Sunday, September 16, 2012

And Finally: 100 Things I Want to Do Before 30 (THE LIST)


Here it is! The list of 100 Things I Want to Do Before 30. (Spoiler alert: There are actually 110.) Some I have done before but want to do again in the next months, some I've never done, some I need to adopt as part of my post-30 lifestyle. I'll update the list as fun things happen or new lessons are learned. Keep checking back to see my progress!

Fun
1. Take advantage of an open bar. 
2. Sing out loud in a public place.
3. Play elementary school type sports. Kickball, dodge ball, etc.
4. Have one day of complete indulgence.
5. Stay up all night. 
6. Enjoy a late night diner/4am meal. 
7. Buy as much as possible from Forever 21. 
8. Go to/host a theme party.
9. Skip Black Friday, take advantage of Cyber Monday. 
10. When eating finger foods, use the hell out of dipping sauce. Don't be bashful. 
11. If you don't have to eat Ramen noodles, do it anyway to keep yourself humble.
12. Watch 5 of the top 50 movies on IMDb. 
13. Camp in a tent. 
14. Surf. 
15. Keep a plant alive for a year. 
16. Sleep under the stars. 
17. Sing karaoke. 
18. Try snowboarding. 
19. Go to a waterpark and not feel scared or self conscious. 
20. Catch a fish. 
21. Upgrade one room in my house. 
22. Go skinny-dipping. 
23. Take a dance lesson. 
24. Kiss in the rain. 
25. Go skiing. 
26. Tip a server with something other than money. 
27. Play a drinking game.  
28. Drive more than 100 mph. 
29. Drink absynthe. 
30. Lick a 9 volt battery. 
31. Take part in a motorsport. 
32. Set off a fire extinguisher. 
33. Watch all the Monty Python movies. 
35. Get a perfectly justified parking ticket. 
35. Make a bet you can't afford to lose. 
36. Drive on the Pacific Coast Highway. 
37. Go to a music festival. 
38. Try a unique and rare food. 
39. Try three restaurants featured on the Food Network. 
40. Blow $500 in one night. 
41. Buy wine worth more than $50. 
42. Shoot something. 
43. Break something--not a bone!!
44. Use an entire roll of gaff/duct tape in one day. 
45. Make a pointless modification to your home. 

Right of Passage
1. Take (another) trip abroad.
2. Sit down, unplug, and read fiction. Every day for an entire week.
3. Take a road trip.
4. Accept that you can't please everybody, and then decide which select few opinions and feelings you value enough to try and satisfy.
5. Enjoy the journey. The destination is fun, but sometimes the journey is the best part. 
6. Live as if you're not going to make it to 30. 
7. Don't confuse the people who are always present with the people who are always there.
8. Make a point to have too good of a time today to worry about tomorrow.
9. Lay off the current generation of teenagers.
10. Step outside of your comfort zone. Be willing to learn and take on challenges you may not want to do. 
11. Be thankful for what you have. 
12. Start investing.
13. Invest in yourself. Take classes, read books, learn a new skill. 
14. Develop your best skills.
15. Take a girlfriend road trip. 
16. Go hiking. (in Europe, if possible)
17. Watch a movie in a theatre alone. 
18. Buy an expensive piece of jewelry for yourself. 
19. Read one meaning book from the Bible all the way through. 
20. Get something free from a masterpiece of complaining. 
21. Get something published. 
22, Test myself: do something I would never do in a million years. 
23. Spend a weekend in New York. 
24. Read 5 books I've always wanted to read. 
25. Reread 5 books I love. 
26. Climb a mountain. 
27. Take a weekend break more than 4 hours from home. 
28. Take part in a demonstration. 
29. Start a novel. 
30. Have a difficult conversation with someone I love very much. 

Civic
1. Volunteer. 
2. Donate to charity. 
3. Take on a mentee.
4. Take food to an animal shelter and walk a dog while I'm there.
5. Give something I don't want to get rid of to someone in need. 

Practical Tips
1. Learn that I don't have to respond to every text, email, or phone call. Go an entire day without technology. I can do this on vacation, but I want to do it in real life.
2. Learn to cook. That's lofty, so cook one complete meal for dinner. Complete with wine and beer pairings.
3. Keep making friends.
4. Don't allow your mood to be linked to your bank account.
5. Whether big or small, always have something to look forward to.
6. Spend more money on experiences and less on material things.
7. Save money whenever possible.
8. Listen and ruminate, but never make important decisions based on others' advice.
9. Live the life you want to live, not the life others expect you to live.
10. Meet with a financial planner or advisor. 
11. Track your expenses for a month.
12. Prioritize. Learn the difference between being busy and being productive.
13. Set up a financial plan. 
14. Save 10% of each paycheck. 
15. Establish healthy eating habits.
16. Set aside time for you. 
17. Be aware of etiquette. 
18. Be a good friend.
19. Create an emergency fund. 
20. Have a complete health check. 

Personal
1. Reconnect with someone I have lost touch with.
2. Try and take notes on 30 different types of wine.
3. Buy an entire outfit for full price.
4. Find a mentor.
5. Know what you're getting into.
5. Try the "BEST" of 30 things. (wine, steak, sushi, fish, pillow, sheets, beer, chocolate, bread, butter, cake, etc)
6. Finish my Master's. 
7. Pay off college debt. 
8. Become fluent in something. 
9. Make my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health a priority. 
10. Start recording my family history. 

Everything I Need to Know I Learned While Drinking Wine

Maybe you've heard of the poem Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Well, they were really onto something, and it became abundantly clear last night that some people failed the kindergarten of life.

It is Sharla's birth month, so we decided to celebrate by going to a Jazz and Wine Fest in downtown Evansville. We brought along our good friend, Leslie, and Sharla's husband, Jody. Poor guy, he was completely surrounded by gossiping girls. 

We went to this wine fest as a much larger group two years ago and had an absolute blast. 


But it wasn't nearly as crowded as it was this year. In the year since we've been, they have downgraded to plastic glasses (such bullshit) and cut three hours off the time frame of the event. I'm guessing since people (like me) couldn't start drinking at 1pm this year, they packed the streets at 4:00 when it opened. As we passed super crowded "booze tents" as some drunk called them (that drunk was not me--promise), I got the brilliant idea to pass up the tents near the entrance and go to the ones farther away hoping they were less crowded. This was not the case. The line at the tent we ended up at was through the tent, out the side of the tent, and down the street. 

We waited to taste our first sample of wine for an hour and fifteen minutes. This was fine by us, because we were catching up, and friending each other on Instagram, and otherwise occupying ourselves. At the very same moment, our blood sugar was plummeting, and we all started to feel a bit cranky. 

Then, some assholes decided they didn't need to wait in the hour-long line and that they could cut in front of us. At first, we were all just a bit perturbed. Then as this trend really caught on, I decided I'd had enough, and my hangry self walked up to this group of selfish cutters, knocked their glasses out of their hands, shoved my empty plastic cup down the throat of the one who commented on the long line despite having just cut it, and basically dominated the wine festival and drank all the wine for myself. Except that only happened in my dream after I passed out from lack of food and wine. Except that didn't happen either. 

What really happened was that we finally made it to the taste-test area and no one would give us samples so we started helping ourselves while loudly commenting on the f*ck faces who'd cut in front of us. Then I purchased 8 bottles of wine and drank as much as I wanted in front of the cutters who were still waiting to get samples. And ate some kind of blackberry chicken mashed potato pita, because I was about to go into shock from low blood sugar. 

But after our it's never okay to cut lesson, the night was amazing. We sampled lots of really good wine, lots of wine that tasted like hooch, bought some (seriously 8 bottles for me) to bring home and drink later (or last night as soon as I got home), and made lots of good birthday memories!


 




Earlier in the day, my fam met up at a Catholic Church picnic to watch my sis-in-law's band, Dysfunctional Groove, play, and they were awesome! And we were so proud of her!! And I made my brothers do a little family photo shoot with me. And they loved it. 






And Stink played an Angry Birds game that made him an angry bird.

And this guy was the highlight of my life. 

And this is how I feel today. 


Be sure to tune in tomorrow and the rest of the week to hear about our Orlando vacation adventures from last week!! You'll love every minute of it, and I'll pretend I'm still on vacation because I have to work 110 hours this week. YAY!!