It Only Gets Better From Here
Today is my 30th birthday.
Below are 30 things I wanted to do before my 30th birthday, each item focused on helping make me healthy, wealthy, or wise. While I didn’t accomplish everything (a year goes by so fast), I still feel accomplished. Here are my thoughts on my goals from last year.
1. Lose 25 lbs. I didn’t lose 25 lbs of fat. Instead I dropped 165 lbs of asshole. This year I’ll switch back to the fat.
2. Get my cholesterol checked and under control. Got this checked. I was in healthy range.
3. Run a 5k. I ran a Color Run 5k. I had fun, I tried my best, and I had good friends at my side.
4. Do the splits. This did not happen. I did, however, take some stretching classes for the splits. Maybe next year.
5. Learn the “Single Ladies” dance. Still need to do this. One day I will add this to my Karaoke performance. One day.
6. Clear up my skin. I improved my skincare routine significantly - cleansing with oils, moisturizing every night, and getting facials more often. It’s not completely clear, but much improved.
7. Add 2.4k to my savings account Done and done.
8. Set up a monthly budget. Not done at all.
9. Learn to write a business plan. Nope. Didn’t get around to this. Didn’t even know what kind of business to set up.
10. Meet someone from Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. I had a lot of offers to connect me with people on the list, but ultimately I thought it was kind of creepy in the end and these people are just regular people.
11-15. Read #GirlBoss, How to Win Friends & Influence People, Radical Self-Love, The Power of Now, and The Old Man and the Sea. Reading in general went a completely different direction for me. With the election I joined an all-girls progressive book club. All my book reading switched to heavily political books. I’m really proud of being a part of something. I’m hoping we can turn it into some kind of politically active non-profit.
16. Re-read 100 Year of Solitude. See above.
17. Watch AFI’s Top 100 Movies of All Time. Oh dear god, what was I thinking? I’m way too into television to have ever considered this. I did watch all 11 seasons of Criminal Minds on Netflix, though. Does that count? That’s over 200 episodes, people.
18. Create a “capsule wardrobe.” I started getting into minimalism at the beginning of the year. While I didn’t make a capsule wardrobe, I did reduce my closet significantly. Baby steps.
19. Take a Self Defense Class. I did this! Knowles Karate Academy. I learn so much and went with Kristal!
20. Code a responsive website. I learned a little here and there, but never actually coded a site. Still on my to-do.
21. Visit the LA Zoo. Had a hard time finding people who wanted to go to the zoo. Go figure. Never made it out.
22. Visit LACMA. I totally forgot about this one. This year. This is the year I’ll go to LACMA. I swear.
23. Go to the beach at least 3 times this summer. Made this goal, mostly because of the 165 lbs of asshole, but I did it. The beach is nice - inconvenient, but nice.
24. Eat Dim Sum in San Gabriel Valley. SGV Dim Sum came to me! I went to Din Tai Fung in Glendale. Delish!
25. Make Beef Wellington. This one came in just under the wire. I prepped the Wellington last night. I’m finishing it off tonight for a dinner with friends. I almost set the house on fire in the process, but hopefully it’s all worth it.
26. Learn to count cards. Still need to learn this. Someone please help me.
27. Learn calligraphy/handlettering. I tried to sign up for classes, but kept running into conflicts.
28. Memorize all of the 2-letter Scrabble words. I wrote this before learning there are 105 of them. I do, however, have some favs: aa, qi, za, xu, and xi.
29. Visit Nashville. I LOVED Nashville. Got to check it out with two of my besties and had a blast. I can’t wait to go back.
30. Take myself on a “date” once a month. I didn’t really keep track of this one, but I did have a hard time making sure. It was hard what to classify as a date. Mostly I took it to mean a night where I consciously take time to do something nice for me. Whether that’s doing an at-home spa evening or dinner at the restaurant around the corner.
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This past year brought a lot of pain and heartache. The election crushed me in a way I never expected. I feel changed because of it. Getting dumped twice in the same year by the same guy really sucked. He picked a really bad time to be a dick. And Miso died. He was my soulmate and the love of my life. I’m still in disbelief that he is gone.
This year also brought a lot of great things. My friends are always a light in my life and I love them to death. I joined a book club, as I mentioned, and it’s really helped me deal with all the things going on in the world. I also got a new dog, Takoyaki. She’s a little rascal, but she’s mine. She probably takes a little too much after me.
Okay, so for next year, here’s my updated list. I don’t have a set number of things, but I do have goals I want to accomplish.
1. Lose 25 lbs.
2. Do the splits.
3. Learn calligraphy.
4. Code a responsive website.
5. Workout at least twice a week.
6. Focus on the interior design of my place.
7. Throw a fondue party.
8. Make my bed every day (or at least most days).
9. Do 3 things I’ve never done before.
10. Design a cookbook with Grandma Bauer’s recipes.
Alright. Here we go. It only gets better from here.
