A few years ago, my friend Maggie Mason of Mighty Girl fame kicked off a bit of an internet phenomenon. She took the concept of Bucket Lists, which is a reference to things you want to do before you "kick the bucket", and took a more positive spin by calling it Life Lists, aka things you want to do during your life. She also encouraged people to share them in the hopes that it would provide more momentum towards actually achieving dreams and goals. But another benefit arose; people reached out to help her and her friends who created Life Lists to accomplish various things where they had some kind of expertise, connections, or other ways to help. So here's my life list; some things have already been checked off (in bold), and many have not. Occasionally I add something new or remove something that has lost its appeal. And it's oh so satisfying when I tackle and accomplish another of my dreams, be it big or small.

Learn to make donuts.

Sing a set with a guitarist or pianist at a bar.

See the glaciers before they melt.

See the Galapagos Islands before they close off to tourists.

Go on our honeymoon-that-never-happened, Part 1: Oaxaca.

Go on our honeymoon-that-never-happened, Part 2: Bahamas.

Walk or bike across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Go on international trips with each of my kids, one on one.

Give a TED Talk.

Help make a film.

Finish Isabel's baby book.

Be dressed for a red carpet event by a real designer.

Try my hand at fashion design.

Visit the great wall of China.

See the Taj Mahal.

Go to cooking school, ideally to learn pastry-making, ideally in Paris.

Learn to make wine.

Learn how not to kill plants.

Learn Italian.

Hire a choreographer to stage a full dance routine, Glee-style, for me, my husband and three kids and perform for family and friends.

Visit Tokyo.

See herds of sheep in the hills of New Zealand.

See herds of sheep in the hills of Ireland.

See herds of sheep in the hills of Scotland.

Spend a week making cheese with my friend Jude in Williamstown, MA.

Do an all-American roadtrip with Dave and the Kids to see the National Parks.

Take the trans-Canadian railway trip.

Ride the Orient Express in a luxury car.

Visit the ancient ruins of Mexico.

Become proficient at the tango.

Attend a luau in Hawaii.

Go to bed by 9PM for 7 days.

Run a 10k.

Figure out something genius to do with all the rhinestone jewelry I inherited from my family.

Set up a real studio in my garage with space to paint, sew, draw, dream…

Learn…really learn…how to use a digital SLR.

Acquire a medium format Hasselblad and shoot beautiful black and white portraits of the people I love.

Get a cabin somewhere beautiful and relaxing to escape with my family and friends. No TV. Only board games and s’mores.

In memory of my Aunt Maria, who never missed an occasion of any kind, build a reminder system to ensure I never forget to say Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, or Congratulations to the people I love.

Learn to straighten my own hair.

Knit my Dad argyle socks (a long story).

Learn to ride a horse.

Get a hot tub.

Learn to camp with my family.

Go on Safari in Africa.

Get my house featured in Dwell (vain, I know, but it’s MY list!).

Join a start up again.

Hold a Tripod reunion.

Celebrate 30 years of friendship with Lesley, my honorary 7th sister.

Write for a design/fashion magazine.

Work as a design curator.

Adopt grandparents in a nearby nursing home.

Arrange a regular “read for the blind” volunteer gig.

Find a GREAT shade of red lipstick.

Learn to do smoky eyes that are smokin’.

Buy a flat in Montreal.

But a flat in Paris.

Learn enough about the opera to really enjoy it.

Ditto for jazz.

Go on a trip with my parents; just them and me.

Cultivate good manners in my kids, especially Southern-gentlemanly manners in my son.

Bring the kids on a service trip to an impoverished area of the world.

Return to Brittany with David and the kids and play amongst the menhirs.

Get a dog.

Own a convertible.

Own a pickup truck.

Reduce my wardrobe and jewelry by a third (again!).

Bake bread every Sunday for one month.

Write a book.

See the cranberry bogs during harvest.