One week before I start my challenge!!!

With less than one week before I start my 30 by 30 in 3 challenge, I'm starting to get very excited...  I want to begin NOW! I allowed myself to plan ahead, which is half the fun sometimes =)... here's my progress to date.

#7: The Gran Fondo is a Century (100 mile) bike ride on May 20, so I started training for it a few weeks ago...  need to kick my rear in gear, though, don't want to die on those hills!

#11: I already have 3 trips planned - going to New Orleans for work, Ecuador and the Galapagos end of May, and Key West for Marcia's bachelorette party, all places I've wanted to go to!

And I already have ideas for how to celebrate my big day in style (#21 - bottle service... sometimes to get a private space in one of these fancy night clubs in NYC you need to purchase a bottle of liquor for an obscene amount of money, but I think it might be a nice thing to do for the big day!)... everyone keep the evening of Saturday, July 7 open!  Plans to be shared soon =)

See below for some tentative dates on a few of the other items: see below and let me know if you want to join!
#1: Sky diving, tentatively Saturday June 30
#5: Eat at a 3 star Michelin restaurant - TBD, who's going with me?  3 course chef tasting at 3 different potential restaurants for $108
#13: Day in NYC - TBD, but probably June given the Gran Fondo training commitment.  I'm thinking the NY Botanical Gardens, a museum, shopping at Tiffany's/Fifth Avenue, fabulous dinner, and maybe a show on Broadway or comedy club
#14: Jersey Shore - I think this will be after sky diving on June 30... Katrin, you in?
#15: Lucky Chen's - date TBD, who's going with me?  This is the Chinese drag queen restaurant =) =) =) I've heard great things about it!!!

As for #28... finish the counted cross stitch that I've been working on for a while... I have a LONG way to go... see what it's supposed to look like on the left, and how far I've gone as of today...

Don't forget to vote for what my 30th should be... if you don't like the options, leave a comment with your thoughts =)

I can't wait for April 7th!!!

The big reveal

After going back and forth for weeks, I think I've finally settled on my list of 30 things.  It's been a long hard road (ha!), and many items have been removed, modified and consolidated... but I think I'm finally ready to share.

When you see the list, you might be like my roommate Ellie and say "Umm, how much time do you have to do this?"  Yeah... right.  How much time do I have? While this is gonna be a commitment, I'm up for it.  I thrive on challenges and having something to train for.  My goal? Complete all 30, in 3 months...

Without further ado....


Kimmy's List of 30 Things To Do Before I Turn 30:

1. Go skydiving (shh don't tell my parents).
2. Be a guest bartender.
3. Get certified in spinning.
4. Spend a day at a spa.
5. Eat at a 3 star Michelin restaurant.
6. Learn to drive stick shift.
7. Bike in the Gran Fondo (NYC).
8. Run my first 5K in 2 years.
9. Cook 30 new recipes.
10. Blog each of these posts.
11. Travel somewhere on my bucket list.
12. Do 30 hours of community service… or give $10 for each hour un-donated.
13. Take a day and take advantage of NYC.
14. See what this whole Jersey Shore thing is all about.
15. Go to Lucky Chen’s (Chinese drag queen restaurant in NYC).
16. Go on a date with a fireman. Or maybe just someone I really like. =) 
17. Try a new food.
18. Hire someone to do something that I don’t like doing…
19. Host a BBQ and watch the Macys Fourth of July firework show from my roof.
20. Lose 30 pounds (or 1/3 of 30 pounds) ;) Be healthy.
21. Get bottle service at a NYC night club and dance the night away.
22. Splurge on something sparkly.
23. Dress like I’m a (fashionable) 30 year old.
24. Quit something I do a lot for 30 days.
25. Take a picture a day for 30 days. 
26. Learn how to poach an egg.
27. Visit a psychic
28. Complete a counted cross stitch piece that I’ve been “working” on for years!
29. Read 30 books.
30. Reader's choice!!!  See the poll.

So... what do you think?  What am I missing????  What should I cut out?  What do you love?  Who wants to join me??  

The challenge.

Apparently I'm not normal, but... I'm actually excited about turning 30.  

I've been thinking about how to celebrate for over a year. The initial thought was a girls weekend in Vegas, as my four girlfriends and I are all turning 30 within 2 months of each other.  Then one of them decided to get married this year, and between the bachelorette party and a wedding... it became clear that my dream of partying like a 21 year old would be delayed until the wedding reception, and would happen in Vermont and not Vegas. 

So I took a few months to regroup on how to celebrate my big day.  Maybe a trip to some exotic place like Iceland or Morocco?  I nixed that - too much time commitment from my friends.

Then I got to thinking... if not a big trip, why not do a bunch of little things to celebrate, and instead of one day or even a weekend, why not celebrate the days leading up to the "big day"?  I mean... you could get married multiple times, but you only turn 30 once.  Why not live it up?  

So... I've been working on a list.  A list of 30 things that I want to do before I turn 30.  And I'll set a timeframe - say 3 months (you see a theme emerging here?)  While the list is not yet final, I can tell you that some of the things are easily achievable in a few hours... and some will take much longer.  It all starts on April 7.  

Challenge?  Accepted.  GAME ON!!!