Turning 27

I was sort of indifferent about my birthday this year.  I don't mean to be a party pooper, but there isn't anything special about turning 27... it actually just makes me realize I'm that much closer to 30.  And while turning 30 isn't a bad thing, it just seems like there are so many things I should accomplish by then and time is  flying by.

In light of my recent birthday and this reality, I went ahead and updated my 30 Before 30 and was able to cross some things off the list.  Feel free to help me prioritize what's left.

1. Take a pottery class  this is still a hope

2. Spend a weekend in the Big Apple  maybe this winter?

3. Read the whole Bible

4. Become a dog owner 

5. Move with Jake to a new place for both of us  does our new house count?

6. Host and cook a holiday meal for family

7. Travel to another country  we went to Haiti last July

8. Try my hand at cycling or a spin class, maybe form a hobby

9. Go on a mission trip

10. Visit a castle

11. Visit a vineyard on the west coast 

12. Become very involved with or work for a charity/non-profit  I am trying to continue supporting St. Vincent's through the Red Thread Promise

13. Run more than one half marathon in a single year 

14. Take a spontaneous trip (less than a week's notice)

15. Keep reading... I'd like to average reading a book a month, which equals roughly 64 new books by my 30th birthday 

16. Discover my signature dish and perfect it  my veggie lasagna is pretty good

17. Confidently wear a bikini... in public, not just at the pool

18. Take a "girls only" trip

19. Buy a piece of art (not necessarily anything fancy, but a piece I love and appreciate) 

20. Pay off more than 50% of our school loans

21. Be more proficient on a Mac than a PC  a newer Mac would help

22. Become more versed in Adobe Creative Suite

23. Swim with dolphins

24. Take a professional quality photograph; I want people to assume I bought it

25. See/meet someone famous

26. Revamp an old piece of furniture  I've finished a few pieces 

27. Throw/Attend a baby shower for either Alison or Dani (I'm ready to be an aunt)

28. Talk about/start trying for kids

29. Learn to ski or snowboard

30. Buy a house  we are still getting used to this fact ourselves

something borrowed... and something blue

So far my summer reading is off to a good start- In a matter of days I finished Something Borrowed and Something Blue by Emily Giffin  and LOVED them both!  In the scheme of things though, I'm sort of behind my one book a month goal and am hoping the summer months help me make up for it.

To start, BOTH books were quick and easy reads and were quite entertaining.  With sequels I feel like its easy to have a favorite, but I genuinely liked them equally.  I don't want to go into too much detail in case you haven't read them, so I'll simply share the storyline for both so you can decide whether you want to read it yourself!

Emily's Bookshelf

Something Borrowed (which is now a motion picture) tells the story of Rachel, a Manhattan lawyer and average people pleaser, who ends up sleeping with her best friend, Darcy's fiance after her surprise 30th birthday party.

Despite wanting to put the whole thing behind her, Rachel realizes she has genuine feelings for Dex (the fiance) and spends the entire book trying to decide what to do about it.  The choice of ignoring her true love for him to spare her best friend's feelings torments her daily.  The more you learn about Darcy and Dex's relationship 
as well as Darcy and Rachel's you'll understand why the answer isn't so black and white.

Emily Giffin's site

Something Blue switches things up, revealing Darcy's perspective on things; including Rachel's betrayal, an unexpected pregnancy, and her sudden move to London .  Readers learn the truth behind Darcy's seemingly perfect life as the novel takes you through her ups and downs and her struggle to discover who she really wants to be.

My suggestion is to read them both by the end of summer... if of course, you haven't already!!!

  

all done

I'm happy to report that the table I blogged about renovating last month is done, and considering  it was my first attempt at refinishing a piece of furniture I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Additionally, in light of being a first for me, the rule was that I couldn't spend a lot of money on it.  Which was fair because based on my history there was no guarantee that I would actually start the project or use the table when and if I ever finished it.  In keeping with the rules, the only items I purchased were sanding blocks (around $9) and glass knobs ($10).  The "butter" paint I borrowed from our neighbor and the rest came from my own blood, sweat, and tears... well just sweat, but still.

Here is a reminder of how the table looked when I found it:

And this is the finished product:

Dumpster Dive

Ok, so I didn’t have to dive into any dumpsters, but I did dash from the end of a stranger’s driveway back to my car with an end table this weekend.

Long story short, I’ve always wanted to refurbish a piece of furniture and decided that it might be something I’d need to acquire at an antique store or garage sale versus stumbling upon, but this weekend I got lucky and I did just that. 

I was driving around a few neighborhoods looking for some for rent signs on townhomes when I saw a little end table/nightstand at the end of a driveway.  I assume when people place items there they mean to get rid of them, but this wasn't the area where the trash cans stood to be collected so I wasn’t 100% sure.  I went up the driveway, knocked on the door, and asked the woman if she wanted to get rid of it… only to find out it was her neighbor’s not hers.  So, I went next door and knocked and no one came to the door (they were definitely home because the storm door was closed but the main door was not).  I knocked once more before walking backwards to the end of the driveway.  I grabbed the piece and literally ran to my car parked a few driveways over.  I’m still not sure why I felt the need to run, but it made the whole experience that much more exciting. 

Jake called right as I was driving away and I couldn’t help but practically scream in excitement what had just happened!  He of course encouraged me for being spontaneous and a risk-taker and asked that I not take months and months to reinvent the piece, which was a totally reasonable request.

So, here she is in all her current glory.  

I already peeled off some stickers and am very clear that she still needs a lot of work.  My first thoughts are that she’ll need to be sanded, painted a fun color (although, black or white  isn't completely out of the question), and receive some new knobs.  I’m leaning towards traditional glass or round black knobs if I paint it a quirky color, but if I go white or black I want to do some unique artsy knobs like these.

I've also been lying

So, we just recently told our apartment community that we have Tank... and by "told" I mean admitted it, after being confronted with a notice on our door.  Don't judge me.

I don't know why I let this tiny lie omission of the truth perpetuate to this point, but I did, and I'm embarrassed.  In case you haven't already figured it out, Jake is what some might call, frugal.   And I use that term lightly, because Jake doesn't mind spending money on things he understands or values, its anything that doesn't fall into those categories that he has huge issues with.  So as you can imagine, Jake was not excited about the non-refundable pet deposit and monthly fee; thus why we waited to say something.  But that is neither here nor there, because its out in the open now and the fee is non-negotiable.  Period.

Jake’s way of coping with this fact is to send me the following text message:

"Merry xmas.  I’m returning your presents and putting tank in a box"

Please excuse any errors in the above, I wanted to keep it authentic.

This is life though; you win some, you lose some, and you spend too much money on unavoidable things.  And I don't want to hear this could have been avoided if we didn't get a puppy in the first place.  Number one, that is just a ridiculous thing to say and number two, owning a puppy was on my 30 Before 30... which you know isn't optional.

Could you walk away from this face?  If you say yes, you're a liar and no friend of mine... or Tank's.

 

30 before 30 update

E, myself, and i is doing a giveaway for 30 before 30 participants, so I thought I'd join!!!  Here it goes...

1. Take a pottery class

2. Spend a weekend in the Big Apple

3. Read the whole Bible

4. Become a dog owner DONE!  I'm sure you've heard of Tank by now...

5. Move with Jake to a new place for both of us

6. Host and cook a holiday meal for family

7. Travel to another country

8. Try my hand at cycling or a spin class, maybe form a hobby I really did do this after I drafted this blog, so I'm letting it count

9. Go on a mission trip

10. Visit a castle

11. Visit a vineyard on the west coast going to Napa Valley in November

12. Become very involved with or work for a charity/non-profit volunteering this weekend for physicians for peace; I hope it will be my last involvement!

13. Run more than one half marathon in a single year definitely on the right track if I follow through with the Shamrock and then another half in the Fall

14. Take a spontaneous trip (less than a week's notice)

15. Keep reading... I'd like to average reading a book a month, which equals roughly 64 new books by my 30th birthday I'm WAY behind on this one!!!

16. Discover my signature dish and perfect it

17. Confidently wear a bikini... in public, not just at the pool

18. Take a "girls only" trip

19. Buy a piece of art (not necessarily anything fancy, but a piece I love and appreciate) does it count if I buy it for someone else???

20. Pay off more than 50% of our school loans

21. Be more proficient on a Mac than a PC

22. Become more versed in Adobe Creative Suite

23. Swim with dolphins

24. Take a professional quality photograph; I want people to assume I bought it

25. See/meet someone famous

26. Revamp an old piece of furniture I've been on the lookout...

27. Throw/Attend a baby shower for either Alison or Dani (I'm ready to be an aunt)

28. Talk about/start trying for kids

29. Learn to ski or snowboard

30. Buy a house

Keeping it Going

Continuing to read made my 30 before 30 (more specifically, averaging a book a month) and I am taking the task seriously. I just finished The Host and really loved it. It definitely took awhile for me to get into it but once I committed to reading it while traveling recently, I could barely put it down. As a matter of fact, I bought it for the flight back from Buffalo mid-May but didn't pick it up it again once home. I finally decided to finish it this past trip so I could move on to another book (I can't stand stopping midway through to start something else) and who would have known it turn out so good!

Long story short, I'm really glad my sister suggested I might like it and that I took the time to see it through. It was an interesting concept and a complex love story (not to be confused with a romance novel in ANY way) that I would recommend.

The novel is by Stephenie Meyer, but it isn't at all like the Twilight Series so you can't start it with those expectations. The story takes place in the future, which I think is why it was hard for me to get into at first. If you like that sort of thing then its right up your alley and if you're like me, just try it and trust that it does eventually get good.

30 before 30

It is sort of a random time to be joining in the 30 before 30 blog fun inspired by my friend Elizabeth... but I'm sort of random, so really it's perfect! This blog has been sitting in my draft folder since March 30th and since I've already crossed one thing off my list I figured I needed to hurry up and post it! Enjoy.

1. Take a pottery class

2. Spend a weekend in the Big Apple

3. Read the whole Bible

4. Become a dog owner

5. Move with Jake to a new place for both of us

6. Host & cook a holiday meal for family

7. Travel to another country

8. Try my hand at cycling or a spin class, maybe form a hobby I really did do this after I drafted this blog, so I'm letting it count

9. Go on a mission trip

10. Visit a castle

11. Visit a vineyard on the west coast

12. Become very involved with or work for a charity/non-profit

13. Run more than one half marathon in a single year

14. Take a spontaneous trip (less than a week's notice)

15. Keep reading... I'd like to average reading a book a month, which equals roughly 64 new books by my 30th birthday

16. Discover my signature dish and perfect it

17. Confidently wear a bikini... in public, not just at the pool

18. Take a "girls only" trip

19. Buy a piece of art (not necessarily anything fancy, but a piece I love & appreciate)

20. Pay off more than 50% of our school loans

21. Be more proficient on a Mac than a PC

22. Become more versed in Adobe Creative Suite

23. Swim with dolphins

24. Take a professional quality photograph; I want people to assume I bought it

25. See/meet someone famous

26. Revamp an old piece of furniture

27. Throw/Attend a baby shower for either Alison or Dani (I'm ready to be an aunt)

28. Talk about/start trying for kids
29. Learn to ski or snowboard

30. Buy a house

spin class

Alright, so I've not blogged much about it (yet), but I've been on a downward spiral since my wedding when it comes to exercising. And by downward spiral, I mean non-existent. I did the Wicked 10K down at the oceanfront on Halloween and that marked my final "hoorah" if you will. Since then, I'd be lying if I said I've been exercising at all. There have been bursts of activity i.e. no more than two runs in a given week (and that is a stretch), but nothing lasting...until this week.

A friend of mine coaxed me into trying a spin class at the YMCA and I L-O-V-E-D, loved it! I liked it so much in fact that I'm already signed up to go again on Thursday and possibly Saturday... which if you know me and my allergy to exercise you'd realize this is BIG! I am shocked myself, especially since I'm so sore that going up and down stairs, lowering and lifting myself from the toilet (don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about), and walking in general is incredibly painful. I'm feeling the burn...still, but for whatever weirdo reason I like it! I actually feel like I worked myself out hard and it feels good!

I'll keep you posted on Thursday's class and if I can push through the soreness to pedal my heart out. I have a feeling that if I really get hooked then the following may ensue:

1. I may just finally join AND use a gym.
2. I might have a hobby.
3. Jake could take this to another level and buy me a road bike (he is already talking about cycling together in Charleston this September).
4. I may shed a few and fit nicely (key here is not to fit, but to fit nicely) back into my favorite coral skirt purchased spring 2008, a pre-Dani's wedding purchase. I was actually in better shape for her wedding and that summer than I was for my own!