Thirty Things before Thirty Years
In two short months, I turn 30.
I turn 30. I turn 30. I turn 30. I turn 30!
If you’re curious; no, I’m not freaking out. There’s nothing to freak out about. I killed it in my twenties. I did college. I made myself a baker. I started a business. I dated a generous handful of darling gentlemen. I did numerous cartwheels. I enjoyed my fair share of bourbon. I learned how to make homemade ranch dressing. I fell in love with a kitten. I ate plenty of raw cookie dough. And! I’ve got a whole two months to fill with the reckless shenanigans of a 20-something.
The only sad things about turning 30 is that I might feel too old watching The Real World… I won’t be able to relate to to anyone on The Jersey Shore… Teen Mom will infuriate me, and I’ll have missed my opportunity to do a keg stand (but really, who wants to drink beer upside down anyway!? not cute). It looks like MTV will be completely out of the question. I’ll probably come to embrace shows like Hoarders, I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant and, Toddlers and Tiaras. Sigh. Whatevs.
Can I still say ‘Whatevs’ when I turn 30? Prob not.
Listen… I’m going on and on and on about 30-ness because I have a project to complete in my last two months of 29. I need your help.
I want to complete 30 things before I turn 30. I’ve got a list working, but I’m a little stumped. That’s where you come in. Help me fill this list. I’m counting on you… I got a lot of work to do!
Thirty Things before Thirty Years
Eat 1 giant birthday hot dog with sauerkraut, spicy mustard, and beer.
Send flowers to 2 friends.
Buy 3 strangers their morning coffee.
Take 4 new people to church on Sunday.
Make 5 new friends.
Mail 6 hand-written letters.
Compliment 7 strangers.
Leave 8 lucky quarters on the ground.
Send 9 of my favorite books to 9 of my favorite people.
10? 11?
Give away 12 fresh cupcakes.
Send 13 postcards to 13 blog readers.
Tip my waitress $14 above average.
Leave 15 nice comments on 15 other blogs.
Make (at least) 16 coffee ice cream cream puffs.
Enjoy 17 beach sunsets.
18,19,20,21,22,23… whatcha got for me?
Take and develop 24 pictures… with film .
25?
Take 26 yoga classes.
Clean my closet and give away 27 things.
28,29,THIRTY!!!!
You see the pattern here, right? I need, for example, to find 18 things to do. I need to think of 19 gifts to give… I need to make 20 of something. Are you picking up what I’m putting down?
I need your ideas. Lay em on me!
Ps. I heart you. Major.
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Color X pages of a coloringbook. (that’s just fun)
Give 19 smiles to 19 people that you know really need them.
Loved your idea, so give 10 kisses to 10 strangers, perhaps, could it be?
Have a Silly String War with Friends
Make Marshmellow Guns and have an impromptu fight in a park.
Play Human-Shoe in a public place. (More or less Horse Shoes but with the shoes you are wearing, my friends and I used a purse as the target and we would play this near a starbucks at a local outdoors mall :) super fun and you get TONS of great onlookers)
i literally had my 29th bday the day you posted this….. you have INSPIRED me to do something like this before i, myself, turn 30. THANK YOU FOR BEING AMAZING! :D
happy birthday!
I love this! I recently made a bucket list. So much fun and makes me more active in doing silly things in life. The next thing to check off is singing “Fat Bottomed Girls” at a karaoke bar. I hope you have lots of silly fun with your 30 list!
Swim with the dolphins! You never know where they will lead you………
Plant 30 trees!
plant x number of seeds to grow your own herbs and spices for your delicious recipes
Where does the beginningof this blog start?. I’m enjoying it so much and hate that i must have been in the dark for some time about it. Found it by myself surfing. Enjoy this one very much. Patti
press the ‘home’ button on the top left and it’ll always take you to the beginning.
Pretend you’re 21 in Santa Barbara
I WAS in Santa Barbara at UCSB on my 21st b-day (BS biochem/molecular biology, BA music.) My sorority sisters/frat bro I was lil sis to kidnapped me, took me to LA, went to a concert (who was it?) and had dinner on the beach at a family house in Malibu. The day of my last final senior yr which was 2 wk later we (who was it again?) went bar-hopping at 1030 a.m. hitting 6 bars in the subsequent 12 hr. Alas my undergrad days were over, graduation and marriage the next month, two mo. play time, then umpteen years of medical school and training. Sigh….thanks for the trip down memory lane. Time for my first bucket list, me thinks! BTW, I know I drank more in 4 yr of college with a fake ID, remember I was barely 21 at graduation, than in all the years since.
I love all your ideas and those in the comments. This is my 29th year as well, so you’ve inspired me to get a-crackin on a big 30 list too : ) good luck!
Make 30 wonderful boxes of food for people who don´t have any…
and then, because if you are turning 30 you have to do a 31st thing for good luck, write 31 letters to every level and kind of politician, groups, associations, churces, Obamas (both of them), etc. etc. telling them to get their booties moving on policies that allow everyone to enjoy having some dignified place to live and a decent hot meal with their friends or families when they have a birthday (and every other day of the year would be nice too).
In Judaism, 18 is a lucky number. In hebrew, 18 is chai (pronounced with that guttural, throat clearing “ch” sound). In my family (even though I no longer participate in the religion I was raised) when you give someone a monetary gift, you do it in denominations of 18. How about giving 18 dollars to your favorite charity? Or what about 18 dollars to helping out Japan’s tsunami/earthquake relief efforts? Or give one dollar to 18 different charities? You get my point.
Good luck with your 30 things before 30!!
PS – Just because you’re turning 30 doesn’t mean you have to give up watching fascinating yet crappy television like Jersey Shore. A train wreck is still a train wreck and sometimes you just have to look.
Hear hear to Sherron’s tree-planting idea.
How about:
- Try X food items you’ve never had before (consuming or cooking/baking with)
- Finish X books from a top-reads list
- Run/bike/walk X miles a week
I have nothing to add to the great ideas above, but I do have to say that, thanks to your commentators, I now have gotten it into my head to run a half-marathon before I turn 35 (six months from now). I mean, seriously, Joy. I come here for buttery, chocolaty baked goods, not for real ideas that make me do something constructive and healthy in my life! At least I will know what to bake to celebrate completing my half marathon.
There’s nothing like completing a half marathon. But beware. You will finish the half and some lovely friend will ask you when you ware going to run a full marathon and you’ll laugh them off but some time later you’ll find yourself sitting on the couch watching a movie thinking, “What’s so funny? I could run a full marathon. Couldn’t I?” That is when the fun begins.
how about…
10 hours of community service..(soup kitchen, local pet adoption site, litter control, etc etc)
11 different dates with 11 different people ;)
18- give away 18 different single flowers to 18 different strangers
20- Watch a 20 hour marathon of Jersey Shore. Get your fix in now…
21- Take someone out for their 21st birthday.
25- Teach a cooking class of 25 KIDS
30- Perhaps a home-cooked meal for 30 of your nearest and dearest….
man this IS hard.
Lindsey, these are awesome. And they sound way more fun than what I did for my 30th: ran a marathon. Skip the marathon, Joy! Go the single-stems and cooking class. :)
These are awesome ideas!
ooo and how about buy a ‘taoism’ book, the man who made it(i think he made it?) lived to 150 hehehe :D
or how about… go to Hawaii and celebrate and party and have a blast whilst doing all the other great ideas, for two months!!! hahaha :D
Eek!! I feel ya, I’m turning 30 in June! Um, how about plant a garden with 20 different vegetables, herbs, and fruits? Or even flowers? I love your idea, makes me think of what I should do for my final countdown…
How about a dinner party for 10 people, or making a list of 20 places you want to visit in your 30′s. I really like the planting trees or herbs idea too. The big 3-0 comes for me July 13th. 1981… what a wonderful year!
I love the planting idea too. Could also try a little vegetable garden.
Joy, Go for a bike ride. Ride Across the US, June 2012. UL
doing it!
I think you should swap 13 postcards for another number (11? 19?) and use 13 to make a “baker’s dozen” homemade donuts (or a baker’s dozen of anything really)!
For 18, do 18 things that you could TOTALLY pull off at 18 that you don’t think would be “appropriate” at 30..wear pj pants to the grocery store, sit with your knees up in a professional setting (I always wonder when I’m going to be “too old” to do that), have a jersey shore marathon, get smashed and go dancing in a bar that’s full of underage college kids, paint your nails neon colours …you get my drift.
And then totally dismiss these silly notions of what’s appropriate and do them all again in the years to come!! :)
P.S love your blog – it’s by far my fav of all the food blogs out there! you make me laugh every time.
Sleep under the moon, yes under the moon, on your most favorite quilt in your most favorite 29 pajamas, with your most favorite beer. Then mow the number 29 in your lawn! Happy Birthday!
I fear I’m a bit late to the comment party on this one but had to let you know this is one of my favorite posts ever. I’m so inspired! What a fantastic and special way to celebrate yourself and your beautiful life. Love it! I have an idea for you: rub the tummies of 19 pooches 19 times:) Thanks, Joy xo
Visit 10 places you miss.
Take a trip to 11 new destinations.
Embrace the new dawn of 18 sunrises.
Make a wish on 19 stars.
Paint ten toes and ten fingers daringly youthful colors.
Let 21 baloons go in the air.
Buy 22 buttons.
Pull an almost all nighter, just for kicks. (23)
Invite 25 friends to a bonfire, write your regrets on a piece of paper and make embers their only
memory.
Write down something beautiful everyday for 28 days.
Pick 29 wildflowers.
Find 30 pictures from throughout the years.
This is so awesome…I’m going to do 25 things for my 25th birthday! Totally inspiring. My first is to find all the pictures I lost when my computer crashed and work on my blog!
Record your 30 favorite memories of the year.
Tell 29 people why you are happy they are in your life.
Visit 18 new places; restaurants, neighborhood, cities.
Do 20 things you’ve never done before.
create 30 variations for one recipe :) …..or 10.
buy a flat or two of fresh strawberries from a roadside stand and give away the pints and share — but then bake a cheesecake and serve sliced strawberries drizzled with balsamic vinegar and honey on the side
I found 31 to be a tougher milestone….I mean…no denying you’re in your thirties at that point!
;) Enjoy!
I can’t imagine what took me so much time to stumble upon your blog… I turned 31 this year and I went through the same heartache at 30!
I love the idea about writing comments on new blogs…
maybe instead of 19 gifts – you can have a giveaway with 19 things????
try ten recipes from different global cuisines???
make a list of 18 places to travel to before you turn 31???
I love your blog!
ok I am sorry I don’t have any fun ideas to put on your list, but I will say I am 32 and you can totally say Whatev’s. I even add a trev’s to the end of mine even though I know nobody named Trevor, its still way more fun to say it that way. Hope you have a fabulous birthday and I am new to your blog and I just thought I would say I love it and keep up the amazing baking!
Lemme tell ya, Joy… it is pretty awesome on this side of the fence! 30′s are waaaay better than 20′s. :)
Shout, standing on a public park bench, 10 times: “It’s my birthday! I’m 30 and proud!” Have a trusted friend tag along to help you count down and to high-five you after!
Then go celebrate with 11 minty lozenges to sooth your throat!
:)
Try X new recipes. Go to a recipe website and if you want breakfast, look for a breakfast recipe. Try whatever comes up fifth, or whatever. Make yourself try something different and new.
or
Pick ingredients you rarely if ever use and try new recipes with them. You may never have known how much you absolutely love watermelon cupcakes or a bar dessert with corn flakes.
mke x new recipes.pick x amount of recipes from one book.go to page x on cook book and cook all on there.take x amounts of steps outsdie your road and take a photo,take x amount of photos whilst out,and do same x blinfolded bt wait til u get home to see results*this one proudced fantastic results wen i did some work with the blind and seeing.
pick x amount of people who comment,me included and send them something,take x amount of comments and must do wot they suggest
18-give eighteen 18 year olds a piece of advice. Call a highschool, talk to an english teacher, find a reason to get into a senior class for a few minutes.
I’m really late to this, but I had a thought…
How about you write a sort note to someone about your X# favorite books, then slip them into copies of those books at the library or a bookstore for the next reader to find.
donate X number of bottles of shampoo/conditioner/paper towels etc to a domestic violence shelter in your area.
taste x number flavours of gelato/ice-cream
I turn 30 July 30th. So not only is it the end of my twenties, it is also my Golden Birthday. God has a weird sense of humor.
Try X amount of new recipes.
Sing X amount of songs with the windows open while driving along a busy street.
Eat X amount of the same colored foods.
tell 10 people that you love them.
sit back and think of 11 simple things that make your life special.
bet you’ll find 30 easier than you think because you really won’t change all that much.
In two months I also turn 30. Maybe I should also try your “before 30″ list. Might feel more ready to be an adult. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. First thing on my list is your marshmallows that I whipped up tonight. First time for everything.
You could teach 10 pre-school children to make a three course meal for their parents!
Teach 10 kids how to cook one of your most favorite recipes. I had no idea how much my 3 year old
son wanted to cook until I invited him to help me make a batch of cookies. He has been my right hand man in the kitchen ever since.
Happy 30th !
I’ll take 25.
You could:
take a 25 minute nap
take 25 black and white photos
Float on the water or tred water for 25 minutes
make a recipe with 25 ingredients!!
This is a fab idea Joy!
I am doing something similar (though not in such a short amount of time – I gave myself 18 months!). Check it out here:
http://tableclothsandtalking.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/30-before-30/
It might give you some inspiration.
Good luck, have fun, enjoy!
x
Wow Joy I think you are going to have a hard time choosing what else to put on your list. There are a lot of great ideas, I love the donate to 18 Charities or $18 to one, and the idea of planting is also fantastic. Would love to know what you’ve decided.
Discover 11 new recipes with 11 of your favorite foods!
Do a chinese fire drill at 10 redlights in a row.
JOY!!! You totally need to update this and let us know you’re final thirty things to do before your thirty birthdays (it’s not before thirty years, because this IS our thirtieth year of being alive – think about – your first birthday comes at the END of your first year of life…!)
I have completed my list (as in, the writing of it) and have even started on it – no.22 was to bake Easter biscuits on Maundy Thursday and give them to my neighbours on Good Friday (April 22nd)…so I ended up baking on Good Friday and giving them out on Saturday, but I also found out that Easter biscuits made with cassia oil are quite a West Country thing (where I’m from in England) and that it’s traditional to tie three biscuits up with ribbon, to represent the Holy Trinity, and give them to guests on Easter Sunday! So I was keeping up with a tradition I didn’t even know about, even if I did it a bit the wrong way round.
But PLEASE let us know your final list, and how you’re getting on with it! Thanks, Kelly x
Post your completed list and possibly 30 readers will re-post it to honor you. I know I will (and not just because I’m incredibly curious about the list. Which I am)