Thursday, January 13, 2011

Countdown – 1 month to go to tick off my Birthday to-do-List

Last February, shortly after my 34th birthday, I put together a list of things I want to do before I turn 35. Not to put more pressure onto myself, but more to remind me of things that are really important to me. Big things and small things. Easy tasks and hard ones. Now 1 month before my 35th birthday it is time to look back and see what I can tick off my list of

34 things to do before I turn 35:

1. take more photos of everyday life (not only of ‘special events’) – DONE, e.g. here, here, here, here , here, here, here and here

2. embrace change – DONE as best as I could

3. have a healthy, happy little daughter – DONE see here

4. think more about what I want and act accordingly – I made a good start but need to practise more

5. cycle a lot – aehm, maybe next year

6. have more parties – DONE

8. invest in art – DONE, e.g. here and here

9. be less impatient – well mostly, my little one is a great teacher for patience though

10. go to Italy – not just for the food, but also... – NOT YET, but planned for next year

11.make my first pork roast – oh well I still have a month left

12.spend more time outside – DONE

13. find an alf (alternative living form/ alternative Lebensform), which makes work and life and love and baby compatible – still working on that one

14. wear high heels more often – maybe next year?

15. become a child again – DONE

16. move back to Berlin – DONE see e.g. here

17.keep the love magic – well, if I would have more sleep and feel more sexy, but I keep trying

18. manage to be a happy person with less sleep (see no 3) – DONE somehow

19. pay someone to do my taxes for me – a must for next year

20. enjoy living near the beach while it lasts – DONE, e.g. here, here or here

21. realise more of the amazing craft ideas I am collecting – well, another thing I have to keep on trying

22. keep on blogging – DONE (with the exception of September)

23.spend more time with my family – DONE

24. cook an amazing polenta –nope, I haven’t even tried it :-(

25.buy less, recycle more – yeah, but there is still room for improvement

26. turn my new apartment into a beach house – hmmm, working on that one, but first I have to finish unpacking the boxes
27. be more open to (justified and constructive) criticism – hard one, but I keep on trying

28.enjoy the pleasures of ‘real ‘winter – DONE see here

29. live more in the now and worry less about the future – DONE, surprisingly my little one helped me a lot in achieving this goal

30. make more fashion myself – sew & customise – oh well, top on my to-do-list for next year

31. travel to countryside Japan – not yet, but still dreaming about it

32. finish my baby quilt BEFORE the little one is born – DONE, I will show it too you soon

33. be more courageous – sometimes yes, sometimes not

Actually I am surprised how many things I really have changed and achieved in the last year. The power of birthday-to-do-lists . It still works ;-)

2 comments:

Chris said...

Hi Nina,
I like the idea of a birthday to do list, had one before my 30th and it even inspired me to run (and finish) a mrathon (so I ticked the box and never thought about doing it again ;-))).

My favorite on your list is definitely "buy more art" - I would like to do this as well, but its difficult ot find those unique pieces, screaming "buy me". And it is even more difficult to stop all those well intended people to buy you "such a really nice print from that furniture store" as a present for the empty spot above the couch!

And the baby things, well it's the same here (including point no. 17 :-))...

Take care, Christiane

* Ninotschka * said...

Wow! I am truly impressed. A marathon! Well-done!

I still have quite a few empty spots on my wall, but I agree with you. I prefer a white wall over a standard Ikea picture. Ikea furniture plus Ikea pictures always look a bit like the set of a sitcom ;-) So I keep on saving money and try to buy 'upcoming' artists or pieces from friends or use prints of my photos.

Glad (or sad) to hear that some things are just typical if you have a little one at home. But they will grow quickly and then there will be other problems ;-)

have a great weekend