30 things before I am 31.

As today is the day - the Big 3-0 - I thought maybe it's time for a new list. 
There were a few items I didn't quite get round to on the last list but that I would still quite like to do, so I'm carrying them over. I think I'm allowed. After all it's my list. 

I am going with the making and doing and changing side of things rather than things that might need me to spend a lot of cash to achieve them. I don't have that 'lot of cash' and I cant see anything bar a lottery win changing that in the next year!


So, the 30 things I aim to do before I'm 31 are; 

1. Make macaroons.
2. Make new cushions for the flat. Something that says 'me' in the room – there isn’t much around the flat that is me or mine. It's very much my housemates space. And I have seen some gorgeous Orla Keirly-esque fabric too!
3. Run 5k. Not necessarily in a race, but all at once. Preferably without my lungs collapsing. 
4. Become more self reliant. I have let myself rely on people this year and it's only lead to me being let down. If I rely on myself more I’ll only have myself to blame when I’m let down, right……
5. Make an item of clothing from a pattern, from scratch. {Clearly, I won’t be making the fabric, but you get the idea right?}
6. Read a book a month and and document it here. 
7. Take a TTV picture or two. This was on the list last year but I failed. I have the camera now, thanks to Lizzy, but I need to mod it and make it work for ttv.
8. Making a Blurb book out of my 2010 Shuttercal.
9. And whilst I am at it - carrying on my Shuttercal 365 for 2011. I like having a documentation of the year.
10. Learn one new recipe a month. Be it soup, cake, a proper dinner or a snacky snack.
11. Take a class. I fancy letter pressing. Or a language. Or maybe the silk scarf class @vogue_ismybible saw and thinks we should attend. 
12. Go to more gigs.
13. Vent less - I read a quote a while ago, that I can't quite remember totally, but it said something like '50% of people don’t care about your problems and the other 50% only care because it makes them feel better about their problems'. It made me think - they’re my issues. I should keep them that way. Especially around the people I have a feeling fall into that later 50%.
14. Sort out my finances. 
15. Get a tattoo – this was on last years list, but since it took me a whole 27 years to decide my first one, a year to decide the next one might be a bit much. {this might be on lists for a while……..}
16. Host a dinner party {and not serve Fajita’s or soup!}
17. Take part in some Blogger events - I've really enjoyed the ones I did in 2010 - Pin it Forwards, the Souvenir Foto School classes and the August Break.  
18. Send little surprises to friends in the mail. Last year I made a start on this. This year I shall continue. Who doesn’t love surprises?
19. Go to the bit of the A625 that has collapsed. No idea why but I have a feeling it’ll be a little ‘end of the world’ like.
20. Get my knees on the way to being sorted.
21. Swim. I love swimming and I don’t do it enough.
22. To get back to the weight I got to pre-glasto. Before I gave up on the health kick and put the weight back on. Grrrrrrrr. I think I’d quite like to lose a stone, maybe one and a half of them. Two would be a dream.
23. Make frozen yogurt. I love ‘fro-yo’ but Leeds seems to be all out of good places to buy it. 
24. Crochet something other than a beanie. Not that beanies aren’t useful, but I’d like to expand my skills.
25. Go to the theatre.
26. Get one of my photo’s printed onto canvas.
27. Make myself attend a Buns and Roses event. {well, hopefully more than just the one!} Edit - this'll have to be a Seven Hills event now I am in Sheffield!
28. Learn more about photoshop. Enough to that I can 'create' rather than just get by.
29. Picnic in the summer.
30. Take at least 6 roles of Holga film {and develop them}

Things I learnt

I think it’s about time to look back on the list. There are some things I have learnt about myself with this first attempt at a list; 

• The simple things are the ones that might just slip you by. They are the ones I thought i might be able to pick up later and I clearly haven't done. Like making a font. I am sure in the new two weeks I can make one, but it's about the easiest one on the list! 
• And I have failed at list items that were money driven. I couldn't own a fancy handbag - i don't have the money to buy a fancy handbag. But I did buy myself a nice everyday bag, and my mum bought me a lovely holiday bag, and maybe I am not a fancy bag person....I would like to be, but since I can't be, I am pretty happy to put this goal to bed! 
• Nor do I have the cash to buy a bike to ride more. I tried to ride my dad's but its too big and the one he offered me didn't have gears so it would have been useless in Leeds, but not riding a bike seems to be doing me ok so far! 
• And I had neither the money OR holidays left at work for a real road trip - but the boy and I did take a lot of little trips. We drove ourselves round the Algarve. We took fancy routes to friends houses for the weekend. We made little trips that counted. 
• I’ve not got me that tattoo I want either – not through lack of trying. I've had two appointments lined up, but I just don’t know what to get. It took me a good 10 years to decide the last one, I’m not sure this one can be decided yet…..
• And this whole cooking a meal a month for the boy – well, it might have worked, but he isn’t very good at letting me in the kitchen unless I’m baking and still then he tries to have his say…….
• I also wanted to see Katie and Liz more. And I have seen them this year, but definitely not as much as I’d have liked. But I have some more visits lined up with them for 2011. 

I know I have a couple of weeks left to complete the list, but I can't see myself getting a bike, taking a road trip or buying a fancy bag or some of those other bits - so, I think I'm just going to abandon those goals. But you know, as I've said before - it's been nice to have the list and it's definitely something that I want to carry on. 

No. 25 - Keep a plant alive for over 6 months

In May I bought an Orchid. I didn't brag about it. 
I thought better of announcing that I was going for this one. I am too used to killing plants. And a couple of months ago I thought I had failed. The flowers started dropping off. In numbers they started falling, until there were just two left. 
So I googled it, and it turns out it's normal. That's what they do. 
And recently I noticed that there are new little red nibs forming on the stumps of old flowers. 

I guess I might be able to cross this one off the list......

More on the party planning

My party invites arrived from Moo. {You can tell this is an easier list item to do can't you.} 

I love them. 

I created the images for the from and back in photoshop using the size guide templates on Moo. {I am not very talented in photoshop, but I can do enough to get me through a day, so it's ok for me} I then uploaded them to the site as a front and back image. It's super easy to do. 

Once they arrived I rounded the corners to make them look more like a liftpass, popped a hole in the top and used a little bakers twine to finish them off. 

I also bought some Glassine envelopes {from Ebay} and made some super cute stickers {also on Moo, as they were on offer} to complete the look; 

I love them. Even if I do say so myself. 

Now I just have to work on creating a suitably tacky space. 

October

This month saw me hit a 365 on my shuttercal. It was a month of strange nights out in Manchester, meeting old friends, the onset of autumn, making soups, and new boots.