Aaron Judge is arguably the biggest name in baseball right now, and here’s a great costume idea for Halloween that will get everyone to rise to their feet. Judge became the eighth player in Yankees history with at least 100 runs, 100 RBIs and 100 walks in a season, and the second rookie in major league history to do so. (more…)
Author: Nate Davison
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How to Host a Street View Scavenger Hunt
A long, long time ago (READ: 14 years) in a land far, far away (READ: the glorious suburbs of Tampa, FL), Candace introduced me to the wonderful world of team photo scavenger hunts. Here’s how it would work:
- Create a list of places, people, actions and things that everyone will need to find (ex. Find an amphitheater in a park and act out a play, jump in a fountain and dance, or compete in a shopping cart race at a supermarket). The more challenging the item, the more points.
- Assign teams that will work together. Confirm that all groups assign a driver (typically the person with the most space in their car) and a photographer (typically the person with the most space on their phone).
- Find items on the list as quickly as possible during the allotted time. Teams are encouraged to get creative with the photos.
- Share photos with the other teams, tally up the points, and have a good laugh about the experiences you’ve had.
… And away you would go.
Admittedly, speeding all over your neighborhood with a crowd of people and asking strangers to help you build a human pyramid are probably not ideal while we all try to stay healthy and respect our social distancing guidelines. And so, in the spirit of embracing our current circumstances and maintaining the fun we’ve experienced with scavenger hunts in the past, here’s a new take on this classic tradition with Street View Scavenger Hunts. The basic rules remain the same, and you can leverage the power of screenshots and Google Street View to find a variety of fun and interesting items.
The big difference? In this version, you’ll distribute a scavenger hunt list, give everyone a set time frame to search for the items listed (say, an hour or two), then everyone gathers via video chat (Zoom and Google Meet are great for newbies) to reveal their finds and tally scores.
BACKGROUND: What is Google Street View?
Street View, by Google Maps, is a virtual representation of our surroundings on Google Maps, consisting of millions of panoramic images. This platform allows users to virtually ‘walk’ up and down the many of the roads across the world – From New York to New Delhi, Key West to Kenya. My dad would often describe it as taking a virtual vacation to explore some of the great wonders of our world with just a few clicks of the mouse. You can learn more about Google Street View and how to access it here.
OPTION # 1 – Create your own list of things to find
As you create your own Street View Scavenger hunt, we recommend a healthy mix of the items you want fellow (scavenger) hunters to find, sorted into three levels of difficulty. We’ve built this handy template with examples that will allow you to quickly add, share, and score your hunts. Make a copy and it’s yours.
Easy items to find include things that are easily searchable, stationary, and readily available on just about any map. Examples of this might include schools, businesses, or Taxi cabs in New York City. A simple way to score would be to count anything found in this category as being worth one point.
Medium items may require a bit more thought to find and are often on-the-move when you’re looking at a map. Examples of a medium might include an ambulance or police car, construction work, or graffiti on the street walls. We recommend scoring these at two points a find.
Hard items require some clever detective work and often, a little bit of luck. They should be scored at 3, 4, or even 5 points per find. These are also a lot of fun to brainstorm and often feel like a secret Easter egg when you discover them. Imagine something like a clown walking down the street, a person walking three or more dogs, or a breakdancer frozen in a photo doing a handstand. Here are some pretty out-there examples of the crazy things that you can find on Google Street view for inspiration (here, here, and here).
Click here for more hunt ideas and to make your copy of our Street View Scavenger Hunt template.
OPTION # 2 – Leverage a pre-made street view scavenger hunt
In addition to creating your own scavenger hunt lists, many sites offer various scavenger hunts that are worth reviewing for inspiration. Here are a few that we found that may point you in the right direction.
- virtualglobetrotting.com – A nice list of things you may want to add to your own scavenger hunt list.
- TerraClues.com TerraClues bills itself as ‘the ultimate Google Maps scavenger hunt game!’. We had fun finding USA Landmarks and famous structures around the world.
- Google Arts & Culture – Although many people often think of Google Street View as something that lets you virtually explore the streets around the world, they also have a robust library of museums, historic sites, the wonders of the world where you can take virtual tours using the same 360° technology.
Now, the only thing left is to create your own list and get started!
Lead Photo: Google Street View/Nathan Davison
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A Simple Formula To Hit Your Goals (Without Burning Out)
Congratulations. It’s hard to believe, but we’re already our fourth month into the new year, which means it’s a great time to reflect on how we’re pacing towards our New Year’s resolutions. If you’re like me, chances are your resolutions could be broken down into two categories: to-do-list resolutions and big-hairy-audacious resolutions.
Their are a variety of to-do-list-tackling strategies (like agenda-hacking and reformatting it altogether), and I find the best way to tackle my to-do-list resolutions — like scheduling that annual physical or painting our living room indigo, for instance– is to open up my calendar and commit some time that I am going to complete these tasks. For any resolutions you have that fit into this to-do-list resolution category, I recommend pulling out your planner or favorite calendar app now and blocking off the time you need to get this done. (Seriously, if it is a one or two step task, you should block off time now on your calendar to get it done…I’ll wait.)
For those big hairy audacious resolutions whether it’s finding a new job, becoming debt free, losing 10 pounds or reading the Bible in a year (just to name a few), the road to completion can sometimes feel a bit foggy to say the least. You might be thinking, ‘I want to nail this resolution, but where do I begin?’
This simple formula will help you action your resolutions this year and ensure you GROW.
GOAL, REALITY, OPTIONS, WAY FORWARD.
Let’s break it down.
GOAL you want to achieve:
[Insert New Year’s Resolution Here.]It all starts with setting a clear goal about what you want to accomplish. The best goals are specific, trackable and offer a clear finish line so you know when you’ve accomplished them. It’s also important to think beyond the goal and take the time to uncover your motives as to why you want to accomplish this goal. Simon Sinek explains in his TEDTalk, the Golden Circle, that we often think about what we want to do and how to get it done, but don’t invest enough time asking ourselves why we want what we want. He goes so far as to say that we should start with the WHY for our goals and aspirations and then work backwards from these motives.
If you think about the achieving your goal like using GPS, then the goal is the destination you want to reach. You can search and explore and look at the map, but you need a destination before you can get directions.
Question 1: What do you want to accomplish by the end of the year?
Question 2: Why do you want this?REALITY of where you are today:
Once you set your sights on what you want to achieve, it’s time to think about where you are today. Self reflection is important here. Consider both what you’re already doing well that will help you in achieving this goal and the areas of personal growth you’ll need to develop to help you toward your goal. If the Goal is our destination in our GPS example, then the Reality is our starting place. If you are looking for direction, you’ll need both to navigate to the finish line of your new year’s resolution.
For example, let’s say one new year’s resolution Candace and I have is to grow our family savings account by $5,000 by the end of the year. A good place to start for this resolution is to create a budget of our monthly income versus expenses and calculate how much we could be saving today based on our current spending. Mapping out our reality will also allow us to highlight some of the areas that may create obstacles in achieving our goal (such as where we spend a lot, or expenses that may hold us back from our goal).
If your resolution is to get a promotion, then the reality may look like a list of relevant skills you have today and skills you may need to develop to be a good candidate. If you want to lose some poundage, try listing your healthy eating and workout habits today, as well as the temptations that may keep you from losing weight.
Question 3: What are you doing well today that will get you closer to your resolution?
Question 4: What obstacles do you expect you will encounter that may keep you from your goal?OPTIONS to get to your resolution:
Now that we know what we want to achieve and where we are today, it’s time to brainstorm all of the different actions we could take to get to get closer to our goal. At this stage, everything is on the table. The objective is to flush out as many ideas as possible that would help you achieve that resolution. Best suggestion here is to grab a pen and paper, find a dry erase board, or open up a new Google Keep and jot down *every idea* that comes to mind that could help you tackle your goal.
Keeping with our GPS example, this step is represented by all of the possible routes from point A to point B. Do you want a faster route with more tolls, or route that takes longer and has a great view? Do you take the path through the city, or the one that offers more roadside attractions? In most trips, there isn’t one right path to travel. Instead, each option offers a trade-off of different priorities and interests for you to explore. In the same way, there are many different options that will take you from your reality to the goal you are seeking, and this step gets those ideas out of your head and all in front of you to consider.
Tying this back to Candace and my savings example, we had some fun brainstorming our options to include everything from hosting a yard sale to drinking less Starbucks — we even floated the idea of picking up every penny we found and putting it in a jar.
Question 5: How many options can you brainstorm that help you reach your resolution?
Question 6: What are the most creative suggestions you can think of?WAY FORWARD from here:
All right, we’ve set a goal, took time to figure out where we are today, mapped out a variety of different ways to get where we want to be, and now we are ready to take action. This last step is essentially the commitment we make to ourselves where we agree to start working toward the goal. The easiest way to take this step is to look at all of the options that we have listed out and circle two or three that we can action immediately.
The simple act turns our big hairy audacious goals into a series of to-do-list resolutions.
Think of the W in this formula as the GPS’s turn-by-turn navigation — once you select your route, just follow the directions you’ve outlined. And just like turn-by-turn navigation, if you get lost or when life sends you a detour along the way, you can always review your options again, recalibrate and reroute to find a new path to arrive where you want to be.
Question 7: What two or three options are most feasible for you to start working on now?
Question 8: How can you hold yourself accountable to following though with your to-do lists?Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash
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IT Is About to Get Real with This Pennywise-Inspired Costume
In 1990, Tim Curry starred as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in a mini-series adaptation of Stephen King’s novel It. And thanks to this film, Millennials grew up somewhat-to-completely horrified of Clowns. Now, 27 years later Pennywise (AKA It) is back with the promise to terrify the next generation’s youth. It feeds on the fears of children (and spoiler: It also feeds on children) and a group who calls themselves “The Losers Club” and who were all terrorized by this haunting entity take up the mission of facing their fears and taking down this beast.
Maybe this Halloween you need to face your fears by becoming one with the clown and dressing as Pennywise himself (err… itself). We’ve decided to put together two versions for your delightful fright: Classic Curry Pennywise and the new Super Scary Skarsgård Pennywise. And don’t forget your Red Balloon.
How to Dress Like the 1990 Tim Curry Pennywise:
- Wig, $24.99; Amazon.com
- Yellow Pants, $12.99; Amazon.com
- Purple tutu (for collar), $9.99; Amazon.com
- Renaissance Collar, $14.99; HalloweenCostumes.com
- Red Balloons, $2.99; PartyCity.com
- Clone Makeup, $8.61; Amazon.com
- White Gloves, $6.59; Amazon.com
- Red Pompom Balls, $4.69, Amazon.com
How to Dress Like the 2017 Bill Skarsgård Pennywise
- Pennywise Mask, $54.99; HalloweenCostumes.com
- Red Pompom Balls, $4.69; Amazon.com
- Renaissance Collar, $14.99; HalloweenCostumes.com
- White Gloves, $6.59; Amazon.com
- Gray Tunic, $10.99; Amazon.com
- Red Balloons, $2.99; PartyCity.com
This post contains affiliate links, which help fund the operation of this site.
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Carving out time for Friendsgiving
Next week, Americans all over the country will be celebrating Thanksgiving — that time of the year we can all put our differences aside, appreciate all the many things we’ve been blessed with, and eat all sorts of incredible coma-inducing food. This week, though, we here at LBW recommend throwing a Friendsgiving party first . If you haven’t jumped on board this new trend it yet, we highly recommend it. Friendsgiving can best be described as an opportunity to hang out with amazing friends and have amazing food. Anything else beyond that… Well, that’s just gravy.
Here is a quick roundup of some ideas to help you make the most of your first (or next) Friendsgiving party.
- Make it a potluck – Invite your friends and encourage everyone to bring a dish… and if came directly from the grocery store and the sticker is still on it, well that’s just fine. Friendsgiving should be more casual than the real Turkey day anyway.
- Test new recipes – Think of this as your opening act for Thanksgiving. Curious if cranberry sauce and taco meat would make a great side? Now’s your time to find out.
- Play boardgames – Here are five of our favorite games you should probably have on your shelf right now.
- Create a makeshift photobooth – Use these apps to turn your Android or Apple phone / tablet into a photobooth in 5 minutes flat.
- Design your own signature Thanksgiving cocktail (or steal one from the Interwebs) – like these, these and these.
- Make an overstuffed playlist – Here are three songs to get you started – Adam Sandler’s ‘Turkey Song‘, Weird Al’s ‘Eat It‘, and a Meghan Trainor parody about being ‘All About the Baste.’
- Make your own boardgame – We’re thinking Mousetrap meets Pictionary… or take a page from Marshall Eriksen to create something like this.
- (Attempt to) Play True American – Because after all: it’s 50% Candyland.
- Go around the room and share your gratitude list – There is so much to be thankful for. Take a few moments to vocalize it with the people who care about you most.
However you decide to celebrate this Friendsgiving Season, our hope is that you do it with people who make you happy and make you want to be the best version of yourself. Happy Friendsgiving!
This post is part of Life Between Weekends’ Tuesday Takeaway series. Every Tuesday, we’ll share the most compelling insight we’ve gleaned from a book, movie, tour, documentary or article.
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Keeping a Balanced Life with Google Keep
I’ve got a confession for you. Sometimes, when I am spending time with my wife or hanging out with friends, something happens to me. It’s subtle at first, like a quiet whisper, and I’ll try to ignore it. Then, like a symphony that crescendos to a fortissimo, it captures my attention firmly in its grasp. A thought pops to mind, then another. And before I can reunite with the world I’m in, my mind begins racing about the next great training topic or important task I should tackle the next day. I become excited about the idea and yet anxious that if I don’t act quickly on the thought, I might somehow lose it forever. And that’s when I feel the tug between two worlds: I don’t want to let go of this new idea for fear that it might never come back to me, and yet I know that I shouldn’t hold so tightly to this thought that I mentally depart from my current company.
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Working for (More Than) the Weekend
Two numbers: 5 & 2. 5 > 2… Every time.
In many ways, this simple equation became the genesis for why Candace and I created LBW. I’ll let you in on a little secret that you already know: there are way more weekday days than weekend days. Every week, Scout’s honor! And if this equation has anything to say about it, I think it’s important that we make the most of those ‘5’ each week.
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It’s Important to Look for the Signs
I’ll admit it, I am a huge fan of a well-timed motivational quote. Sure, I might not post a ‘hang in there’ kitten on my wall (largely on account of my extreme allergies to cats and that the mere sight may cause a sneezing frenzy), but I am all about that perfect quote that will inspire at the very moment it is needed most. There is something about those little snippets of advice that just fire me up and help to put everything into perspective.