#44 Eat a Hot Dog at the Original Nathan’s on Coney Island

Although I do realize that you can get Nathan’s Hot Dogs virtually anywhere these days, it was important to me, as a hot dog connoisseur, to eat an original as part of my bucket list!

After two fabulous nights in NYC, it was time to get a little gritty and head out to Coney Island for this bucket list experience.

Upon arrival, I knew I was not on the Upper East Side anymore!

The first stop was obviously Nathan’s.

And of course I knew my order from the minute I stepped on to the Island.  One original hot dog, plain.

I felt that to get the true Nathan’s original experience, I had to enjoy the delicacy in its purest form, meat on a bun!

Just a couple of cuties ready to take down Nathan’s original!

The time had come to take my first bite and savour the dog in all its glory!

Juicy and delicious it was!

After chowing down on my original, we decided to take advantage of being away from the city and at the beach!

A little feet-in-the-water stroll was in order!

We then met up with my girl Katie from high school on the boardwalk for a couple New York brews at this cool little spot, Paul’s Daughter.

So fun to experience a different part of New York that most New Yorker’s themselves never even experience, and of course any day involving an original hot dog eating experience is a good day in my book!

#19 Fly on a Private Jet

This was one of those items on the Summer Bucket List that’s been on the life bucket list for years now. It took a random meeting with a pilot in Los Angeles that lived in Oklahoma to finally make it happen.  That pilot, my friend Chad, not only took me on the jet, he also took me to a OKC Thunder playoff game in San Antonio. Needless to say he is on the top of my “favorite people” list right now!

Boarding the plane, Texas bound!

I love the little GPS video tracker so we knew where we were in the air at all times!

Gotta sport my “Westbrook glasses” on the way to Thunder Up!

Landed in San Antonio after a perfect flight with my favorite pilot!

We headed down to the Riverwalk for a margarita, then over to the game!

Definitely a day I will never forget and will always be grateful to Chad for turning this bucket list item into a reality!

#54 Attend an NBA Playoff Game

What an exciting moment, the first check off the bucket list, and I couldn’t imagine a better one to start with!

As I flew back to my hometown of Edmond, Oklahoma on Sunday evening, my good friend and fellow crazed sports fan, Bradie, booked a plane ticket  for her first trip to the great state of Oklahoma to help me complete my first bucket list item!

She flew in Monday morning and the first item of business was well under way, get that girl some Thunder gear! Five shirts later, my Mom, myself and Bradie all had new Thunder gear for the game that night!

I ended up wearing four different Thunder shirts throughout the day! (Can you say wardrobe change much?!)

Following the Thunder shirt shopping spree Bradie and I headed straight for my favorite restaurant in OKC, Ted’s Cafe Escondido for the best frozen sangria I’ve ever had!

We then headed down to “Thunder Alley” which takes place before and during all Thunder games directly in front of the stadium. They have bounce houses and games for kids, plenty of photo ops and of course mingling with fellow Thunder fans!

After meeting up with some friends, getting our tickets and pre-gaming, it was time to Thunder Up, and they don’t call it “Loud City” for nothing!  The stadium was rocking all night!

I have to say that it is SO fun to be the fan of a team whose city is behind them 110%, you can barely go a block in OKC right now without seeing a Thunder flag, shirt, banner or painted building supporting the team!

Thunder pulled out a huge win over the Lakers to win the Round Two series 4:1 and advance to the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs.

I am so excited that I actually get to check this bucket list item off TWICE because my good friend Garrick is taking me to Game 3 in OKC on Thursday night! Can’t wait to Thunder Up again in Loud City!

This also means I need another Thunder shirt… or 4

I should probably call up my new friends at Fish Water Tees. The “Beat LA” shirt seen above was given to me after the game by the owner of the company who I met in the “Floor Seat Club”. If you want one for yourself, visit his site at www.FishWaterTees.com.

90 in 90 Bucket List

What would a summer adventure be without a summer bucket list? How about a bucket list that includes 90 items to be completed in 90 days? Well that would be my list!

Included with my recipes, interviews and adventures from the summer, I’ll also be giving bucket list updates!

Let me know if you want to get involved and help me start crossing off my list!! (I’m gonna need it!)

1. Complete the “food list challenge” (I’m at 68 66 of 100 right now!)
2. Do a mud run (completed 5/26/12)
3. 
4. Interview a chef in each of these ↑ cities
5. Attend Taste of Chicago
6. Surpass the 1000 follower mark on Twitter
7. Host my own cooking show
8. Meet Taylor Swift (don’t front, she’s awesome!)
9. Go skydiving
10. Attend a Red Sox game at Fenway Park (completed 7/8/12)
11. Swim with dolphins
12. Volunteer with WWOOF
13. Cook with Giada De Laurentiis
14. Appear on the Today Show
15. Stomp grapes
16. Have a pint at Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago
17. 
18. See a live jazz band in New Orleans
19. Fly on a Private Jet (completed 5/29/12)
20. Visit a pig farm
21. Meet the man, the myth, THE BOB STOOPS
22. Go to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field
23. Watch the Thunder become the NBA Champions ( saving this one for next year!)
24. Take Mom Jet-skiing
25. Go Zip-lining
26. Make Someones Day
27. Run across the Golden Gate Bridge
28. 
29. Go to the top of the Space Needle
30. Interview Jamie Oliver
31. Eat deep dish in Chicago
32. Donate toys to a children’s hospital
33. Catch a fish
34. Go horseback riding on the beach
35. Spend a day with Giuliana Rancic
36. Learn how to play the guitar
37. Go to a Chicago Blues Bar
38. Start a college fund for my “nephew” Eli
39. Ride in a hot air balloon
40. Participate in a flash mob
41. Make homemade ricotta cheese
42. Ride in a helicopter
43. Go hiking in the rainforest
44. Eat a hot dog at the original Nathan’s on Coney Island (completed 6/30/12)
45. Publish a cookbook
46. 
47. Participate in a food eating contest
48. Go shopping at Pike Place Market in Seattle
49. Take a photography class
50. Become a contributing food writer
51. Re-connect with someone I haven’t seen in years
52. Get a menu item named after me
53. Make it on Times “Top 100 Blog List”
54.  (completed 5/21/12)
55. Crash a Wedding
56. Have a picnic in Central Park (does an iced coffee count??)
57. Help a friend in need
58. Go snorkeling
59. Have a video on YouTube “go viral”
60. Become a New York Times Best Seller
61. Volunteer to help build a home
62. Enter a recipe in a contest
63. Run a race with all the members of my immediate family
64. Start a dance party somewhere random
65. Take my “Nephew Neighbor” Jake on a day of fun (completed 5/30/12)
66. Meet someone new every day
67. Inspire someone
68. Play with a monkey
69. Get a stamp in my passport
70. 
71. See a moose
72. Go white water rafting
73. Actually finish a book I start reading
74. Kiss someone in the rain
75. Get an agent
76. Send someone flowers for no reason at all
77. Compliment a stranger
78. Volunteer for Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign
79. Send a dozen greeting cards out to random friends
80. Ride a bull (a real one, not a mechanical… been there, done that!)
81. Take Becca to Miami
82. Create an app for food bloggers
83. Play “slip cup” (completed 7/7/12)
84. Go rock climbing
85. Buy a Polaroid camera
86. Meet Toby Keith (Boomer Sooner!)
87. Have a food fight
88. Be in a parade
89. Be part of a big Italian family dinner
90. Make my brother a gluten-free birthday cake (completed 6/1/12)