30 before 30

Saturday was my birthday.  Now, before you go all ice-cream-and-cake dancing on me...let's get one thing straight.  I'm just not sure how I feel about birthdays anymore.

When I was a little, birthdays were magical.  And since I had a summer birthday, it was pretty much a guarantee that my birthday was not only a day event but more of a birthday month.  We always had a family party, another celebration when we traveled to my parent's home of PA, and there was always some sort of final shindig when I went back to school.

As I got grew up, I found friends that had birthdays near mine and it was always the more parties, the merrier.  I'd celebrate on my birthday, on theirs, and at some sort of joint YOLO'd out night downtown where someone (I won't name any names...blossom) ended up with with regurgitated red wine all over the front of her white shirt.  The best part of that story is that my mother later oxyclean'd the entire stain out.  If that's not the best birthday present ever, I don't know what is.

But now...I'm getting to be an old lady.  I mean, I'm quickly approaching the big 30.  Like they always say, with age comes wisdom, and my wisdom taught me that sometimes birthdays should be practical.  It became about what I needed and not what I wanted.  I didn't need all the hooplah, multiple parties, or piles of presents.  I just needed the people around me that I love the most.

I think that what matters most in life is moments and memories.  So between this birthday and my thirtieth, I think it's only fitting that I set out to make some memories.    So this is my 30 before 30 list.  Now usually, most people do this in the year before they turn thirty...but my list seems to include some lofty travel goals that might not be feasible in the span of 365 days.

30 before 30

1. get married
2. run another half-marathon.
3. travel to the west coast
4. eat in'n'out
5. go back to disney.  with friends.  shamelessly take pictures with all of the princesses.
6. make a decent effort to learn a foreign language.
7.  learn to take really good pictures.
8. make eclairs.  (i've been dating the boy for YEARS and i just found out that his favorite dessert is eclairs.)
9. go on a honeymoon.
10.go on a girls trip for my 30th.
11.plant a garden.
12.be a vegetarian for a month.
13. try out a new hair color.
14. sew something that i could actually wear.
15. do a boudoir photo shoot.
16. floss more.
17. send more handwritten thank you notes.
18. go camping.
19. eat a hot dog.
20. learn to play tennis.
21. be confident enough to ride my bike down the busy street.
22. pay for someone else's food at a drive thru.
23. be a rad wife.
24. refurnish a piece of furniture.
25. be a better friend. make phone calls.  send cards.
26. adventure in my own town-visit the art museum, airlie gardens, etc.
27. make a pie from scratch.
28. the ocean is in my backyard-swim more.
29. get a paddleboard.
30. celebrate the last night of my 20's in style.

Here's to making the most out of the next two years!

xoxo,
j