30 x 30 in 30 Update

I like the Huff Post article that is circulating around right now - on women turning 30 and the 30 things they should know/have by that time.  It is interesting - it is actually from a 1997 issue of Glamour - but it so resonates, it gets resurrected every few years by the latest crop of ladies marking three decades on earth. 

Makes sense - I penned by own 30 x30 (but in 30 days - see, that is the fun twist - my ideas aren't ubiquitous!) a few days before Huff Po made it cool.  So what does it mean?  It means that even if we don't want it to be, or don't think it is, 30 is a big birthday.  Most certainly by society's timeline (at least for women - I think we somehow sprout a "sell-by" date on our foreheads visible to men 50 years old and younger), but for a lot of us, personally as well. 

I guess it's a standard milestone that has been popular to mark with lists of what we have done, or sometimes more sadly, what we have yet to do. I don't know about you, but that feels like a lot of pressure.  It's one thing to have your own list, but to have a standard set by someone else?  I know I don't meet all or perhaps even most of Glamour's 1997 checklist. Wait, just kidding.  I did buy myself a great umbrella.

So for that, I'll focus on my own.

How am I doing? Well, I have started Pride and Prejudice, I got a domain for my professional blog (just haven't written in it yet), I am going to yoga sculpt on Saturday and I am waiting for the weather to turn so I can drink fabulous drinks in open air.

A Very Compressed 30 by 30

Sometimes inspiration takes a bit to strike.  In getting ready for a one-year-old's birthday party this morning, I realized that today, in fact is one month until my birthday.  The very one that turns me 30.

I haven't been angsty about it, nor feeling like I am about to turn a crazy age corner.  I have felt like I need to use more moisturizer around my eyes and questioned if I can, in fact, pull off red skinny jeans, but that is about it. 

However, while nothing is actually going to change on May 21, I have been gripped with a desire to do a ceremonial 30 before 30 - just to ride out the last days of my twenties in a celebratory but forward-moving fashion.   

I think people typically give themselves a year for this, but let's see what I can do in the next 30 days.

1. Start a new, professional-oriented blog - something I can share widely and generate some personal branding around to further my career. Thank you, Lori Fong for the inspirational push.
2. Have one day, just one, where I actually do it all.  Work out in the morning, have a productive, gratifying day at work, grab a quick drink to socialize with friends, eat a healthy, balanced dinner, converse with the hubs on our days, and read a chapter for grad school.
3. Move into a home I actually own.  Okay, it's a built-in, but I'll take it.
4. Go to Las Vegas for the first time
5. Have one ridiculous, early-twenties style, wild-ass night out.  Vegas should help with that.
6. Buy one really fun, really age-inappropriate outfit.
7. Buy one really nice, high-quality, going to last a long time, 30s-appropriate outfit.
8. Reach out to a friend I haven't talked to in a long time and grab a drink.
9. Lose four pounds.  'Cause, ya know, what girl doesn't want that?
10. See some live music.  I used to do this all the time - having a brother and boyfriend's best friend in a band helped, but I miss it.  It was a hallmark of my 20s.
11. Get rid of any clothing I haven't worn in two years, any that "might work if only..." and any that just looks a little too well-worn.
12. Learn how to roast asparagus. It's always awful.
13. Make sure my parents know just how grateful I am for these past 30 years.
14. Make sure my nearest and dearest know how much they mean to me.
15. Plant something. Like, in dirt.
16. Read a Jane Austen work.  Not with zombies.
17. Go to one yoga sculpt class a week.  I really hate yoga sculpt.
18. Try the gourmet hot dog down the street before we move.
19. Go to the Whole Foods and drink a glass of wine while I grocery shop (for the five items that will keep my bill under $50).
20. Make a perfect party playlist.
21. Finishing changing my name.  Ug. 
22. Watch the sunrise over North Beach.  Setting an alarm and getting up for this is acceptable. Bonus points for me if I STAY UP to see the sunrise, but let's be honest, I think that only happened twice in my 20s and I don't think I can make it three.
23. Have a glass of really good champagne al fresco.
24. Have a ridiculous artisan cocktail along the river.
25. Learn how to get those movie-star gorgeous waves in only five minutes so I can do them before work.
26. Call my mother in law just to chat.
27. Close on a house.  Okay, okay - another built-in, but hey - I only have 30 days.
28. Drink the pricey bottle of non-oaky chardonnay we picked up in Sonoma three years ago.  Not alone.  With John.  On our deck - old or new.  I don't like moving bottles.
29. This one is open to suggestions.  What do you think? I was going to donate my hair, but my stylist told me I can't cut that much without looking like Ramona Quimbly.
30. Cut myself some slack.  Have fun with these.  Boo-ya.