Blogging for me is so weird, because there are times where I'm really into it and use it a bit as a side hustle, and other times where it's much more personal and reflective. I love to share book reviews, but that sometimes becomes overwhelming trying to keep up with the amount that I read at times. And now, as a mom who works full-time, blogging can be a lot. One thing that always feels consistent is sharing a round of 101 in 1001 to start and end that 2.75 years of goal tracking. I try to do updates in that time frame, but it doesn't always pan out. So let's see how that goes this time around. I've enjoyed three rounds of 101 in 1001. It's wild to think my first round started almost nine years ago, at 25 years old, and this round will end when I'm 37 - what a way to mark the passage of time. To compare what's been important to me over the years, and to see how those things have shifted.

All of that being said, I'm looking forward to starting my fourth round of 101 goals to accomplish in 1001 days, to making progress towards the things I'm interested in or want to give a try. I'll try to give updates along the way, but I may fall short. It's more than likely they'll be shared on Instagram more often than on the blog, so if you care enough, follow along @kaylakedavra. Here's to 1001 more days. 

Start Date: Friday, February 14, 2025
Finish Date: Friday, November 12, 2027

Adventure, Fun, & New Things 

01. Attend a sporting event with O.
02. Eat at 10 new-to-me restaurants. (0/10)
03. Get a passport for O.
04. Go on a cruise.
05. Go somewhere paradise-y.
06. Go to Disney World.
07. Go whale watching in the wild.
08. Participate in an animal interaction at the Georgia Aquarium.
09. See a move at the drive-in.
10. Stay the night in a treehouse or yurt.
11. Take a birthday trip.
12. Take a girl's trip.
13. Take a ride on the Skyview, or similar ferris wheel.
14. Take O to the aquarium.
15. Take O to the zoo.
16. Travel to three new states. (0/3)
17. Travel to five new cities. (0/5)
18. Travel to New England or the PNW.
19. Try five new-to-me coffee shops. (0/5)
20. Update our travel souvenir magnets with the right locations and dates.
21. Visit a national park.
22. Visit 3 new museums. (0/3)
23. Visit 5 state parks in Georgia. (0/5)


Blog

24. Create and follow a content calendar.
25. Create and post one Reel a day for 30 days.
26. Post on the blog twice a week for three consecutive months.
27. Purchase a full-size ring-light.
28. Update my blog header banner.
29. Update my blog profile picture.


Books, TV, & Music

30. Be an extra in a movie/show or a contestant on a game show.
31. Cancel my Book of the Month subscription.
32. Complete a reading challenge each year.
33. Complete my collection of first edition Goosebumps books.
34. Each year, of all the books I read, keep white male authors under 25%.
35. Get rid of 25 books from my shelves.
36. Have a six-month book-buying ban.
37. Read all of my Book of the Month backlog.
38. Read and review enough of my NetGalley ARCs to get to 80% feedback given.
39. Read one book to O every day for 30 days.
40. Read five Stephen King books I haven't read yet.
41. Read 50 of the books I already own that I haven't read yet.
42. Read the Lord of the Rings series.
43. Share my book ratings via book bracket on IG for at least one year.
44. Watch at least five of the tv shows currently saved on my streaming services queue(s).


Career

45. Increase my salary by 20%.


Create & Learn

46. Do a 24-hour photo project (one picture an hour for 24 consecutive hours).
47. Finish wedding/first-year-of-marriage scrapbook.
48. Finish writing a book draft or submit a story for publication.
49. Hit a one-year Wordle streak.
50. Hop back onto Salesforce Trailhead to earn Ranger rank.
51. Keep O’s baby book up-to-date (within the year).
52. Work on a pottery wheel.
 

Fashion, Beauty, & Wellness

53. Acquire a tennis bracelet.
54. Become a member to a spa for a year.
55. Complete some kind of movement at least three days each week for three months (yoga, hiking, walks, etc).
56. Get an eyelash lift/tint or extensions.
57. Get matching shoes with O.
58. Get my ear lobes sewn up.
59. Get my wedding band fixed.
60. Get rid of clothes that no longer fit, are in disrepair, or I won’t wear.
61. Have a piece of breastmilk jewelry made.
62. Maintain an A1C of 6 or lower.
63. See an orthopedic doctor about my arm.
64. Trade out my old earrings for flatback studs.
65. Visit a head spa.


Finances

66. Buy no more than one coffee beverage for myself each week for a month.
67. Go three months without buying any clothes for myself.
68. Pay down all my credit cards to $500 or less each.
69. Pay off my car note.
70. Save $10 for every goal accomplished on this list. (0/101)


Home

71. Add a hall tree to our entryway.
72. Add a picture of Astro and a family picture to the upstairs hallway to match the Courage picture.
73. Add baby gates to our living spaces.
74. Build a shelf for our laundry space.
75. Buy a bigger house.
76. Buy new living room seating.
77. Complete our backyard woodsy space.
78. Finish decorating our sunroom.
79. Get a fence installed around the backyard.
80. Get rid of 20 items in the kitchen we don’t use and don’t replace them.
81. Mount the living room tv.
82. Plant matching shrubbery in front of the house.
83. Purchase a helper stool for O.
84. Replace the back window blinds.
85. Setup a big girl bedroom for O.
86. Sort clothes and items into consignment or donation bags to drop off at appropriate places.
87. Toss out our old Rubbermaid tubs and get all new food storage tubs.


Interpersonal Relationships

88. Do something kind to surprise each of my loved ones.
89. Give out five care packages to friends.
90. Host a dinner party.
91. Pay for the person behind me.

Love & Family

92. Create a will.
93. Get a tattoo for O.  
94. Have annual family pictures taken.
95. Spend time with my mom, dad, and sisters once each month.
96. Start a tradition for the family.
97. Start doing age-appropriate art activities with O.
98. Start marking O’s height on the wall.
99. Take a 10-year anniversary trip or experience.
100. Take an 11-year anniversary trip or experience.
101. Take a 12-year anniversary trip or experience.

Round three

Round two

Round one

 

Late is better than never, right? Usually I'd get this posted as soon as it's released, usually late November or December, but here we are. I love the Popsugar Reading Challenge each year, and usually am so motivated at the start of the year, ready to pursue the prompts, and then quickly fall off as I just pick up books to read mindlessly with no rhyme or reason. 

 

2025 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge prompts

 

01. A book about a POC experiencing joy and not trauma 

02. A book you want to read based on the last sentence 

03. A book about space tourism

04. A book with two or more books on the cover or "book" in the title 

05. A book with a snake on the cover or in the title 

06. A book that fills your favorite prompt from the 2015 PS Reading Challenge 

07. A book about a cult 

08.A book under 250 pages 

09. A book that features a character going through menopause 

10. A book you got for free 

11. A book mentioned in another book 

12. A book about a road trip 

13. A book rated less than three stars on Goodreads 

14. A book about a nontraditional education 

15. A book that an AI chatbot recommends based on your favorite book 

16. A book set in or around a body of water 

17. A book about a run club 

18. A book containing magical creatures that aren't dragons 

19. A highly anticipated read of 2025 

20. A book that fills a 2024 prompt you'd like to do over (or try out) 

21. A book where the main character is a politician 

22. A book about soccer 

23. A book that is considered healing fiction 

24. A book with a happily single woman protagonist 

25. A book where the main character is an immigrant or refugee 

26. A book where an adult character changes careers 

27. A book set at a luxury resort 

28. A book that features an unlikely friendship 

29. A book about a food truck 

30. A book that reminds you of your childhood 

31. A book where music plays an integral part of the storyline 

32. A book about an overlooked woman in history 

33. A book featuring an activity on your bucket list 

34. A book written by an author who is neurodivergent 

35. A book centering LGBTQ+ characters that isn't about coming out 

36. A book with silver on the cover or in the title 

37. Two books with the same title (1) 

38. Two books with the same title (2) 

39. A classic you've never read 

40. A book about chosen family 

 

Advanced Prompts 

Easy 

41. A book by the oldest author in your TBR pile 

42. A book with a title that starts with the letter Y 

43. A book that includes a nonverbal character 

44. A book you have always avoided reading 

Medium 

45. A book with a left-handed character 

46. A book where nature is the antagonist 

47. A book of interconnected short stories 

Hard 

48. A book that features a married couple who don't live together 

49. A dystopian book with a happy ending 

50. A book that features a character with chronic pain

 

 

 

Photo illustration by Patricia O'Connor, courtesy of Popsugar

 

Sharing the annual Popsugar reading challenge for the upcoming year is usually pretty integral to my blog postings, but the end of 2023 was a bit hectic for me (iykyk), and I just never got around to it. So now it's 2025, and you can enjoy my 2024 reading recap. Keep an eye out for the 2025 Popsugar reading challenge post I'll have up here soon, so you can follow along with my 2025 reading updates. I, of course, share updates to Instagram more regularly than the blog itself.

 

2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge prompts

01. A book with the word "leap" in the title

02. A bildungsroman - Honey by Isabel Banta

03. A book about a 24-year-old 

04. A book about a writer - Middletide by Sarah Crouch

05. A book about K-pop 

06. A book about pirates - All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

07. A book about women's sports and/or by a woman athlete - Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner

08. A book by a blind or visually impaired author - Murder Road by Simone St James

09. A book by a deaf or hard-of-hearing author 

10. A book by a self-published author

11. A book from a genre you typically avoid - Music is History by Questlove

12. A book from an animal's POV 

13. A book originally published under a pen name - Middle of the Night by Riley Sager

14. A book recommended by a bookseller - The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

15. A book recommended by a librarian - The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown

16. A book set 24 years before you were born - The Women by Kristin Hannah

17. A book set in a travel destination on your bucket list - The Fury by Alex Michaelides

18. A book set in space - Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

19. A book set in the future 

20. A book set in the snow - A Winter in New York by Josie Silver

21. A book that came out in a year that ends with "24" - Ready or Not by Cara Bastone

22. A book that centers on video games 

23. A book that features dragons 

24. A book that takes place over the course of 24 hours 

25. A book that was published 24 years ago 

26. A book that was turned into a musical - Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

27. A book where someone dies in the first chapter - Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

28. A book with a main character who's 42 years old 

29. A book with a neurodivergent main character - Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

30. A book with a one-word title you had to look up in a dictionary 

31. A book with a title that is a complete sentence - She Started It by Sian Gilbert

32. A book with an enemies-to-lovers plot - Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

33. A book with an unreliable narrator - Stay Awake by Megan Goldin

34. A book with at least three POVs - She Started It by Sian Gilbert

35. A book with magical realism - This Spells Love by Kate Robb

36. A book written by an incarcerated or formerly incarcerated person 

37. A book written during NaNoWriMo 

38. A cozy fantasy book - The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling

39. A fiction book by a trans or nonbinary author - This Delicious Death by Kayla Cottingham

40. A horror book by a BIPOC author -  We Don't Swim Here by Vincent Tirado

41. A memoir that explores queerness 

42. A nonfiction book about Indigenous people 

43. A second-chance romance - Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

44. An autobiography by a woman in rock 'n' roll 

45. An LGBTQ+ romance novel - Cleat Cute by Meryl Wilsner

 

Advanced Prompts 

46. A book in which a character sleeps for more than 24 hours - The Clinic by Cate Quinn

47. A book with 24 letters in the title - The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent

48. A collection of at least 24 poems 

49. The 24th book of an author - The Wedding Witch by Erin Sterling

50. A book that starts with the letter "X"

 

 

End result: 30 prompts completed of 50, including 3 advanced prompts (not bad!)

 

 

 

 

Wow. How embarrassing that I completely flaked on updates for my third round of 101 in 1001. I made some solid progress. In round one, I completed 43/101 goals and 50/101 in round two (just at the halfway point!). I think its helpful to note that some goals are often achieved, just outside of the 1001 days notated, which is nice. I still strive to meet them, or consider them irrelevant as a I grow and change. Here's my final update for round three, my worst round yet in terms of completion rates (26/101, hardly a quarter of them), but arguably some of the most meaningful goals I've met. Some felt realistic when I created this list, but quickly became a bit overambitious. Better luck next round? Be sure to keep an eye out for round four, coming soon.

Adventure, Fun, & New Things

01. Travel to five new cities. (5/5)

• 03/10/2022 - Athens, Georgia
• 04/22/2022-04/24/2022 - Hilton Head, South Carolina
• 06/22/2022-06/25/2022 - Denver, Colorado
• 11/20/2022 - Blue Ridge/McCaysville/Copperhill (Georgia-Tennessee line)
• 02/26/2023-03/03/2023 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

It's exciting to note that I surpassed this goal and went to even more than five cities, considering one of my new favorite cities, Montreal!

02. Travel to three new states. (1/3)

• 06/22/2022-06/25/2022 - Colorado

But I took more international trips this year - my first international trips, to be exact!

03. Travel outside of the country.

• 02/26/2023-03/02/2023 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

04. Travel to New England or the PNW. 
05. Go somewhere paradise-y (the Caribbean, Jamaica, Key West, etc.). 
06. Go on a cruise.
07. Go to Disney World.
08. Go wine-tasting in the mountains.
09. Stay the night in a treehouse or yurt.
10. Go whale watching in the wild.
11. Take a girl's trip.
12. Try SUPboarding. 
13. See a movie at the drive-in.
14. Take a birthday trip. 
15. Visit every state park in Georgia. (4/49)

• 03/06/2022 - Sweetwater Creek
• 09/24/2022 - Providence Canyon
• 04/29/2023 - Chattahoochee Bend
• 06/17/2023 - Panola Mountain

16. Visit two national parks. (1/2)

• 05/28/2022 - Great Smoky Mountains

17. Eat at a food truck park or festival.
18. Visit a cat café.
19. Participate in an animal interaction at the Georgia Aquarium.
20. Go to five different museums. (5/5)

• 02/13/2022 - Fernbank Museum
• 03/09/2022 - High Museum
• 03/01/2023 - Art Gallery of Ontario
• 03/10/2023 - Atlanta History Center
• 08/17/2023 - Redpath Museum, McCord Stewart Museum (went to both in the same day!)

21. Eat at 10 new-to-me Atlanta-area restaurants. (10/10)

• 02/13/2022 - Fox Bros BBQ
• 05/11/2022 - Benihana
• 05/15/2022 - Eatalian
• 11/21/2022 - Poco Loco
• 12/16/2022 - Calle Latina
• 12/20/2022 - Yumbii
• 12/26/2022 - J's Mini Hotpot
• 02/04/2023 - Dos Bocas
• 02/04/2023 - KPOT
• 03/08/2023 - Casa Vieja

22. Try five new-to-me Atlanta-area coffee shops. (5/5)

• 03/09/2022 - Refuge Coffee
• 03/15/2022 - PERC
• 03/23/2022 - Hodgepodge Coffee
• 05/06/2022 - Cold Brew Bar
• 05/13/2022 - Victory C.C

I obviously got through this goal very quickly, and have had lots of other Atlanta-area coffee shops too. There are so many! 

23. Go to a museum "After Dark" event.
24. See five live performances (concerts and/or theatre). (2/5)

• 02/28/2023 - Harry Potter & the Cursed Child (Toronto)
• 04/21/2023 - Bad Friends live tour (Atlanta)

25. Go to three sporting events, including one at the Battery. (3/3)

• 02/03/2022 - Atlanta Hawks
• 05/15/2022 - Atlanta Braves @ the Battery
• 11/27/2022 - Atlanta Hawks

Hawks games became a bit of a staple for us, and I went to several others (I'm not even sure how many) - so many that I spoke with a representative and almost purchased season passes for me and A.

This is a collaborative post.

I’ve traveled for work sparingly - conferences and the like. I always make time to explore outside of the workday, and it’s one of the coolest things about traveling at likely no cost to yourself. But at one point I interviewed for a role with up to 25% required travel, and the thought of that made me so nervous. So for this post, I’m collaborating with some folks who have better tips than I about how to shift to having to travel for work. Read along to learn more.

Travel often seems like a fantastic perk of any job. It’s cool to get out there and explore, to see more of the world, and to be anything but chained to a desk. But the truth is that if you’re not used to traveling often, doing so can be something of an adjustment. For example, while you may love travel, heading to a new city or country means you’re not just working and then coming home, the lifestyle is mostly oriented around your working purpose.

For example, if you have to head to another state for a few days, you also have to factor in the travel days, the evenings and possibly weekends you’ll spend elsewhere, and the impact that can have on your family. Of course, doing so can also be quite freeing, and give you a sense of excitement and purpose like nothing else.

In this post, we’ll discuss how to adjust to a job that demands you travel often, not only as an ambassador for another but perhaps your own enterprise. In this post, we’ll discuss a few steps you can take to adjust to that pace going forward:



Ensure comfortable accommodations

It’s usually fine to opt for austere accommodations given you won’t be living in a place long, but the truth is that a trip becomes so much more comfortable when you have good hotel deals worked out and you feel comfortable in them each night. Many business travelers find that booking a hotel in Atlanta GA or any major city works best when you pick somewhere with a kitchen setup and enough space to spread out. Some people prefer apartments these days, but hotels often have those built-in amenities that make life easier, such as a gym or breakfast service, and they’re worth using.



Keep a reliable, accessible schedule for everyone in the family

It’s pretty common for a family to be worried about your absence even if they know where you are at all times. You can keep them in the loop and feeling connected to you with a shared calendar, but really any system that lets everyone know your movements will do the job. Your partner needs to plan their schedule too, and kids appreciate knowing when you'll be around for their important dates, for instance, if you’re coming to see their band recital after coming back on a flight.



Keep up healthy social links & be open to exploration 

It’s good to keep up healthy social links while you’re away, as some families even turn travel days into special occasions when they can. For instance, perhaps for your Wednesday becomes pizza night and you lay out all the ingredients so your kids can have fun with your partner, or Saturday morning video calls become a definitive when you’re on those longer trips. It gives you some consistency in an otherwise inconsistent schedule. Don’t worry, you’re hardly the only person having to plan efforts to keep up with their families, but you’ll have put a healthy amount of thought into it. It can also be quite healthy to go for walks or hikes or at least not feel constrained to the hotel you’re in if you have a morning free, as this keeps your busy schedule from feeling oppressive.



With this advice, we hope you can more easily adjust to a job that demands you travel.