Friends! Like the headline reads, I am nearly 30. I really cannot believe it. Thirty sounds really old to me…like I should have a heck of a lot more stuff figured out by now. The fact is, I will be 30 on Friday and instead of thinking about all the things I don’t have, I hope this birthday allows me to think of all the things I do have. I am thankful for much, but that’s another post. Today, it’s time for a 30 before 30 list check-in!

1.)  Find the most perfect little black dress. And purchase it. Completed – I didn’t buy a black dress, but I’m making a substitution – I bought the most perfect black heels from Kate Spade…they count, don’t you think:)?

2.)  Donate my hair to locks of love. Completed on 12/6/11 – proof here

3.)  Perfect one killer cocktail.

4.)  Compete in the decathlon.  Completed on 5/22/12. I don’t have photo evidence of this (thank goodness, it wasn’t pretty) but I completed my 10 events and was SO glad to be done with this! I was somewhat happy with my performance (I was incredibly sore after the 100-meter dash. Yes, only 100 meters! Pathetic.)

5.)  Break my athletic club’s decathlon push-up record. So, I did complete this in terms of TRYING to break the record, but I didn’t break it. Such a bummer. Truthfully, I was actually really fired up about this and super sad. I just missed it by a few push-ups (the goal was 60 chest to the floor push-ups). Lame. On a different note, I broke the bench press record, which was ironic because I broke my own record from years ago, so it’s nothing to write home about. There’s always next year…

6.)  Learn how to make my parent’s delicious eggs benedict. Completed on 4/21/12 – proof here

7.)  Give cold hard cash to a charity of my choice. Completed. Three cheers for accessible healthcare for women.

8.) Take a cooking class. Completed on 12/17/11 – proof here

 9.)  Play one round of golf with my Dad and brother. I hear they are quite good.  We played golf in Black Butte, and I loved every second on the course. Full update here.

10.) Create and order our wedding album.

11.) Visit Kyle’s grandparent’s historic bar in  Crawfordsville, Oregon.

12.)  Get a spray tan (must succumb  to this – I live in Oregon!). Completed on 12/1/11 and proof is below. This photo was taken in the middle of December, in Oregon. I’d normally never, ever, be this dark during the winter. For all you Portlanders, visit the Organic Bronze Bar if you need a little “sun” – I’d highly recommend them for an even, natural looking tan.

13.)  Take my niece and nephew on a special  “Auntie Outing”. Completed. We went to Disney on Ice, and it was a magical afternoon.

14.)  Pamper myself – get  a facial and a massage in the SAME day. Imagine that. Scheduled for 11.1.12. YAY!

15.) Surprise Kyle with something. Completed. A new golf club is the way to a man’s heart.

16.)  Visit New York for the first time. Completed in May! And an AMAZING visit it was. Proof here and here. Yes, it was such a lovely trip one post just couldn’t do our vacation justice.

17.)   Begin the search for our next home. Completed. Our house officially sold, we’re living in an itty bitty NW apartment, and we just bought our second home. 

18.)  Buy a luxurious set of sheets. No more sets from Target. Completed! Purchased these from Schoolhouse Electric. Not totally sold on them, but I finally pulled the trigger.

19.)  Legitimately learn PhotoShop. Completed in March. I finished my 8-week PhotoShop class at PNCA in the spring. And the good news is, I graduated. I’m sorta smart at Photoshop now. Keyword is sorta.

20.)  Take a hard look at our finances/retirement accounts. Update: We’ve made some strides, but we aren’t quite finished yet. SOON!

21.)   Take a sewing class. Uupdate: I signed up to take a zippered pouch class at Modern Domestic and then I couldn’t escape work on time and I missed my class. Sad! But, I’m going to sign up again for another class-hopefully the outcome will be different and I’ll have a handmade zippered pouch to show in a few months.

22.) Officially launch my design services on Restored Style. Update: My services are here! This was a big line item on this list and I’m incredibly happy to announce I’m officially available for hire.

23.)  Try bikram yoga. Update: I bought an amazing bikram yoga Groupon so I’m all set…now I just need to drink some water and get my booty to class.

24.) Think (NOT try!) about adding a wee one to our very content family of two. Completed. Let’s just say we have a house to remodel first.

25.)  Read the stack of books on my bed side table. All of them. Update: I made my way through the Hunger Games series (LOVE) and a few other great books, but I still have handful more to go to check this off my list. 

26.)   Pay it forward to a stranger. Completed! Enough said.

27.)  Buy the camera lens I’ve been coveting. Completed. Purchased. I still can’t believe something so small costs so darn much.

28.) Save ALL my photos to my external hard drive. No more memory mishaps.

29.)   Open a cherished bottle of wine from the wine collection my Grandfather gifted me many years ago. UPDATE: Picked out a bottle to be opened at my birthday dinner. 

30.)   Have a birthday party to celebrate turning 30! UPDATE: Party is all set for the weekend! Can’t wait to share more about the shin-dig after it really happens.

This 30 before 30 exercise has taught me so much. Like I can’t even tell you. But I’m going to try – I’m working on a recap of all I’ve learned this past year while checking things off my 3-0 list.

Happpppppy Halloween!