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50 Ways to Break Up the Monotony of Your Life: A List of New Experiences to Try

August 13, 2017 by Vanessa Leave a Comment

Recently I lost a close family member to cancer and during that time of grieving, I was reminded how fleeting life can be and that I wanted to seize every moment moving forward. I vowed to try something new, to push myself to show up to life every day.

My life had become a routine of commuting to work, sitting in a cubicle, and then coming home and repeating the same evening activities almost daily. Do your work days all seem to be a blur and before you know it you’re waking up on Saturday uninspired? I can relate.

So, I promised myself that I would begin to incorporate new experiences into my day to break up the monotony, force my brain to fire off new circuits to positively impact my life and my health. Some days I wake up and already know what new experience I will have on that particular day and other days I refer to a bucket list of sorts saved in my phone notes. Either way, I’m having a blast learning about myself, firing up my brain, and sharing these experiences with others. I’m feeling rejuvenated and I’m showing up for life, a more delightful one.

Image: Pixabay

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.” – Henry David Thoreau

We only get one life and I plan to live mine to the fullest. The following list is made up of activities I recently experienced or that I hope to try soon. Not all of these experiences require much money or a lot of time required. Perhaps you would like to stretch the boundaries of your comfort zone and try one or all of them too?

  1. Go to brunch with your parent at a restaurant you’ve never tried.
  2. Drive a different route to work.
  3. Call up a family member you haven’t spoken to in years (or that you only text on occasion) and ask them about their day.
  4. Reach out to a co-worker or friend who works nearby and asked them to meet you for lunch.
  5. Volunteer on a committee, for your church or kid’s school or for a neighborhood association.
  6. Say yes when a friend invites you to travel to the lake, go camping, or site-seeing outside of town. Better yet, ask them to go with you.
  7. Eat local. Sip on a coffee at a local cafe or try the seasonal beer at a brewery.
  8. Style your hair differently than you did yesterday.
  9. Change up your fragrance. Wear new perfume or cologne.
  10. Pull your bicycle out of the garage and take it for a spin around the neighborhood after dinner one evening.
  11. Visit the library, walk over to a category of books that interest you and close your eyes. Run your hand across the shelf of books until you decide to stop. Remove whatever book your hand landed on and check it out to read it.
  12. Introduce yourself to a stranger and make small talk.
  13. Tour a neighborhood in your city that you never explore.
  14. Smile and say hello to a stranger on the street. You might find you have something in common with them.
  15. Don’t just sunbathe while at the lake or pool. Run and jump in the deep end with careless abandon. “Cannonball!”
  16. Desk yoga.
  17. Paint and sip wine at an art studio.
  18. Visit a festival and eat at a food truck. Ever try bbq nachos? Curry chicken?
  19. Eat your lunch away from your workplace at a park.
  20. Try an adult coloring book.
  21. Learn new skills by taking a webinar.
  22. Grab some friends and sign everyone up to try an escape room challenge.
  23. Experience a local seasonal activity like riding in a horse-drawn sled at Christmas, making s’mores with the Girl Scouts on National S’mores Day or grab a map and navigate a corn maze at a pumpkin patch.
  24. Wear colored socks to work.
  25. Pick up a new hobby that doesn’t involve using technology.
  26. Create a date jar with ideas for date night fun. Draw a new idea from the jar this weekend.
  27. Buy yourself flowers.
  28. Travel anywhere you’ve never been before.
  29. Throw a party that coincides with a random food holiday.
  30. Follow a recipe for food you normally buy. No churn vanilla ice cream anyone?
  31. Visit a tourist attraction or museum in your own city.
  32. Pick fruit in an orchard.
  33. Point the car west and just drive.
  34. Stop and talk to your neighbors when you see them outside.
  35. Always go to the movie theater? Try a dramatic play production instead at a local theater.
  36. Lasertag. Paintball. Water balloon fights.
  37. Grow vegetables or purchase them from a local farmer instead of buying them from a store.
  38. Walk into a toy store and buy a toy to assemble yourself like a puzzle or box of Legos.
  39. Try a different way of exercising or use a different exercise machine at the gym.
  40. Watch wildlife anywhere but in your own neighborhood.
  41. Take a new car for a test drive.
  42. Walk your friend or neighbor’s dog.
  43. Host a potluck or food contest amongst friends at your home. Who can make the tastiest beef jerky, mac-n-cheese, or pizza?
  44. Let a local artist or friend sketch your portrait.
  45. Get a henna tattoo.
  46. Celebrate your city or town’s birthday. Take in the sites and buy cupcakes to celebrate.
  47. Try a Pinterest DIY project.
  48. Listen to a different radio station all day long.
  49. Take a tour of the city from the air.
  50. Do anything counter to your normal routine and when a friend of family member makes a suggestion to do something you’re about to reject, say “yes!”

Have an idea of something I should try? Challenge me by leaving your idea in the comments section below!

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Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: active, activities, adult, boredom, bucket list, carpe diem, celebrate, create, DIY, do it yourself, family, fun, games, hacks, health, hobby, ideas, life, lifestyle, list, living, monotony, mood, routine, skills, things to do

20 Fun Kid-Free Things for Couples to do During the Winter

December 13, 2016 by Vanessa Leave a Comment

  1. Take yourselves on a Christmas light tour mission. Your mission is to find the yard with the largest holiday inflatables, park the car, and take a selfie with fat inflatable reindeer.
  2. Stop by a party decor store and buy wintertime props for a photo booth. Then head to a friend’s house, ring the doorbell, and sing a Christmas carol while wearing the props. Who doesn’t love a a couple singing in Santa hats and glasses toting a bottle of wine to share?
  3. Find matching massage chairs at your local big box store and enjoy a free 20 minute massage while you pretend to care to buy one.
  4. Bring your own travel size Irish cream liquor to the coffee shop. Spike your coffees when no one is looking. You’ll giggle like you’re a teen again. Risky.
  5. Find an empty parking lot and spin out doing donuts in the icy snow. Then, actually go out for donuts.
  6. Swing by the grocery store and buy dollar movie candy on your way to the theater. The twist is that you must not show one another what you’ve bought for them until seated in the theater. Should you choose to also sneak in beverages, say beer perhaps, but be sure to open the cans during loud scenes so you’re secret boozing goes undetected. Of course, decide who the designated driver is before you start your movie theater antics.
  7. Bundle up on a snowy day, head to the park, and make snow angels. Don’t forget your selfie stick.
  8. Go to an indoor sports park and compete against each other on the rope swings and see who can jump the wildest into the foam pit. Grab a pizza on your way home since you’re bound to work up a an appetite. You don’t want to ruin the fun should someone get hangry.
  9. Pack a gym bag and head to the YMCA to sit in the hot sauna together. Hot tub anyone?
  10. Find an area of your town that the local shuttle or trolley travels through and hop on and off at locations you’ve never visited.
  11. Attend a Final Friday art exhibit. It’s been awhile since you sat in art class. Go get your critique on.
  12. Declare today your dog’s birthday (or second birthday if you actually know their birthday) and take your fuzzy mutt on a trip to the pet store to pick out a toy and bag of treats. Happy Birthday to your fur baby!
  13. Build a snow igloo. (Everyone builds a snowman. Boring!) Think of your igloo as a fort in the snow. Better yet, build two snow walls to use as defense during an intense snowball fight.
  14. Make a cheese, meat, and fruit tray. Pour some vino and have Happy Hour by the fireplace.
  15. Go to The Dollar Store or Tuesday Morning and buy a summer landscape puzzle to complete together while your favorite summer playlists blares in the background. You’ll be dreaming of summer and conjuring warm thoughts in no time.
  16. Play a game I’ve coined called The Cheer-Up Challenge. When you’re out shopping for the holidays or in an airport, make an effort to smile at strangers. (Do it naturally when you happen to lock eyes otherwise they may think you’re unnaturally happy aka “weird.”) Make it a competition to see how many people each of you can get to smile back. The winner, at the end of the time declared, buys a sweet treat for the other. Kindness keeps giving!
  17. Watch a documentary on Netflix. Learning and lounging, yea!
  18. Search online for an all-adult tropical vacation destination. May I recommend Mexico all-inclusive resort? Book it then celebrate with fajitas for dinner.
  19. Visit Barnes and Nobles and pick out books for one another based on each other’s likes. Grab a blanket and snuggle up on the couch to read.
  20. Have a White Elephant gift exchange for two. Exchange zany, cheap gifts for one another.

Admittedly, these date ideas are random and that’s what makes them fun. The ideas require you to tap into your kid-at-heart spirit. Sure, you can rent a movie or watch evening television indoors with your significant other. But you’ve already done that, right? Instead, smile until your cheeks hurt while trying something spontaneous. Which date idea will you try this winter?

Let me know what ideas you have fun for a kid-less wintertime date night in the comment section below. I’d love new ideas!

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Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: adult, celebrate, Christmas, date, date night, fun, holiday, ideas, kid-free, Netfilx, no kids, shopping, snow, snowy day, weekend, winter, winter activities

35 Free Summer Activities for Adults

June 15, 2016 by Vanessa Leave a Comment

If summers “off” as a high school teacher taught me anything, it was that I was always on the hunt for free (or nearly free) summer activities. I certainly couldn’t afford to go out every weekend for a wine night or to a summer concert series on my salary alone. So, I created a fun list of 35 Free Summer Activities. Scroll down to choose an activity!

35-free-summer-activities-for-adults

  1. Visit the local art museum. Most offer a no-cost day on the weekend, but it is common courtesy to donate a dollar or two when you enter.
  2. Ask a friend if you can swim in their neighborhood’s community pool.
  3. Walk the air-conditioned mall and head to a department store’s make-up counter to try on a shade of summer lipstick.
  4. Check out the latest magazines or books from the local library. They often have summer reading group discussions planned. Ask for their calendar of events.
  5. Sample tasty local fare at the area’s farmers market. Many farmers offer samples of honey, sausage, and artisan cheeses.
  6. Host a summer-themed movie night for friends with fresh-popped popcorn. (See our popcorn seasonings recipes). Encourage each attendee to bring their favorite candy to share.
  7. Volunteer to be on the building site crew for Habitat for Humanity.
  8. Tour a flea market, mall, or city-sponsored event. Enjoy the people watching.
  9. Plan a seriously competitive game night at home. How long has it been since you broke out the ol’ Scrabble board?
  10. Mark down your not-so-new belongings and host a one-day garage sale. If it isn’t sold, it goes to Goodwill.
  11. Stop by an area winery for free samples. Check their calendar for the release of their newest blend.
  12. Go on a model home tour.
  13. Test drive a convertible.
  14. Go fishing at the state park or your neighborhood’s pond.
  15. Invite your musician friends over for a jam session on the deck in front of the chiminea.
  16. Seek out your area’s nature center. Walk hand-in-hand with your honey or take the dog for a brisk walk.
  17. Check your park board’s event calendar. Yoga in the park at sunrise anyone?
  18. Brush up on your Shakespeare while enjoying a dramatic local theater production at the city park.
  19. Put the chairs in the middle of the yard and stargaze with ooey-gooey smores.
  20. Go geocaching. Don’t forget to bring your own trinket, pen, and paper to leave in the capsule once you find it.
  21. String up a hammock or lay back in the gravity chair and read a hot romance novel checked out from the library.
  22. Kick off your flip flops and dance with your special someone on the deck by the light of the moon.
  23. Go on a photo shoot outdoors capturing beautiful landscape, nature images.
  24. Take the dog to the area dog park and meet other fur baby parents.
  25. Take up frisbee golf.
  26. Turn on the sprinkler system and have a backyard water party.
  27. Make a competition out of catching fireflies in a jar with a friend.
  28. Host a BYOB party or assign each guest a food item to bring.
  29. Play quarter pool (or going during a open to the public free time) at billiard hall.
  30. Have a watermelon seed spitting contest from the deck.
  31. Lay on a beach blanket at the park and let your thoughts wander while you declare cloud shapes.
  32. Wash your car in your swimsuit. Take breaks to drink lemonade. Let’s face it. Detailing your car is hard work.
  33. Make alcohol-infused fruit popsicles.
  34. Go to a local airport’s airshow or tour their aviation museum.
  35. Actually talk to your neighbors when out for a walk. They secretly want to break the ice with you too.

Filed Under: Lifestyle Tagged With: activities, affordable, at-home, cheap, entertainment, fun, games, inexpensive, summer, summer break

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Hello! I'm Vanessa. Welcome to One Delightful Life, a blog created to add more delight to your life with delicious recipes, travel destinations, and lifestyle improvement ideas. Thanks for exploring my blog!

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