30-by-30 How’d I do?
No Friday Favs today because it’s my birthday! Today is the big 3-0! I did a great job on my list and am proud of how far I made it. I’d like to thank everyone who helped me make it as far as I did. Throughout the year, many of my readers, friends, and family members asked me how I was doing on my list and how they could help. I couldn’t have done it without you guys!
Cooking/Baking:
Bagels– done!Marshmallows– done!- Molten Lava Cakes
French Macarons– done and done!Cheesecake– done!Indian Meal (chicken tikka masala and naan)– done!Sushi– Hubby and I are going to a sushi making class tomorrow as part of my birthday celebration!Continue to bake for a good cause– done! – I started up my Operation Baking Gals effort again, donated baked goods to Ashlee’s virtual bake sale, and Cara and I kicked off the Bloggers Bake for Hope virtual bake salePrepare three new foods(1: Kale in the Massaged Kale Salad, 2: Figs in the Fig, Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Crostini and Homemade Fig Newtons, 3: Beets in the Roasted Beet Hummus) – done!
Health/Fitness:
- Get to my goal weight – This one didn’t happen…
Work out on a regular basis– I’m crossing this off the list, but it’s an ongoing process. Hubby and I made a rule that we’re “grounded” from technology (that means no blogging for me!) if we haven’t had some sort of physical activity in the last 48 hours. It’s been working really well. The one night I was grounded, I caught up on some magazine reading and went to bed early.Complete theAvon Walk for Breast Cancer– done!
Boston/Travel:
Visit at least 3 new cities(1: San Francisco, CA, 2: Hershey, PA, 3: Destin, FL 4: Portland, ME)Pack a picnic dinner and see a movie on the Esplanade– done!Go to the beach! (can you believe Hubby and I haven’t had a beach day since we moved to Boston 3 years ago)– done!Go to the Cranberry Festival in October– done!Take a spontanious trip with girlfriends – My good friends K and L planned a spontaneous trip for us. Well, it was spontaneous for me, but they knew what was going to happen. It was a lot of fun! Thanks again girls!
Relationships:
Talk to younger siblings (A and L) on a regular basis– done!Plan/host a girls night (in or out)– done!Eat lunch with my coworkers at least once a week– done!Meet my friend’s babies in the Midwest– done!Babysit/Spoil my new nephew as much as I can– done!Send birthday cards to my siblings, parents, and nephew– done!Plan a date-day with Hubby– done!
Other:
Take a cooking class– done!- Read the photography books my dad got me – started, but not completed…
- Finish all the nearly-complete kitchen projects – started, but not completed. Do house projects ever get done?!?
- Fully de-clutter our place – started, but it’s an ongoing battle to keep our tiny condo clutter-free
Volunteer for something at least four timesPlan a Boston area food blogger event– while Cupcake Camp wasn’t a bloggers only event, I did help plan that and it was a great success! We raised over $2300 for Lovin’ Spoonfuls! And I planned an ice cream party at my house for a few bloggers. Not a huge event, but it counts!
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
Happy Birthday!!!!
I had one of those lists when i was 28 too, then i got pregnant. that was the only thing i got to cross off 🙂 Good luck with your list and enjoy your last year of your 20’s!! What a great way to gear up for 30!! And let me just say that 30 is great, i am having a blast!!!
I saw marshmallows on your list. I have a great recipe and they are seriously easy to make and so delicious that you will never want to eat store marshmallows again!
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/12/homemade_chocolate_dipped_mars.html
Happy Birthday! I’m starting to create a similar list… good luck accomplishing all of it!
Happy birthday!
I made a list before I turned 30 also. It is addictive so I keep an ongoing list. Then this year I did Mondo Beyondo and list got crazier!
On the chicken tikka front, Cook’s Illustrated did a recent chicken tikka and it is unbelievable! As close to the restaurant as you can get.
And for cooking classes, my husband and I took a knife skills class together in Chicago and it was THE BEST class I have ever taken. I can easily chop like the pros and it has saved us literally hundreds of hours in the kitchen.
Here’s my list for this year:
http://jonandlaura.blogspot.com/2010/03/36-wishes-for-upcoming-year.html
Happy Birthday!
I’ll be 29 in August, so I think I’m going to steal your idea and make a list of my own (probably with a lot of the same things you mentioned!)
Happy Birthday! Hope you have a fabulous day!
I’ve been reading your blog for a while but I think this is my first time commenting. I just wanted to say that I think it’s awesome that you have a list of goals to hit before you hit 30! I’m turning 30 myself in about a month and a half and I’m wondering where all the time went. Maybe I’ll set a couple goals to fulfill within the next several weeks. Happy birthday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!
These are really great goals. I haven’t been to the beach since moving to Boston 3 years ago either. Ridiculous. Must change this this summer 🙂
I’m turning 29 this year also (ahhhh!) and I love this idea. Good luck on your goals. And definitely keep us updated with your progress.
I really need to make a list like this too! That’s a lot to accomplish in a year, but I think you can do it!
Happy birthday!! 🙂
Sues
Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone. And thanks for the recipe links! If anyone has any others to share to help me get through my list, I’m all ears!
What a fantastic list!! I need to make one for 35 things to do before I’m 35 hmmm.
Good luck with getting through this list. It looks so fantastic.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday!
This is a great idea – 30s are great – however I only have a couple years left of them.
Love your blog…
Hello and Happy Birthday to a fellow midwest transplant!! I’m from Greenville, OH (it’s 40 miles north and west of Dayton) and now live in Central Massachusetts! Your list is quite similar to mine…especially about keeping in touch and meeting friends babies back home!! It gets tough living so far away. Good luck with the list, and keep baking, I love your recipes!!
I’ve started to make baked donuts. I wish there were more recipes than just plain out there. http://americancupcakeinlondon.blogspot.com/2010/06/mini-cake-donuts.html
I just did a trial at a Bikram Yoga studio. It’s miserable doing it but I lost 1kg after only 4 classes!
I’m organizing a bloggers event but sadly it’s in London 🙁 It’s hard work. I’m trying to get a guest speaker but no one is interested as this is the first one.
Love the list! I just made baked doughnuts… they were beautiful… unfortunately they tasted nothing like doughnuts. Maybe there’s a better recipe out there for you! I’ll look forward to checking back to see if you have any success with those.
Happy Belated Birthday! I check out your blog often and love it! I love the list you got going- I think I need to start one up 🙂
We made bagels the other morning and they are surprisingly easy! If you wanna check them out :
http://sweetebakes.blogspot.com/2010/06/homemade-bagels.html
Happy belated birthday! I had problems accessing your blog for some reason on Thursday, but wanted to pass along well wishes and echo everyone’s thoughts on what a great idea your list is. Alas, similar to Roxan, I’m turning 30 in August but maybe I can set a few reasonable goals to achieve in that short time. 🙂
Great list. I think I’m going to do 1 for my b-day tomorrow. Of things I want to do this year.
First – happy belated birthday! Second – I love the list…what a great idea. I love the name of it too. I may borrow it for my 30 “while I’m in my” 30’s! To be honest though, 30 was a tough birthday, but I’ve never loved life more than I do now!
Hope to see you over at Sunny Bug sometime 🙂