101 Things You Don't Know About Me - Part III (Finale)

52. I like jewelry, simple things like diamond pendants, diamond or pearl studs, and Holly Yashi earrings.
53. I can do origami. I can’t do balloon animals. I’m not one of those Hobby Lobby crafty people, at all.
54. I make to-do lists. It’s a great feeling of accomplish to finish everything on it and be able to throw the list away.
55. One of the things on my perpetual to-do list is to organize another list.
56. One of the things I’d like to do before I die is have dinner at a restaurant like Chez Panisse.
57. I’d also like to see Hearst Castle. I lived in California most of my life and never went there.
58. Celebrities I’d like to meet include Anthony Bourdain, Rachael Ray, Nigella Lawson, Daniel Radcliffe, Al Pacino, Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito (we’re supposed to be the same height).
59. I’ve met Barry Manilow five times.
60. I’ve also met Franc D’Ambrosio (Phantom of the Opera), Arthur Fiedler (Boston Pops), Gerry Mulligan (sax), Billy Mays (piano), James Callahan (from the movie "Copacabana") and Howie Mandel (during the days of St. Elsewhere).
61. I seldom wear make-up. I had to stop subscribing to "Allure" magazine because I’d always be buying whatever moisturizer or cleanser or lip gloss that was on their "best" list. I could spend hours at Sephora just browsing.
62. I have a keen sense of smell. Sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes it’s not.
63. It infuriates me when I know that absolutely I’m right but someone else insists I’m not.
64. Yet I have horrible self-esteem. I’m not good at taking criticism either.
65. I love good coffee, especially Peet’s. I’d rather have no coffee than bad coffee. I’d rather have plain ole Lipton tea than bad coffee.
66. Dogs and children sense that I have no authority over them (translation: they don’t mind when I tell them to do something).
67. My favorite color is purple.
68. I took piano lessons for over 10 years.
69. I also took drum lessons one summer in junior high.
70. Other odd courses I’ve taken were Blues Piano, Graphic Design, and Massage (Learning Annex is great!).
71. I like watching football. (But I don’t watch it all the time during the season.) The sound of the game going reminds me of family get-togethers when all the uncles & male cousins obsessed about the game while the aunts & girl cousins were in the kitchen.
72. When I was a kid, I had a football, baseball mitt, fire engine, and erector set. I wasn’t exactly a tomboy but didn’t love Barbies (although I had them).
73. If I were brave enough I’d like to get a pixie hair cut (really short), like Natalie Portman (when it was growing out after "V for Vendetta").
74. I like socks with whimsical designs on them.
75. I love chocolate. I once went to a chocolate festival with my friend Debbie. It was the only time in my life where I reached my saturation point with chocolate.
76. At least for now, I don’t plan to color my hair to cover the grey. It’s a family thing, most of my family does dye their hair.
77. There were something like 155 people in my high school class. Most of us knew each others’ names, even if we weren’t friends. Many of us grew up together from kindergarten or grade school.
78. The town I grew up in is 1 square mile.
79. I can be superstitious. I don’t know how much of it is really just being obsessive-compulsive.
80. The older I get, the more confrontational I’ve found that I can be. (Translation: The older I get, the less I tend to put up with s***. I so don’t want to become the old lady with a bug up her bu**.)
81. On the other hand, I’m a rule follower. For example, even if there’s nobody else in a parking lot, I don’t feel comfortable driving up the down aisles, or down the up aisles.
82. One of my favorite movies is "The Good Girl" with Jennifer Aniston and Jake Gylenhaal. I like how it captures some of the minute details of living in Texas. For the same reason, I like "Ten Items Or Less" with Morgan Freeman. It gives you the sense of what someone else’s life is like. Other favorite movies: "Closer," "Sideways," "Pulp Fiction," "The Anniversary Party" and "My Cousin Vinny."
83. When I go shopping, I like to pick a parking spot farther away from the door. I don’t mind the extra walking, plus there’s less coming & going of other cars, and hopefully less chance of someone dinging my car with their door or worse.
84. I just read an issue of "Graphic Design USA" that had a bunch of graphic designers’ favorites. So here are a few of mine. Favorite fine artists: Matisse, Monet, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keefe. I enjoy museums.
85. Favorite songs: "Imagine" and "Woman" by John Lennon, "Someone to Watch Over Me" (particularly by Sting), San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) by Scott McKenzie, "Sleeps With Butterflies" by Tori Amos.
86. Favorite Barry Manilow songs: "Somewhere In the Night," "Somewhere Down the Road" and "I Write the Songs."
87. Frequently used bookmarks: Netflix, Google, Mindy’s blog about her Peace Corps adventures in Morocco, Virtually 21 and webmail.
88. I’m a local guide junkie. I love those free magazines you pick up when you’re new to the area or on vacation, that have restaurant listings, things to do, etc.
89. Pie is big in my house. We had peach pie instead of cake, at our wedding.
90. My husband and I met on kind of a blind date. We had mutual friends and other coincidental connections.
91. I skipped second grade and also a year of high school Spanish.
92. I prefer being a follower rather than a leader.
93. Yet I’m also a "if you want something done right do it yourself" type person.
94. I clip coupons and scour grocery ads.
95. I don’t sing in the shower or sing along to the radio in the car. I take that back. I do sing along in the car if I’m by myself and it’s a Barry Manilow song, since I know all the words to all the songs.
96. I don’t know how to dance and wish I’d taken ballroom dancing when I was in college (they had a good class in P.E.).
97. I’d like to learn Pilates and see what the fuss is about. I’m not flexible at all. I can’t touch my hands to the floor while standing up, without bending my knees. I can’t even do "downward facing dog" in yoga, I don’t bend that way.
98. I think regional accents add to a person’s personality. It’s intriguing. BTW I don’t go around saying y’all. I did one time when I was trying to explain something on the phone and I thought it would facilitate the other person understanding what I was trying to say, and it worked.
99. I’m always hungry when I go to bed because I read food magazines before I go to sleep.
100. I usually bring snacks with me when I run errands. Things like granola bars (Fiber One chocolate are yummy) or cookies, and water. Having something with me keeps me from stopping at Wendy’s and getting a Baconator (I’ve still never had one).
101. A lot of my clothes are kids size. I can usually find adult clothes like shirts, but trying to find dress clothes is completely frustrating.