I find Nicole Balch truly inspirational. The beautiful monthly photos of her children Eleanor and August are what inspired my monthly photos of Peter. I also loved her “30 before thirty” list, but didn’t feel that I had enough time to complete one of my own by the time I saw hers. Nicole has inspired me again, making “A lovely life list.” I decided on my 30th birthday to make my own list, and I’m calling it “My next thirty years.” (You know, like that awesome song.) Happy thirtieth birthday to me.
Experiences
- Host Thanksgiving dinner for my family
Have a spontaneous, natural labor and home birth- Be in the wedding party of a friend or family member
Take a carriage ride in Central Park- Attend the tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center
Travel
- Take a trip to Germany and visit the house my grandfather was born in
- Spend a summer in Croatia, and meet my husband’s family there
- Return to Hawaii for our 10 year anniversary
- Return to Costa Rica during the dry season and see Arenal
Family & Relationships
Exclusively breastfeed for at least 6 months- Have another baby
- Take a family portrait at least once per year.
2011, 2012 - Finish the family tree I started and send it to my extended family members
- Start a date night tradition
- Start an annual get together with my best friends who no longer live near me
Home & Green Living
- Have every room in our home organized at the same time
- Drive a hybrid car and/or live without a car for a year
- Live in an off the grid home
- Live somewhere with a real washer (and dryer)
- Live somewhere where I can hang clothes outside to dry
- Live somewhere with a balcony or patio
- Live somewhere with a window seat
Skills & Creativity
- Learn to play the piano
- Become fluent in Spanish
- Learn more crochet stitches
- Take a sewing class
- Learn to drive a stick-shift
Career & Finance
- Launch the business I’ve been daydreaming about for several years.
Launch a completely different business! - Go back to NYU for a design certificate or degree
- Open an Etsy shop
- Be completely debt free (having the cash on hand that could pay the debt off doesn’t count)
- Sell my car
- Go a week without spending any money
Health & Fitness
- Spend enough time outside during the spring and summer that I don’t have to worry about vitamin D
Achieve healthy weight/leanness- Recover from my shoulder injury
- Train to become a yoga instructor
Complete the Whole30 (get my husband to do it with me)
Food
- Grow something and eat it (besides herbs)
- Make homemade extracts (
vanilla, mint…) - Write a cookbook
- Take a knife skills class
- Start meal planning
- Be able to confidently add herbs and spices to whatever I’m cooking without consulting a recipe
Style
- Only own clothes that I love the way I look in (and nothing more)
- Find the best haircut for my face
- Create my own (non-toxic) perfume
- Find my perfect “little black dress”
