30-while-30 7 Month Update
We’re past the halfway mark and it’s time to check in on my 30-while-30 list. I marked a couple things off the list this month!! Still quite a few to go, but that’s ok.
Food / Blogging
- Brownie Mosaic Cheesecake – Done! I made a holiday version by adding peppermint!
- Gnocchi
- Donuts
- Eggs Benedict
- Laminated dough (either danishes or croissants)
- Make bread at least 4 times
- Bake at least 4 layer cakes – 1: Neapolitan Cheesecake Cake
- Buy a whole coconut. Open it. Do something (delicious) with it.
- Make at least one thing from each cookbook I own – any cookbooks that don’t get used in a year, donate or giveaway on here – I started making my list of cookbooks. I plan to post it on here shortly.
- Cook with 3 new foods – Being part of a CSA this summer was AMAZING. I’ve definitely already cooked with 3 new foods, including this Summer Shrimp Salad.
Relationships
- Send birthday cards to my and Hubby’s families (including siblings, parents, nephews, etc) – So far, so good on this one
- Continue to bake for a good cause – I was able to participate in an online bake sale on The Spiffy Cookie, I hosted a Holiday Cookie Swap where $0.10 was donated to Cookies for Kids Cancer for every cookie exchanged, I’ll be participating in an online bake sale on The Kitchen Misfit in a couple weeks
- Go see my sister’s new house – Done! We got to see Brooke’s house while we were in the Midwest for Thanksgiving
- Go on a girls weekend getaway – Done! I spent a weekend in St Louis with my mom and two sisters in July. It was a great time.
- Volunteer 4 times
Random
- Get another tattoo
- Pay off my car – Done!
- Decide on a signature / go-to cocktail – I’m working very hard on trying new cocktails to make this decision… I have a good idea but I want to master making it at home first…
- Watch a sunrise
- Read 4 books – 1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2. Water for Elephants 3. The Hunger Games 4. Catching Fire 5. Mockingjay
Healthy living
- Walk another Avon Walk for Breast Cancer – Done! Recap here
- Continue to work out on a regular basis – I’ve been a working out machine recently. It’s been awesome.
- Treat myself to 6 massages – five down, 1 to go
- Get my first facial
Travel and Life in Boston
- Go to the Head of the Charles – This one didn’t happen. It was really sad. The Head of the Charles weekend was beautiful. Hubby and I were getting ready to head out to walk over to see the races and I started feeling sick. It was a combination of allergies and something else. I tried to stay strong and power through it, but about a mile into our walk, we had to turn back. I had a horrible fever and just wasn’t doing so well. Hopefully we’ll make it to the HOTC next year…
- Visit the New England Aquarium
- See the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
- Go to Top of the Hub for cocktails – I went to Top of the Hub on Sunday with some friends for cocktails. It was a beautifully clear (and cold!) day and we had great views of Boston. We had great service while we were there. One of my friends ordered a martini that was poured tableside. They left her the shaker to top off the rest of her drink. When she poured the rest of her martini in the glass, there was a tiny little bug in there. We informed the waitress and she took the glass away. My friend didn’t want another drink so we were just hoping they would take her martini off the bill. When the waitress returned she said they comped our entire bill, which was totally unnecessary! The manager even came over to apologize about the drink. We were all very impressed by that service. I’ll definitely be going back here with Hubby some time.
- Visit 3 new cities – 1: St Louis, 2: Niagara Falls 3: Keene, NH 4: Exeter, NH
Reader’s Choice
- Post more how-to tips (including videos) on here (thanks to Mary and Sarah for the suggestion!) – Check out my new How-To tag. I’ve posted a few how-to posts this month already!
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 🙂