30 While 30

Taking a cue from my many other blog friends who are turning 30, I'm putting together a list of 30 things that I want to accomplish while I'm 30. Some of them are hobby-related, some are reading-related, some are fitness-related, and some of them are just things that sound like fun. To give credit where credit is due, I originally got the idea from Jen at Beantown Baker, who had a 30 BY 30 list that she did, and she liked it so much that she did it again.

My list is pretty wordy, which is for my own benefit, so 10 months from now when I'm wondering WTF I wanted to read The Great Gatsby I can come back to this post and remember. Feel free to skip over the words :)


So here we go!

** Food-Related Goals **

Bake Something New Every Month - I love baking, and some of the stuff that I bake is pretty freaking tasty, if I do say so myself. I want to force myself to think outside of my Ina's Outrageous Brownies box and bake something new and interesting every month. I think Focaccia bread will be first on my list.

Bake a Successful Cheesecake - One of my baking endeavors will definitely involve cheesecake - I've only attempted it once and it was a total disaster. Think "hollow in the middle" and really, really dry. To make matters worse, it was the first thanksgiving that C and I were dating and I was invited to his parents' house. I made cheesecake because it's his dad's favorite. He was nice and choked it down. Awkward!

Try Something New Every Week - My Pre-K teacher, Mrs. McSoud, used to tell us to "try something new every day." Apparently, I had an adventurous palate when I was a kid. I've grown out of that, and I feel like there's a whole other world of food out there waiting for me, especially in the cheese department. This will be a veggie-cheese-fruit-nut-legume-recipe thing, only.


** Fitness-Related Goals **

Run a 5K in 24 minutes or less - If I plug my 10K time from the June Redlegs Race into the McMillan Pace Calculator, I see that I should be able to run a 5K in about 25 minutes. I'd like to improve on that and hit the 24:00 mark. Funny enough, I've never run a 5K, so the Cheetah Run tomorrow (my actual birthday) will be a good reference point for progress.

Do an Unassisted Pull-Up - We started our first round of P90X more than 18 months ago. Two full rounds plus another year running and cross-training with the P90X DVDs and I still can't do a single unassisted pull-up. I'm going to make it happen this year.

Yoga Once a Week - I used to be religious about yoga. It was a multiple-times-per-week activity. I've gotten away from it and I miss it.


** Hobby-Related Goals **

Sew Something - This can be anything, but will probably end up being a bag, because those are supposed to be easy. I've been saving three old t-shirts that would make perfect tote bags, and I keep telling myself that I'll make something with them, but we're about to mark 6 years in our house and 6 years they've been sitting in the closet.

Read the Classics - High School was a tumultuous time for me, and I may have faked my way through a decent portion of the required reading lists. I read a lot, just not what they wanted me to. Think Jane Eyre and Tale of Two Cities. I've never even read Pride & Prejudice or Gone With the Wind. I'm going to make a list of 12 and read one every month. Bonus, because Barnes and Nobles has a ton of free classic books available for free on the Nook.

Learn how to Dance (Anything!) - My supreme Dance Central talents aside, I can't dance. I'd like to take a dance lesson. Just one, just to say I've done it and tried it. I've always wanted to try swing dancing, but I just don't think I'm coordinated enough for all of that foot-moving.

Start to Re-Learn Conversational French - Once upon a time, I spoke fluent French. I even minored in French in college. Years later, and I remember enough to get by if I have to, but boy, do I miss just knowing exactly what words to use and how to use them.

Learn to Crochet - I've had a few failed go-rounds with learning to knit, and I've been assured that crocheting is much easier.


** Cleaning and Organizing Goals **

Commission a T-Shirt Quilt - Along the same lines as the tote bags, I've got a giant bag of Yankee shirts that are either too old or too large (XXLs) to wear in public. I want to have them made into a t-shirt quilt for Toddler Charlie. Again, 6 years they've been sitting there. Time to get off the pot.

Purge Some of the Crap in the Basement - Enough said.


** Personal Goals **

Call the Fashion Police - Last fall I did a makeup lesson with Nancy of FACEing and it was the BEST thing ever. I need to do the same thing, but with the clothes in my closet.

Wear a Skirt (or something other than my black pants/solid shirt collection) to Work Once a Week - This is going to be difficult because it's going to require shopping. I hate shopping, but I need to step up my wardrobe a little bit.

Wear Makeup More Often - This has more to do with getting up early enough than anything else.

Accessorize - Actually wear the jewelry and scarves and stuff that people have given me over the years.

Start Family Histories - I want to interview both of my grandmothers. One is very interesting because of her Italian heritage and her Brooklyn upbringing, and the other is interesting because she was a swinger. True story. She's also a super cool woman, aside from that ;)

Start Scanning Old Pictures - This is almost definitely a bigger project than I have time for in a year, but it would be nice to get started on digitizing the gigantic box of pictures in the office closet.

Make a Wedding Photo Album - It's only been 6 years.

Create Photobooks - I have thousands of non-wedding digital pictures that I'd like to organize into photobooks of years and vacations.

Take Steps Toward Finishing my PhD - Hopefully this will involve re-taking a class this winter and preparing for an exam next summer.

Have a Boudoir Photo Session - So that when I'm old, grey, and wrinkly, I can remember what it was like to be a smokin' hot babe ;)



** Other Stuff I Want to Do **

Cincinnati Brewery Tour

Take a Friday Afternoon Off Every Month for Lunch and Date with Husband C

Visit the Contemporary Arts Center

Visit and Hike in Red River Gorge

Go to a Concert (it's been a long time!)

Learn how to Climb Trees

Go to an Astronomy Night at the Cincinnati Observatory