{random musings} the last year of my 20s…

Yesterday was my 29th birthday.  I don’t think I’ve had a birthday hit me quite like 29.  Not that I feel old, just older.  Like, I can’t believe my parents have an almost 30-year old kid… that I’m really truly a “grown up”… that life is absolutely flying by!!!

eddie ross' no-cal carnation cake

So in honor of my 29th year, I’ve made myself two lists.

The first is a Birthday Resolution list – kind of a New Year’s Resolution list, only I don’t have to wait until January 1st to start it like my weird rules following brain makes me.  The second is “Before I Turn 30 Fun List” list, chock full of non-goal-y stuff I want to do in the next year.  So here goes.

29th Birthday Resolution List

1. Start design classes/school. Yes, I know I’ve already started this, but technically it started on my 29th birthday so it counts on this list!    (Now you see I am one of those weirdos that loves to put thing that are already complete on a list so I feel like I’m accomplishing things!)
2. Finish all “open” projects before starting any new ones. Hoo-wee do I have a lot of these…  Off the top of my head: make half a dozen pillow covers for basement sofa… re-do 1800s fireplace mantle… stencil powder room… wallpaper guest bath… re-paint Sister’s desk… innumerable mini projects piled up in my office…  I am a woman of many ideas but too little action (or time perhaps?).  I know this is one thing that drives Husband bonkers, but it also stresses me out.  So hear me now: I will not take on any new projects until all open projects are complete!
3. Strengthen existing and cultivate new friendships – both near and far. I have been so so so blessed with amazing girlfriends growing up and in college.  I only have a handful of (really great and amazing!) close friends here in DC – but don’t spend nearly enough time with them.  Maybe because of the perceived transience or issues with proximity in the city (can you say urban sprawl?!)? – I have not been as intentional here as in the past.  There is a longer, deeper explanation with this particular item, but in sum, I want to call and write and send fun presents to my friends away, and spend more time with and make more friends here – and really get to KNOW them.
4. Make exercise a consistent habit. I’ve always been a fit person, but goodness I let this one slide.  Working on this would help with energy, focus, self-confidence, etc.  Consistent = multiple times a week, if not a bit each day.  Enough said.
5. Cut back on my caffeine addiction. I do love me some coffee; it’s such a comforting, ritualistic morning thing for me.  You know that So I Married an Axe Murderer quote about KFC? – well I think it applies to Starbucks, which I swear “puts an addictive chemical in [the coffee] that makes ya crave it fortnightly!”
6. Drink more water. So many benefits: skin, energy, headaches, detox, etc.
7. Purge the house of unnecessary stuff. How on earth did we accumulate so much STUFF?!  It is time to go through the house, room by room, and edit it down to what we love and need, not just keep stuff “just because”.
8. Start a family. I ain’t gettin’ any younger, and the baby bug has bitten! 
9. Write a hand-written note to someone once a week. This is related to #2.  I sure love receiving notes, and would love to start sending them again…
10. Plan ahead better for special occasions so I’m not rushing for a gift at the last minute. I do this ALL the time and I hate it when I’ve left to the last minute thinking up or getting the perfect gift.
11. Pick a signature lip color and wear it everyday. This one sounds silly, but oh well.  A gal just looks so much more polished and 29 (almost 30) when makeup is actually complemented by lip color…and so I will ban the chapstick!
12. Connect more to my church. We’ve been going to a great church for about a year now, but I haven’t really gotten plugged in yet.  I’m already working on this one, having just signed up for a bible study.  For me, my faith and being active in a faith community is very important to me, so this is high priority!
13. Get eardrum surgery. I’ve had a hole in my eardrum for about…oh…10 years now (tubing on a lake and smacked the water wrong), and it’s time to get it fixed, (a) so I can go swimming without an earplug, and (b) so I can hear better.  I’ve already seen a doc, I just hate the thought of going under the knife!  I’ve been putting it off long enough!

Before I Turn 30 Fun List (this will grow and get crossed off as the year goes on!)

1. Visit a foreign country (or two). We like to take a big trip once every other year, so 2010 is it!  On the top of my list is a jaunt to Spain (and Portugal).  [This is all thanks to Gywnnie and her PBS show Spain - On the Road Again.  If only I had a few months of vacay and a money tree...]  We’ve also been thinking about doing Argentina and Chile, hmm…
2. Do a century ride. This is fun, I promise!  Since I love cycling (but am sadly already out of practice, grrr…), I’d love to pick a 100-mile ride to do…preferably someplace pretty.
3. Take a spur-of-the-moment weekend trip (or two or three or four) somewhere we’ve been wanting to visit using LastMinuteTravel.com (or the like).
   
4. Learn to calligraphy. I just love prettily addressed envelopes and want to learn to do it myself!
5. Go apple picking. We did this a bunch when I was a kid but want to go again.  Fall is on the brain, what can I say. 
6. Wear a bold lipstick for a whole day. If I like it, wear it more than once!  Being a light complected, pink undertoned, really dark blonde (maybe brunette now?), red doesn’t work, and orange-y coral is ick, but maybe a bold pink.  Off to Sephora I go!
7. Re-upholster something. Only after #1 of my 29th Birthday Resolution has been completed, of course.    There are a few candidate furniture pieces.
8. Learn to knit. I know it’s not hard, but I’ve just never sat down to do it.
9. Host a mystery dinner party. So cheesy but so much fun.
10. Wear my hair differently than I ever have before. Do I (gasp!) dare part it on the other side?!  I do the pony, the half-way back, the pin straight, the waves (my hair’s naturally wavy almost curly), but I rarely venture beyond that.
11. Bake a chocolate souffle. Mmmm delish.  I’ve always wanted to figure out how to bake one so it doesn’t collapse.
12. ………..

Anything else I’m missing???  I’ll put my fun list on the sidebar and keep track of it as the year goes on to see how I do.  Am I crazy to have a list like this?  Enough rambling from this year older gal.

And don’t worry, I’ll get back to design-y posts soon.  But I’ll have to share some of my birthday loot first.  Stay tuned!

Tagged as: birthday