101 in 1001 - 3/101

I have been making some slow but steady progress on my 101 in 1001 days challenge. Here is a little update on my first 3 completed goals!

60. Go to a music festival in another country. (Isle of Wight Festival 2014)

This was so much fun; I bought George tickets for the Saturday of the festival (that still counts, right??) because his favorite band, Red Hot Chili Peppers, were playing. I honestly wasn't expecting to have a great time, I had been to one festival back home before (Stagecoach 2012) and I didn't have a great time plus I am not a huge RHCP fan. Suffice to say, I was pleasantly surprised to have a really great day! We met up with one of George's high school friends and his girlfriend, they had already scoped out some great spots fairly close to the stage so we had a good view for the opening bands and then were able to move further into the crowd/closer to the stage for RHCP. We spent quite a bit of time beforehand wandering around the festival and even went on a carnival ride; the atmosphere was much more relaxed and a lot prettier than Stagecoach so I think that helped. It was also a smaller environment which usually lends itself to a better experience. I am glad I went because I had pretty much written off festivals after my Stagecoach experience but now I would be interested to try out some more!

73. Spectate at a **** Horse Trials.  (Badminton 2014)

Probably one of the greatest experiences of my life. I have dreamed of attending Badminton for as long I can remember and it was truly a magical experience, I may have teared up a bit when we arrived! The weather was pretty crummy but even that couldn't put a damper on my excitement. We watched some of the most talented horses and riders in the world, went on a course walk with the one-and-only William Fox-Pitt, shopped till we dropped (literally), and basically just had the time of our lives. The only problem is now that I have been once I can't imagine watching it via live stream again so I may just have to figure out a way to go back every year...

88. Get a new computer. (MacBook Pro 4/14)
This purchase has been a looooong time coming. My prior computer was a MacBook Pro that my parents got me for my high school graduation back in 2006. Surprisingly, it actually still works but it has some serious issues, namely speed, lack of battery function, and the fact that it won't upgrade to the more recent software, leaving me without updates to a lot of programs that I use regularly. The new machine was a bit of a splurge and I debated getting the Retina display model but I ultimately chose the regular because of the disk drive and the storage space. Plus, I have a couple friends who have had issues with the Retina screen cracking easily. Honestly, I can barely tell the difference between the screen quality so it wasn't worth the extra cash. I also figured that if I end up getting more into graphic design and photo editing I will want a desktop and will invest in the higher screen quality then.

That's all I've got so far! I am definitely loving crossing items off of the list so hopefully I will have some more to recap soon!

~Elena