I started this blog on my 25th birthday, and used it to fuel my ambitions: to have as many adventures  as possible before I turned 30.

How did it turn out? Pretty damn fun. Being accountable to the internet inspired me to really go through with some wild plans – from flying a plane to hiking Mount Washington to cooking a whole chicken. It’s been a great ride – and now I have even more things I want to do with the next phase of my life!

See where I got so far – and where I’m going next!

Items completed:

1. Climb Mount Washington – DONE summer 2015 and summer 2018!
2. Get backstage at a Broadway show or a major concert – DONE at Gigi on Broadway, June 2015!
3. Run a half marathon – done, May 2013 – read about the kickoff here and the final result here!
4. Learn how to cook a chicken – done, Nov 2011
5. Spend some time in Washington, DC – done, over the last few years.  What city is next??
6. Go back to London – DONE times a million when I went to Europe for a month in October 2014.
7. Find a job that I love that helps change the world (right now, I think that will be with a non-profit or government agency that helps women, children, and people with cancer) I’m already doing this, helping amazing non-profits be more successful at fundraising and communicating online – LOVE it.
8. Continue to volunteer at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp – attended in summer 2010, 2011, 2012 and counting!
9. Go back to school, for something fun (Spanish?  Cooking?) if not for a specific advanced degree – took an awesome French class in spring 2014
10. Visit the White House – done, Jan 2012, though I would still love to actually be invited!
11. Plan a stellar 10-year high school reunion – done, read all about it here!
12. Get recognized by my alma mater, Mount Holyoke College, in some cool way  – done, elected communications chair for the class at my 5 year reunion! But I’ll take more if I can get it!
13. Sit in the emergency exit row of an airplane – Done and done (x3).  It was actually just as fun as I thought it might be. New goal: fly in the front of a small plane the next time I ride in one.  I came so close last time!
14. Even better, FLY a plane – done, September 2014. Look for a blog post on this soon!
15. Try out for a game show – applied to be on Wheel of Fortune – no dice!  Also auditioned for a show in July 2013. Price is Right next, perhaps?
16. Meet Sally Ride (actually a life goal, but major bonus points if I can get there before I turn 30!)  – Alas, the time ran out on this one.  Still proud of my fellow Sally and her accomplishments.  Read more >>
17. Deliver the best MoH toast ever at my little sister’s wedding – Done and done!
18. Learn to poach an egg to the extent that I can serve it to someone other than myself – done – so much easier and more fun than expected!
19. Hug a redwood tree – achievement unlocked in 2013!
20. Watch the Red Sox play from the Green Monster at Fenway Park – done, summer 2014 – look for a blog post on this soon!
21. Play my guitar in public – played my ukulele for my coworkers in 2013 and then finally played my guitar and sang at an open mic night in February 2015. Read more >>
22. See a major league baseball game somewhere other than Fenway Park (DONE – went to Nats park and Giants stadium in April 2016)
23. Go on a Segway tour (DONE in DC in October 2017 and it was 1000x more fun than I thought it could be)
24. Find a place to do some steady volunteering (DONE – Joined Hearty Meals For All in 2016 and now serving as Board President.)
25. Give at least $1,000 to charity over five years, combined (DONE – between Hearty Meals, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU, and Mount Holyoke College – my beloved alma mater – I have finished this and then some!)
26. Do something meaningful for the 20th anniversary of my cancer diagnosis to celebrate how healthy I am now and help others – DONE in February 2018, with the help of my fabulous support network we raised over $2,000 for David’s House, where my family stayed often when I was in the hospital.
27. Finish walking the Freedom Trail, after my 1998 trip was canceled – DONE on July 9, 2019!
28. Apply for a job I know I won’t get – Done this a few times as of July 2019!

… and more!  I’m adding things as I go, and checking things off as I accomplish them!

And also…

• Visit South America and hike Machu Picchu
• See the Grand Canyon
• Go to Greece
• Go to India
• Enter another cooking competition (and win this time!)
• Reduce possessions to quality things that I need and love (will this ever be done??)
• Run for public office (school board, state rep, whatever!)
• Get back in touch with professors and other leaders who can be lifelong mentors as I continue down my path, and become a mentor myself
• Get re-certified in CPR (work in progress)
• Get certified in something – massage, Zumba, crepe-making, project management?
• Get a photo or article published somewhere
• Post on my blog 500 times
• Host Thanksgiving for my family
• Watch the top 100 movies on the American Film Institute’s list
• Help build an awesome treehouse
• Own my own house
• Get involved with Girl Scouts or some other group that helps girls be awesome leaders
• Live somewhere where I can actually follow feng shui and not store everything under my bed (sounds minor, but I think it could be really lovely).  And maybe have a closet with a door.
• Be in / work on a musical or play as an adult (beyond my high school and college career)
• Make a quilt
• Take a multi-day art intensive
• Do a triathlon with my friends (the sequel to iii, the race we ran in college!)
• Learn to make a mojito from scratch and practice it for all my friends

What’s on your list?