A couple of weeks ago marked the official end of my 101 in 1001 days list – I had kind of forgotten about it, to be honest and didn’t realize my 1001 days were over until a reader recently inquired. Man, time flies by! Looking back it’s crazy to think about how much my life has changed since I first created the list of 101 tasks back in 2012; I was living in my first apartment in downtown Chicago, the blog was just under two years old and I hadn’t even met B yet. A lot has changed during the course of 1001 days and although there were a few things that were no longer applicable as time went on (definitely changed my mind about wanting to get another tattoo, going to business school and attending NYFW), overall I feel really good about the list and enjoyed making progress and holding myself accountable.

A few favorites from my list:

• Donating $25 to a new charity every month (#69): I really enjoyed finding a new charity to donate to every month, whether my decision was influenced by current events or crowdsourced through Twitter. One of the best parts was being able to support individual fundraising efforts of friends, family and blog readers – this is definitely something I want to continue moving forward and was a great habit to get into.
• Having apartment photos shot (#3): I’m on my 4th apartment since I initially wrote my 101 in 1001 list and feel so grateful that 2 of my past homes have been photographed and featured on The Everygirl and The Glitter Guide. Not only was it incredibly exciting to see the final features and meet new blog readers, but it also has served as a little time capsule for me to look back on a few of the places I’ve called my home.
• Taking a trapeze lesson (#4): Seriously, do it. Taking a trapeze lesson was so cool and I had an amazing experience with the Trapeze School of New York team in Chicago – I was blown away by how much we were able to learn and try during one lesson and had a ton of fun while also getting a serious work out in.
• Paying off all credit card debt (#14): You know you’re grown up when paying off your credit cards calls for celebration. While I never had a ton of debt or missed payments, I consistently carried a balance on my credit cards and it feels so good to have them completely paid off and have that money go toward my savings instead. If I could go back and have a talk with my 22 year old self I’d definitely tell her to tone it down on the trips to Target and reconsider if that H&M shopping trip is really worth it  because I feel like everything I purchased with my credit cards for awhile was very disposable and a waste of money.
• Traveling to new places (#40): I didn’t get to travel very often growing up so one of the most exciting things about being settled into my career has been being able to afford travel. I’ve really begun to value experiences over things and feel so lucky to have seen so many new places in the course of 1001 days. Trips to DC, Nashville, Paris, London, Tokyo, Kyoto and San Francisco were definitely highlights!
• Falling in love (#81): Forgive me for being a sap for a second but it blows my mind to think that 1001 days ago I didn’t yet have Blaine in my life. I try and keep the details of my personal life off the blog but I am so happy and so grateful for his support day in and day out. Our life together in San Francisco still feels like a big adventure and I feel so lucky to have my best friend by my side through it all.

So… the real question now is: do I make another 101 in 1001 days? I really enjoyed sitting down and taking time to reflect on what I wanted to happen over the course of nearly three years – it was fun to plug away on the list and really think about how much life changes so quickly after the 1001 days were over. I am currently working on round two of my 101 in 1001 days list, so stay tuned.

If you’re at all intrigued by the idea of creating your own 101 in 1001 days list, I cannot recommend it enough. It’s both fun and inspiring and can teach you to enjoy every day a little bit more and just how quickly those individual days can add up. If you do create your own list, I’d love to see it! Be sure to leave a comment with a link to your list or share it with me via email.