{LIFESTYLE} 30 Things to Do Before 30

In just over a week, I'll be celebrating yet another birthday. Somehow, I've sped through almost 28-years of my life - years that have seen me through multiple evolutions and awkward phases and Madonna-scale style transformations, and that I've begun welcoming with my yearly wish list, which could just as well serve as a testament to my insanity. The not-so-distant future is full of some major, exciting milestones: I'm launching my first fashion collection in the fall (yes! It's true!), I'm working on a book filled with hilarious and embarrassing stories that I will publish, and I'm getting married to someone that I know, without a doubt, is the love of my life and my person. I could cheat and add all three of these major life events to my 30-before-30 list - knocking out a solid 10%... but I won't. While I'm doing pretty well in checking off normative life passages from the massive list of things-that-are-expected-of-us-by-a-certain-age (and that, by the way, I think are BS), I've been thinking a lot about the things that don't fall within the list of expectations - the events and interests that make me the person I am, but have somehow fallen by the wayside.  These aren't resolutions, or overall life goals: just a short-term bucket list of things I don't want to keep postponing! 

Click through to continue...

1. Document my family's oral history. 

2. Meet my extended family in England. 

3. Visit Iceland; swim in the Blue Lagoon. 

4. Take a Burlesque class.

5. Volunteer for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

6. Read the 100 Best Novels. Fortunately, I have a head start.

7. Take a hike in the Hudson Valley.

8. Bake the perfect (gluten-free) Princess Cake.

9. Go on a weekend trip with my closest friends -
even if it's just an hour outside the city.

10.  Learn my way around a toolbox;
 it's called a "Phillips Head," not "the thing with four things." I did it! I built furniture all by myself! 

11. Dine at Thomas Keller's Per Se or The French Laundry. (Well, we tried to get a reservation at The French Laundry in August and it was a no-go, and then Per Se for our anniversary, and they're closed for winter vacation!) 

12. See a baseball game at Yankee's Stadium... 
Even though I hate baseball. 

13. Go Skydiving. 
(I'll save this for after the wedding. We already put down a deposit, after all). 

14. Visit Charleston, South Carolina. Did it! May 2014.

15. Become fluent in French. 

16. Get certified in CPR. 

17. Take a helicopter tour of Manhattan. 

18. See Beyoncé live. Did it! Ali and I went to Philly for a weekend and saw the Queen Bee and Jay-Z. 

19. Tour a Frank Lloyd Wright building in person. Did it! June 2014. 

20. Take a swing dancing class. 

21. Go to Napa Valley and learn anything about wine. Did it, loved it - send me a case from Domaine Carneros.

22. Bike across the Golden Gate Bridge.
23. Visit the "new" Downtown LA and go on an art walk. I didn't just do it, I did a photoshoot on it!

24. Go to a hot air balloon festival.

25. Start a supper club with close friends. 

26. Make a bespoke fragrance. 

27. "Live" in a city that's not New York or LA for at least a month.

28. Try 10 completely new-to-me recipes, and blog about them. 

29. Take an improv class. I can be funny, right? 

30. See a performance at the Disney Concert Hall in LA. 

I think this is all fairly attainable, and I look forward to crossing these off my list one by one... The countdown begins now!