#67 - Leave a 100% tip for great service (68/101).

I spent the last few days in Milan, Italy. I have traveled through Europe a decent amount so feel mostly comfortable navigating in countries where I do not speak the language. I sat down at a neighborhood cafe in a residential area to get some work done and quickly realized no one spoke English (totally ok). We eventually got around to ordering green tea, using a bit of charades and non-verbal communication. The waiter came back and checked on me every little bit, bringing a fresh tea bag and cookies over time. At one point I went to the restroom and accidentally pulled the alarm instead of flushing the toilet, they quickly helped me fix the situation and somehow didn't make me feel too embarrassed. I eventually ordered some lunch and ended up sitting at the cafe for a few hours. When I received the bill, the waitress winked at me and I saw that she had taken off a couple items I ordered and did not charge me for the cookies or fresh tea bag. I decided to leave a 100% tip because they were so patient with me as we struggled to communicate using mostly non-verbal communication, kind to not charge me for the additional items and offered great service. At least I was able to wish them "grazie" (thank you in Italian) before leaving. When exploring unfamiliar cities, I enjoy finding kind strangers who remind me to always treat those I don't know with the utmost respect and kindness.

#21 - Unplug completely for 24 hours (no internet, iPhone, television, etc.) (67/101).

In Judaism, every Saturday is Shabbat, a day of rest. A day to disconnect and unplug from distractions and weekday concerns in order to connect to higher pursuits, including faith, family and more. I have never observed Shabbat religiously but over the years have had various Shabbat practices such as lighting candles on Friday night to welcome Shabbat, having Friday night dinner to connect with family and friends and more. I spent this past weekend at Lake Lure and decided to unplug (no internet, phone, tv, screens, etc.) for 24 hours, specifically choosing to tie it to Shabbat.

We live in a world of immediate gratification and instant connection, which can sometimes be a bit exhausting, due to our devices. I have the type of personality where I move quickly, work hard and hardly take time to relax. I wanted to take a day to disconnect from all the weekday concerns in my life and focus on those around me and myself. From Friday night until late Saturday night, I unplugged completely and it was glorious. We spent the day hiking, hanging at a brewery, cooking delicious food, playing board games and more. I did not observe Shabbat in the traditional way that religious Jews do, but I consciously unplugged, creating my own version of sacred space and a day of rest.

Although I was the only one in the group unplugging completely, others used their technology much less than normal. In the moments where I would usually pick up my phone, I instead let my mind wander, asked questions and watched what was going on around me. I had a few moments where I thought to myself, "Oo I need to remember to ___" and instead of pulling out my phone to write it down or text the person, I either wrote it down or tried to store it in my memory to remember for the next day. In a world where anyone I would like to connect with is a few clicks away, it was a weird feeling to consciously choose to not use technology in the moment, even if it was just for 24 hours.

I don't think I will religiously observe Shabbat anytime soon but I enjoyed unplugging for a day. I might even try to make it a ritual to unplug a couple times a year as a way to clear my brain, relax and connect with those around me.

#2 - Attend a candle making workshop (66/101).

I am a huge fan of candles and crafts. When my colleague Melissa suggested we go to Candlefish at Ponce City Market to attend a candle making workshop, I quickly agreed and so did a few of my other colleagues. I was pleased to find out that Candlefish was started by the creators of Rewined candles, candles created in old wine bottles with scents that mimic wines as I have been buying Rewined candles for the last few years. Candlefish and Rewined started in Charleston and Candlefish now has a storefront in Atlanta as well. They have a fragrance library of over 100 candle fragrances, hold candle and other craft workshop and sell candles and other fun gifts.

At the candle workshop, we each chose a fragrance to create our candles with after smelling about 20 scents. I chose No. 039, which consists of plum, red berries and musk. We measured out the scented oil, mixed it with hot wax and poured it into a candle holder after securing the wick. We learned a bit more about Candlefish's story, why their candles are numbered, not named (so you have less preconceived notions about what scents you like and dislike), talked about candle best practices and learned that a candlemaker is called a chandler. It was such a fun afternoon and I enjoyed seeing how everyone's candles came out. We left our candles to harden overnight and went back and picked them up later that week. I suggest attending a workshop at Candlefish if you enjoy having your own candles and if not, I suggest stopping in the store to smell candles in the fragrance library (it is a great space and a lot of fun to test out what fragrances you enjoy).

#94 - Watch every episode of Friday Night Lights (65/101).

Over the past year, I have watched all five seasons and 76 episodes of Friday Night Lights. I had never seen a full episode before I started watching it but so many people I know had told me it was worth watching all the way through. The show is about a racially divided, blue-collared small town in Texas that is brought together Friday nights for high school football games. My favorite line in the show is "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose", which Coach Taylor uses as a mantra/rallying cry throughout each season. I have always been someone that watches certain tv shows to relax, but on my own schedule. I enjoyed watching this show to clear my mind and liked watching the evolution of all the characters throughout the five seasons. After watching the full show, I now understand what all the hype was about.

#14 - Take language lessons (Hebrew) (64/101).

Shalom! For the last couple months I have been taking Hebrew language lessons with Morah (teacher in Hebrew) Melissa. As a proud cultural Jew, I have always wished I knew more conversational Hebrew as I have been lucky to travel to Israel a few times and many of my colleagues and friends speak Hebrew fluently. I remember when I interviewed for my current job, the President of our Foundation asked me if I spoke Hebrew. I answered "while I learned the alphabet and some basic words in Hebrew school growing up, I don't - but I do want to learn. Do you speak Hebrew?" (he answer was similar to mine if you were interested).

My colleague Melissa speaks Hebrew. I heard she was tutoring someone else in the language so we chatted and decided to have four lessons so she could teach me some of the basics. When I travel to new countries, I try to make an effort and learn some basic words. Through my travels in Israel, I have learned a handful of words and phrases so my Hebrew lessons with Melissa at least started with a very basic understanding, although I had never been taught how to formulate phrases, verb tenses, etc. We ended up having 4 lessons, here is a bit of what I learned in each:

1. Lesson 1: I have/don't have, need versus want, telling time, numbers, question words, verbs
2. Lesson 2: calendar (days of the week, month, year), body, colors
3. Lesson 3: prepositions, verbs in past tense, adjectives, simple phrases
4. Lesson 4: verb groups, simple phrases, review 

While I am in no way fluent, I do feel that I have a better understanding of the language. Todah Rabah Morah Melissa!