#82 - See a NFL game. (19/101)

I am not a huge football fan but I have always enjoyed going to games. The atmosphere of football games is awesome: competitive, on edge, good vibes and more. My boyfriend grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina and is a huge Panthers fan. His parents go to a lot of the games so last weekend we joined them and went to the Panthers vs. Texans game. I haven't been to a NFL game in a long time so I was really excited to go. We arrived to the game a few minutes before kickoff and it was a beautiful and hot day. My favorite play was when quarterback Cam Newton literally flipped into the end zone for a touchdown, so cool! It was such a fun game and we ended up winning 24-17. Go Panthers, keep pounding!

#73 - Host a giving circle. (18/101)

Growing up I would get a weekly allowance for completing chores (as most kids do). But unlike most kids, starting when I was about five years old, my parents asked me to put half of my allowance each week into a tzedakah (Hebrew word for "charity") box. At the end of each year, I would count up the money and choose where to make a donation. From a young age my parents (and especially my mom) instilled in me the importance of philanthropy and the importance of giving to others no matter how much or how little one has. As I've grown up I have continued to donate to different organizations each year, both my time and money.

When I was a third year student at UVa, I took a class meant to instill philanthropy in college students where our class granted $100,000 to local Charlottesville organizations (you can read a bit more about that in a past post). This was my first experience with collective giving and I loved it. I loved that we went through a process together to discuss what values were important to us, what collective values we wanted to demonstrate through our giving and most of all, I loved that we were having fun while doing good. Last year, I took part in a second collective giving experience, a Challah for Hunger alumni giving circle. The difference with this circle was that we gave our own contributions along with unallocated funds from the organization and distributed $20,000 to two hunger relief organizations.

At the beginning of the summer, I was approached by the CEO of Challah for Hunger and asked if I would consider co-hosting the second alumni giving circle. I didn't even have to think, I immediately said yes and started working with my co-leader on the circle. Our giving circle concluded this past week and it was an incredible experience. Six Challah for Hunger alumni from around the country took part in the circle which included four digital meetings, education about hunger relief and philanthropy, fruitful conversations about our personal and collective values and more. We ended up granting $10,000 (a mixture of personal donations and unallocated funds from the organization) to two amazing hunger relief organizations. This was an incredible experience and I am really grateful to the six members of the giving circle and Challah for Hunger.

I hope to host more giving circles in the future!

#6 - Complete a 1000+ piece jigsaw puzzle (17/101)

I have fond memories of sitting on vacations and doing jigsaw puzzles. There is something about taking the time to do a puzzle - it's relaxing, a bit challenging (if it's a good one) and lets you undigitize and focus on what's in front of you. I thought it would be fun to add a puzzle to my list, partly because I miss doing them and partly because I love giving myself little challenges to complete. I chose a puzzle of Cinque Terre, a Unesco World Heritage Site in Italy that is five small towns on the coast. I visited a few years ago and it was beautiful, I hope to get back some day. I got completely addicted when completing the puzzle and found myself using all of my free time to work on it. I now remember why I can't let myself do puzzles regularly :)

Puzzle Complete!

#96 - Light Shabbat candles every Friday for a month. (16/101)

Growing up, my family would light Shabbat candles together most Friday nights. As my sister and I got older and had more activities on Friday nights, we stopped lighting candles as a family every week. When I was living in Argentina last year, I would light Shabbat candles with my supervisor Jessi whenever I was in the office on Fridays. I love lighting candles because it makes me stop for a moment and reflect on the past week and the week to come. I decided to get back in the habit of lighting candles each Friday and have now done so for the last six weeks. This week is the Jewish new year and it is a tradition (such as in the secular new year) to make a resolution of something you want to change in the following year. For year 5776 in the Jewish calendar, my resolution is to light Shabbat candles more. I hope to do so throughout the next year and for years to come. Shana Tova, a happy new year to everyone who celebrates!

ps. if you would like to make a new year's resolution and post it, feel free to do so here. 

#56 - Make coasters using maps from the places I’ve traveled. (15/101)

I was looking on Pinterest and Etsy for some inspiration and found some really cute map coasters. I thought it would be a fun project so I went to get the supplies to make my own. I asked my friend Jennifer to help me (aka the craft queen) because I knew with her they would turn out great! Here is how I created them.

Supplies:

• 4 x 4 tiles (I got mine at Home Depot!)

• Modge Podge (I used the glossy kind so they would have a nice glossy look)

• sheets of cork 

• adhesive spray

• xacto knife

• ruler

• foam brush

• maps (I got mine at paper source)

Directions:

First I traced (with a pencil and a rule) the outline of a square on the sections of the maps I wanted to use and cut them out individually using a xacto knife. Next I used the adhesive spray to put pieces of cork on the bottoms of each tile. I then started to modge podge (using a foam brush) the maps on to the coasters. I suggest doing one coat, waiting for it to dry and doing a second coat. And voila, you have beautiful map coasters! 

#39 - Go wine tasting in Napa. (14/101)

I love wine and enjoy visiting wine regions all over the world. We were heading out to Oakland/San Francisco for my cousins bat mitzvah so I convinced my family to arrive a day early so we could spend a day in Napa Valley. We had a really wonderful day, I did a bunch of research before we went and asked lots of friends and family for suggestions to make sure we made the most of our limited time there. We ended up visiting two vineyards and one restaurant for lunch, it was a perfect day and I'm so glad we decided to add this to our trip. Our day included:

Kuleto Estate: The drive from Oakland to Kuleto Estate was beautiful but very hilly and wind-y so all the ladies in the car were a bit motion sick by the time we arrived. I had made a reservation a couple weeks before we went and noticed that the day was full when I checked availability the day before so if you would like to visit, I would plan ahead. Kuleto was recommended to us by my cousins, it was the right choice to visit and a perfect first stop on our day trip in Napa. The grounds are gorgeous as it overlooks the whole valley, Lake Hennessey and the town of Rutherford. We went on a tour of the grounds and then sat to do a tasting on their beautiful patio, in total there were about 15 people in the group (including the 5 of us). We tasted delicious wines that were matched with cheese samplings as well. We loved the wine so much we ended up buying two bottles, a Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The wine is expensive but delicious and can only be bought at the vineyard. I loved that this vineyard was small and had a family feel to it. It was a gorgeous vineyard and I highly suggest it!

Tra Vigne: After our tour and tasting at Kuleto, we headed into town and had lunch at Tra Vigne, a great Italian restaurant. I would definitely suggest sitting at their outdoor terrace, it is beautiful. The food was incredible, make sure to order their mozzerella "al minuto" which is hand made at the moment ordered. We got it to start with some fresh heirloom tomatoes and it was quite tasty. For lunch we had a mix of delicious pastas, pizzas and fish dishes, I would definitely recommend Tra Vigne.

Round Pond Estate: Next we headed to Round Pond Estate which was very close to Tra Vigne in the town of Rutherford. Round Pond also has an olive mill so we first went to the olive mill by accident. Round Pond had been recommended to us by friends of ours, they have a beautiful terrace outside overlooking their vineyard and also have a very nice tasting room inside. I would also definitely recommend a reservation here. The wine was delicious and it was the perfect last stop on our day trip to Napa.