30 Before Thirty

One of my favorite design blogs, Making It Lovely, posted her 30 Before Thirty List earlier this spring, and it inspired me to write my own.  Nicole (of MIL) only gave herself 6 months or so to complete her list, and I have 3+ years, so I tried to be a little ambitious with some of my goals.  I also tried to only write down things that can easily be evaluated.  I’d like to consume less sugar and gossip less, but I wasn’t sure how to gauge success for things like that, unless I cut them out entirely, and unfortunately, I don’t see that happening.  I also stopped myself from including lots of items that sound really cool, but probably aren’t right for me, like getting a tattoo or hiking the Appalachian Trail.  Who knows, though, maybe I’ll change my mind.  So here’s what I came up with after some serious soul searching:

My 30 Before Thirty List:

1. Break my hair twirling habit
2. Monetize a blog
3. Find dining room chairs
4. Successfully make French macaroons (macarons?)
5. Travel overseas with Eric
6. Throw a largish dinner/cocktail party
7. Tone my stomach
8. Run in a 10k
9. Find/purchase/move into our forever home
10. Go to Disney World with Eric (he’s never been)
11. Take Seamus to swim in the ocean
12. Cook roast lamb like my mom does (as good as my mom does)
13. See a really good Broadway show
14. Take a frame-worthy photo
15. Go camping
16. Read Middlemarch
17. Go to a drive-in movie
18. Start a Roth IRA (embarrassed I haven’t done this yet)
19. Compost
20. Grow an herb garden
21. Travel somewhere with girlfriends only
22. Find a way to store all the books I have
23. Rediscover my faith/join a church
24. Guest post on a major blog
25. Invest in a piece of art that makes me giddy
26. Dance without being self-conscious
27. Get a grill and use it
28. Go a week+ without the internet
29. Order a chef’s tasting menu at a really nice restaurant
30. Have a baby

Three years is a pretty long time, so I might change my mind about some of these.  If I’m about to turn 30 and we’re not quite ready to buy our house, so be it.  And I’m not going to have a baby just ‘cuz it’s only list either.  If I lose interest in macaroons, I might replace that with something else.  I’ll cross off items as I complete them, and update as necessary.

So what kinds of things would you put on your 30 Before Thirty (or 20 Before Twenty, 40 Before Forty, 50 Before Fifty, etc.) List?  Please share!