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30 before 30 - the list

Posted on by Kristin Appenbrink

For a long time I've been resistant to the idea of starting a blog. I didn't think I had anything to say that hadn't already been said or couldn't be covered on my blog for Real Simple. But this is different. This blog is distinctly my voice and my experiences.

I've always been a very goal-oriented person. I knew that I wanted to work for a magazine by the time I was 16. By 22 I was working at my dream job at Real Simple. However, in the past few years I've lost that sense of drive to achieve goals I've set for myself. This list is an attempt to regain that passion and sense of achievement albeit on a smaller scale than landing my dream job.

Without further ado, here is the list, presented to the world on my 28th birthday, which gives me exactly two years to complete all 30 things. I can't promise that posts will be frequent, but they will be an entertaining chronicle of the next two years.

The List

1. Go to Europe

2. Go wine tasting on the North Fork

3. Crochet the pink & grey blanket

4. Take a road trip

5. Buy a bike and ride around Brooklyn

6. Live by myself

7. Make French macarons

8. Have a picnic on Governor's Island

9. Walk home from my office in Midtown to my apartment in Brooklyn

10. Learn to temper chocolate and make homemade Klondike bars

11. Go to a show at UCB

12. Attend a meditation service at the Zazen Temple in my neighborhood

13. Get a dwarf Meyer Lemon tree and get fruit from it

14. Create & frame a piece of embroidered or cross-stitched art

15. Learn to curl my hair

16. Ride in a helicopter

17. Take a sailboat tour around Manhattan

18. Take calligraphy class (Preferably this one.)

19. Be silent for one whole day

20. Go to an opera and a ballet

21. Have something published in a small print magazine like Anthology, Remedy Quarterly, or Kinfolk

22. Read all the novels by Jane Austen (Pride & Prejudice, Sense & Sensibility, Emma, Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park)

23. Make jam of some kind

24. Take a knife skills class

25. Design and print something on a letterpress

26. Write my book proposal

27. Take a vacation by myself

28. Make homemade pasta and serve it to friends

29. Send one piece of mail per week (If you want to be on the list send me your address.)

30. The last one is a secret. I'll reveal it after the fact.

Want to join me as I tackle one of the things on this list, or have something unique to offer with regarding a particular goal? Contact me here. And know that your support is wildly appreciated.