I have been meaning to get this post up for some time now, about 10 months to be exact. Maybe I was too busy crossing things off my list! You see, when I turned thirty I didn't feel the Grim Reaper on my shoulder or a pain in my chest caused by all the things I have yet to achieve. Instead I felt hope and excitement for what is to come.
I loved my twenties! I graduated college, fell in love, moved out on my own, starred in numerous plays and movies, traveled the world, found my soul mate, got married, adopted a dog... But most of my twenties were about reclaiming my youth. They were about pure gluttony and partying until 3am and getting up at 8:00am for work 6 days a week. They were about squeaking by in every sense of the word and burning the candle at every end possible. I wasn't really concerned with things like settling down, having a career or starting a family. But towards the end of the decade those things started to become more clear, as the image I had of myself became more clear. Dreams and desires became more defined and I had a better image of what kind of life I wanted to live.
I turned thirty on a cruise with my husband and some great friends. Instead of wanting to throw myself off the boat for feeling "old" I went zip lining and promised to embrace as much of my thirties in a positive way as possible. Now that the gluttony was out of my system, I vowed to take everything I learned in the last thirty years and apply it to a new life!
My best friend and her husband decided to make "40 before 40" lists when they turned 30. I love this idea, it shows that they are embracing their thirties and want to make sure they are really living life. Well I love lists, sometimes I make lists of lists I have to make! It's so satisfying to cross of each item! I figure by making it public, it will make it harder to ignore. It's not all about doing huge, world changing things like curing AIDS, it's about doing things that you have never done before. It's about living the way you always dreamed you could. Each item you cross off your list, is confirmation that you are living the life you want and it's a great reminder to live life to the fullest.
So here is my list, though I have had to tweak it a million times, the first three lists looked like a travel channel line up. I had to really search for things that involved more than traveling - that's a list of its own! But the good news is, that I have already started to cross things off. My plan as the days, months and years tick by is that I complete AT LEAST 32 of these items before I'm 40. It's a good number. And who knows, the list may change and I'm sure I'll add more but for now I like the looks of it. The travel list may take a bit longer, but that's okay.
Katie's 40 before 40 List
1. Be a mother
2. Own a house - CHECK BITCHES!
3. Bake something from scratch by actually following a recipe to the T
4. Run a 5K (though its awful for my knees)
5. Cut down my own Christmas tree
6. Host a big Thanksgiving meal
7. Have my writing published
8. Own my own successful business
9. Get into a REAL exercise routine. One that becomes a way of life as opposed to doing it when I can.
10. Follow a regimen through, whether it is a bottle of vitamins or a tooth whitening kit, JUST FINISH IT!
11. Take 1-2 classes in interesting things every year i.e. photography, cooking, writing, pottery...
12. Learn another language enough to hold a real conversation.
13. Try snowboarding
14. Meet Tom Hanks, Chris Martin, Ellen Degeneres or
Mandy Patinkin, hug them and say Thank You.
15. Learn how to knit or sew
16. Volunteer with endangered animals
17. Learn how to play Black Jack - like for real not just yelling HIT ME and crying when I loose $5.00
18. Get certified in SCUBA
19. Learn to horseback ride
20. Sing at an open mike night
21. Learn how to play the Ukulele
22. See the Aurora Borealis
23. Put together a real family tree for both sides
24. Blog at least 3 times a week for at least 6 months - What What this is two for the week!
25. Write a Children's Book Series
26. Learn to drive stick - it's important for emergency escapes
27. Take a spontaneous last minute vacation
28. Watch the AFI top 100 Movies
29. Complete all my old scrap books that are lying around and then remain up to date on photo albums.
30. Be on Wheel Of Fortune
31. Enter at least one contest a week. I never win anything, but I never play either.
32. Be more computer Savy
32. Commit and study to be REALLY REALLY good at something not just skate by on being kinda good at a bunch of things
33. Get back into Dancing and explore different kinds beyond Modern and Hip Hop.
34. Plant a real vegetable Garden
35. Learn how to take a compliment
36. Be an extra in a major movie - with actual screen time
37. Order at least one new thing when eating out, instead of going to the old standbys!
38. Be at an ideal weight and stay there
39. Get rid of all the hidden crap in my closets, basement, sheds that we don't use but hold onto.
40. Learn how to rock climb
Katie's Travel/Adventure List
1. Go to our homelands and hunt down old relatives
2. Spend Christmas in Europe
3. Ride a gondola in Venice and be there for Carnival
4. See the Grand Canyon
5. Drive Cross Country
6. Visit AT LEAST 5 more states that I have never been to.
7. Climb The Eiffel Tower and read a book in a café in Paris
8. Revisit the Vatican and see the Sistine Chapel (I purposely didn't go in when I was there to insure that I would return)
9. Go to Churchill and See polar bears in their natural habitat
10. Take a cruise to Alaska and kayak next to a glacier
11. Explore Machu Pichu
12. See the pyramids in Egypt
13. Go on an African Safari
14. Swim with great white sharks in South Africa - or lets be completely honest, maybe be on a boat, safely away from the side, in water that is near where a great white shark might be sleeping…
15. Spin a globe with my eyes close, point and go there.
16. Ride an elephant in Thailand maybe hit a full moon party and see the Grand Palace
17. Scuba the Great barrier Reef
18. Pet some sheep in New Zealand maybe go zorbing and see whales in Kaikoura
19. Go to an Ice Hotel in Sweden
20. Float in the Dead Sea
21. Visit a concentration camp
22. Wear a fuzzy hat in front of the Kremlin.
23. Revisit India and do all the things we were too scared to do and be there for Holi
24. Blow Bubbles on the Brooklyn Bridge
25. Live like a local somewhere for at least a month
26. Trek along the great wall of China
27. Be in Spain for La Tomatina
28. Stay in a hotel room on stilts on the ocean in a place like Bora Bora or Bali
29. Visit Stonehenge
30. Spend the night in a castle in Scotland or Ireland
31. Make a phone call in a London Red Phone Booth
32. Visit the Temples of Angkor in Cambodia
33. Visit Easter Island and see the Moai
34. Go Camping
35. Visit the Croatian coast and Islands
36. Go to Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket
37. Hit at least 5 American random festivals or large food factories
38. Trek through the Amazon - when all the bugs have been removed
39. Take a super fancy train ride through the Alps
40. Swim with dolphins, whales or manatees
Do you have a list? Cause you should...
Cheers - here's to a life of adventure and living each day to it's fullest!
So we are finally done with the office! This room was really important to us. Both of us being artists means we really needed a calm and creative space to get work done. For the last umpteen years we have been forced to share our "creative space" with a bedroom, guest room, cat room... But now we have a space that's just for us and all that goodness that will come out of us! uuuhhh... ew? Its a smaller room that eventually will be "hypothetical baby's" room so I wanted to paint it with warm soothing blues and greens. I didn't want to have to paint again! The slant on the ceiling made it hard to see where the wall stopped and the ceiling began so I made a creative decision to paint the slant blue! That was a bitch, eyeing it with tape! ugh! But I think it worked out. The room gets a ton of sun through the skylight and it's so cozy!! We repainted an old bookshelf and shelf papered the shelves and now it holds my vast collection of children's books. I know, I'm nuts but I can't get enough of them! Plus it's research because Eventually I will be writing my own in this very room! Our old Pic Nic dining room table is now our kick ass desk. Just because it's a desk, doesn't mean it needs to be metal or a traditional computer desk. Its the perfect size to hold Pete's mammoth computer fixin's and also have room to write or scrap book!! 
But a tiny $2.00 jar of latex paint and some water turned this drab dresser into a shabby chic Armoire! I had some terrifying yet awesome hermit crab knobs that were From Anthropologie, marked down from $12.99 to $1.99 each, so I had to jump on them! I also had been hoarding some turquoise ceramic knobs from Homegoods. It took about 2 hours and VERY minimals tools (I'm still learning not to be afraid of them) And it really came out great! I wanted something that looked a little older but still could add some colour and this definitely did the trick!
But a tiny $2.00 jar of latex paint and some water turned this drab dresser into a shabby chic Armoire! I had some terrifying yet awesome hermit crab knobs that were From Anthropologie, marked down from $12.99 to $1.99 each, so I had to jump on them! I also had been hoarding some turquoise ceramic knobs from Homegoods. It took about 2 hours and VERY minimals tools (I'm still learning not to be afraid of them) And it really came out great! I wanted something that looked a little older but still could add some colour and this definitely did the trick!
