Five Things: May 27, 2014

Long weekend holiday weekend, concluded. That makes Tuesday into Monday. And even though it is now a shortened work week, that doesn't make coming back any more fun. So, today I shall daydream.

Five Places I've Always Wanted to Visit

There are places I've been to which I would love to return, but I'm taking this list in the direction of the road never traveled.

1. Hawaii - Tropical locations seem to hold very little appeal to me anymore, probably as a result of where I live. Palm trees? Meh. I can stand on my back porch for those. And yet Hawaii has always intrigued me.

2. Charleston, SC - There's an aquarium. Gardens and plantations. Architecture and parks. A minor league baseball field. History. Sounds like camera paradise! (Runner up: Savannah, GA)

3. St Louis, MO - An aquarium *and* a zoo. Landmarks and museums and historical sites. An opportunity to cross another MLB park off my list. (Runner up: Denver, CO)

4. (for the sake of not copping out and taking up two spaces with one theme) Either Tokyo Disney or Hong Kong Disneyland - It's not a shock to you that Disney parks are my happy place. I've read trip reviews on my favorite Disney blogs and pored over scads of photos, devouring the details from afar. If I were going to do Disney internationally, it would have to be one of these two parks. Nothing against Disneyland Paris (which I wouldn't turn down), but I am so curious about some of the unique attractions and technologies in the two Asian resorts.

5. The Grand Canyon - Sure, it's cliche, I suppose. But I have a bunch of my grandparents' old photos and this is someplace they stopped on their travels. I'd love to see it with my own two eyes and get some photos of my own. But more than that, nature is astounding. Sometimes you just need to stand in awe. (Runners up: Jackson Hole, WY, and the Finger Lakes, NY)

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The One with the Five Freebies

We all know about Ross's "five freebies" -- and if you don't, seriously, sit down and watch some Friends already, for crying out loud -- and of course I think my husband is the cutest, handsomest man ever. But I'd give him five "freebies" and I'm entitled to mine. (Ahem.)

In no particular order...

1. Mike Lowell -- He can just sit there and smile at me. That's all I'd need. It would kill me dead.
2. Blake Shelton -- I love his sarcastic sense of humor. He could just alternately sing to me and make me laugh with snarky remarks.
3. Tom Selleck -- Every time he does an interview with Rachael Ray, I feel like he is just the nicest man ever. And, let's be honest, he is not too hard on the eyes either.
4. Chris Noth -- I am not at all sure what the untraditional appeal is here, but he won me over as Mr Big a thousand years ago.
5. Donnie Wahlberg -- I follow him on Twitter and he is one of the most positive and uplifting people in my entire feed. That kind of enthusiasm for life is captivating. Irony: back when I was a wee lass and New Kids on the Block were all the rage, I couldn't have really cared less about any of them (mainstream pop culture? not this girl!), but I always turned my critical little nose up at Donnie for being so much older and somehow dorkier than the rest. Let this be a lesson to all silly little girl-fools: Those are the ones that will floor you later!

And if I were picking from fictional television characters? (Because speaking of dorks, hi, my name is Dawn.)

1. Hook, Once Upon a Time (Colin O'Donoghue) - Because how can a girl resist a bad boy pirate? (This was a very close race with Bash, from Reign, played by Torrance Coombs and his crazy ice blue eyes.)
2. Ted Mosby, How I Met Your Mother (Josh Radnor) - Because I am sucker for a lovable, romantic dork.
3. Ichabod Crane, Sleepy Hollow (Tom Mison) - Seriously. I shouldn't even have to explain this. Just look up 'eye candy' in the dictionary.
4. Mr Reese, Person of Interest (James Caviezel) - He has dry humor, looks great in a suit, and always shows up at the right time. To quote Monica Gellar: ummm, ok!
5. Raymond Reddington, The Blacklist (James Spader) - I have been a sucker for Spader since Boston Legal. Red is the perfect combination of power, intelligence, fearlessness, and danger.

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My how things have changed:
Five Freebies: version one, 2005.
Five Freebies: version two, 2009.

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20 things I plan to do during the holiday season.

1. Plant a poinsettia in the planter by our front door.
2. Put up the first real Christmas tree I'll have had since I lived at home.
3. Bake four different kinds of cookies.
4. Watch all my favorite Christmas shows and movies. (The Polar Express. Home Alone. A Christmas Carol - both the George C Scott version and the Disney full-length animated version. The Nativity Story. A Christmas Story. It's a Wonderful Life. A Charlie Brown Christmas. Prep and Landing. Prep and Landing: Naughty or Nice. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Elf.)
5. Enjoy eating meals on my newly expanded set of Christmas dishes.
6. Sing along to all my favorite Christmas music on my iPod when I am in the car.
7. Visit Hollywood Studios to enjoy the Spectacle of Dancing Lights.
8. Switch over to burning candles from my stash of winter scents.
9. Attend the Candlelight worship service on Christmas Eve.
10. Take our annual Christmas Eve drive around our area of town to enjoy the Christmas lights.
11. Read my favorite childhood Christmas books again.
12. Admire the lights and lighted wreath my husband puts up on the exterior of our house.
13. Make some hot apple cider.
14. Put up decorations throughout the interior of our home.
15. Breathe in the amazing scent of a real Christmas tree and exclaim over it a hundred times.
16. Turn out the rest of the lights in the house and relax solely by Christmas tree lights.
17. See "Holidays Around the World" at EPCOT.
18. Have a seasonal treat at WDW.
19. Consider planning a fun snack or two for New Year's Eve.
20. Stay in with my husband on New Year's Eve and toast the birth of a brand new year.

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