30, 2011




DRIVE A BACKHOE!!! Oh my got that is so much fun! So they are digging for a French Drain around my house and breaking up concrete and making a new patio. Apparently this work is the talk of the neighborhood. I am told that people are stopping in their cars, a group stopped on the sidewalk to watch and chat, neighbors are leaning over their fences... "What is she doing? Is this a new driveway? What are you doing up there?" So my contractor tells me. Meanwhile, on a break from beating my old bathroom tile to death, I hop in the cab of the backhoe, (with permission and a quick lesson) and dig some dirt. It really is a good time. I'm happy!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Nearly done kitchen


Awaiting my countertops and a few light fixtures and we are going to call it a kitchen. Oh, need a garbage disposal and the faucet installed. What a transformation! We love this kitchen. Can't wait to actually use it.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Kitchen didnt stand a chance!



And pooof! The kitchen is gone.... OK, not poof, but the cabinets came down pretty much as easily as I had hoped. Again, Claire was pivotal to this process. I asked her if she wanted to "coax" the beadboard off the wall. She talked to it gently for a few seconds. No luck with that so she tried a hammer and wonder pry bar with much better results. This demolition is surprisingly fun and satisfying. I have the kitchen designers computer drawing stuck on the wall ..... just keeping my eyes on the prize.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Tear down a WALL!





"Tear down a wall" is on my blog list. Now, while demolishing a bathroom and kitchen isn't exactly what I had in mind, I'm gonna check this one off. See the photos and I think you may agree. The photo on the left is the "before". The one to the right is how it looks now. I found removing kitchen cabinets significantly easier and less painful than removing bathroom tile. I keep hitting my hand with a hammer trying to chip that tile off the wall. Dang!! Claire, could NOT have done this without you.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Soon to be dream house....

There she is. A 1925 English Tudor Revival. I closed last week. I have already worked with a number of new folks. Closing agent, 2 restoration architects, home inspector, kitchen designer, bathroom tile wizard. The architect of choice, Bob Baumbach, got out of his car and said, "Jan, you scored!". Lovely little house. I can't wait to move in. But first, I need to get the kitchen re-done. First drawn plan will be done for me to look at this week. Bathroom, hardwoods definitely need a re-do. I found some vintage light fixtures online to replace the updated ones the previous owners had installed. As luck would have it, I found the original living room light fixtures in a box in the garage so I cancelled the ones I had ordered. The chandelier looks a little dungeonesque for me, but I want to put the wall sconces up. Now that the snow has melted I can see what I actually bought. :-) It is a good solid little cottage by all accounts. We are getting to know each other now.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Dream House

I have been searching for a house that I love for 7 or 8 years. I'd look at home listings online a few times a year and have gone to see 13 houses over those years. I put "Find my dream home" on my birthday blog list last year. In the winter of 2010 I had put that search officially on hold. I wasn't finding what I wanted so I planned to give it a rest. After I learned that another important person in my life is following his dreams by moving to New York City I started to get how really important my home is to me. I do not have a dream of moving to a different city. That nudged me back into my home search. I expanded my search area, and got more clear on my 'must haves' and my deal breakers. Today a seller and I came to agree upon the right price and I have a house under contract. After living 17 years in a house that is 'fine' for us, but that I have never loved, I am moving. WHOA! I am excited and occasionally just a little overwhelmed. I did my homework and used the opinions and expertise of a few people I trust before I moved forward. The house inspection and closing are yet to happen, so I will reserve more details for later. I'll get back to you on the rest. It's a great house. And I am really happy.
UPDATE: inspection complete, now looking at getting the sellers to fix a few details before we close next month.