I kind of forgot about this blog for a while...

But then I just remembered! So, one final update to wrap up.

The last item that was actually completed before my birthday was visiting the Harry Potter theme park. It was pretty amazing.

So that was completed 10/3/10. I did see the Pacific Ocean for Thanksgiving, but that was after my birthday. And, in the several months since then, I haven't completed any of the other things on my list.

I think that what I learned most from this is that two years might be a little far in the future for me to set goals. A lot can change in 2 years. I probably could have made all 30 of these things happen with a huge effort, but by the end I just didn't really care that much. I did do some amazing stuff, though, and I made some great memories.

Perhaps not quite...

There are definitely a few more things on the list that I will get accomplished. I'm going to go ahead and count Valley of the Dolls, which was done some time ago--I just didn't get any pictures so I never did an entry.

Of the 14 items left on the list, I think I can accomplish the following:

-Cook 10 things from Mastering the Art of French Cooking - This really just needs a dedicated weekend. My weekends are pretty booked up, but I may try for 10/16 or 11/6. I might even try to knock out a couple tomorrow.

-Deface stop signs with stickers - I have pretty much everything I need to do this, I just need to actually do it.

-See the Pacific Ocean - This is actually going to happen at Thanksgiving, which is technically AFTER 30, but I am going to make it by the end of the year. So, this one is a definite "no" in terms of the project, but I am going to do it.

-Close a bar - See aforementioned weekends that might be free for this.

-Read Mists of Avalon - Surely I have time to squeeze this in during the next month. I might start today.

-Parasail - It's iffy, but there may be an opportunity for this during our Disney vacation. It's just kind of expensive.

-Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter - next weekend!

-Make a YouTube video - Again, this could probably be done at any time. I wanted to do a montage of pictures from this project, but since it won't be completed, I may do something else.

If I accomplish all of the ones above that I think I can do, I will have completed 23 of 30. Not stellar, but more than 2/3 done, and I will have done some cool things. And the stuff I didn't get done--some of it I don't really care about doing anymore (see: pilates). The point of this project was to stretch a bit, and to do some neat things I hadn't tried before. While I'm sad that it won't be completed, because I like crossing things off of a list, I am very pleased with the experiences I've had in the last two years. That said, I don't think I will try a 40 before 40.

The end?

You may have noticed that this blog hasn't been updated in a while. I'm afraid my focus on this project has...slipped somewhat. Maybe it was a bad idea to think that I could predict things that I would still want to do two years in the future. I have three and a half months left and I'm pretty sure there's no way I'm going to get everything on the list done. I may try to accomplish a few more, but things are very different now and I have new priorities that I couldn't have foreseen two years ago. I did have a blast doing the things I've already done, and I'm happy that I crossed some of them off my list. So perhaps stay tuned for a few more updates, but maybe not. Thanks for reading!

#5, Go to the ballet

Since the first time I saw A Chorus Line, I've always wanted to go to the ballet. There's something so magical about the precision and perfection of the movement. I've been to a few amateur recitals, but never actually gone to a professional production. Fortunately, now that we live in a larger metropolitan area, there are many cultural opportunities available--including the ballet!

Rick and I attended a local ballet performance last night (Saturday, April 24). I couldn't take any pictures of the actual show, of course, but I got a few pictures.

It was a lovely performance by some very talented dancers. There were two more modern pieces, and a scene from Romeo and Juliet, as well as a large piece from Giselle. The costumes were gorgeous and the music was lovely. I'm very glad that I made this one of my goals!

On another item, we have booked our trip to Orlando to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter--which will open in June. I can't believe I only have about 7 months left to get all of these things done!

#6, Cook 10 things from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (3/10)

Hooray! Two more recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking were accomplished on April 11th. My friend Libby again assisted, and both dishes came out pretty good.

We cooked gratin de pommes de terre aux anchois (kind of a potato and egg quiche with anchovies) and concombres au beurre (baked cucumbers). Libby bought me my very own copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking for Christmas, so I don't have to check it out of the library anymore!

The gratin started with diced potatoes and cooked onions.

Then it was time to add the anchovies. Yummy!

The cucumbers got heavy whipping cream poured over them, and then sprinkled with parsley. Here are both dishes before we put them in the oven.

A close-up of the cucumbers, post-cooking.

Yummy French cooking!

We're hoping to accomplish 2 more recipes this weekend--hopefully desserts!

#3, Take a trip with my mom and #21, Visit Rennes le Chateau

These were two of the larger and more expensive goals on my list, and I'm so happy I was able to complete them this month. I'm glad my mom was willing to combine the two.

Our trip started out in Barcelona. This is me on Las Ramblas.

And this is my mom in front of the Sagrada Familia.

After three days in Barcelona, we took the train to France. We spent several days in gorgeous Carcassonne.

Because it is about an hour's drive away, we were able to rent a car and drive to Rennes le Chateau.

While I was not feeling well that day (I had a bit of a sinus infection) and it was pretty cold outside, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

I had a great time just hanging out in Rennes le Chateau.

I think that my mom also had a fun trip. The day trip to Rennes le Chateau was completed on March 4 and the trip with my mom concluded on March 6. That means I've completed 15 items and I'm halfway done! I'm a little behind schedule, but I completed 4 of those in the past month, so if i can just keep that speed up I will finish!

#4, Spend a full day at a spa and #16 Get a manicure

I always intended for these two items to go together (although it was always possible that I would get a manicure separately first). For my birthday this year, my parents got me a lovely large gift certificate for a local spa and today was the big spa day. I got the following treatments:

-Mango glow exfoliating scrub

-60 minute Swedish massage

-Eyebrow grooming

-Manicure

-Pedicure

-Aromatherapy wrap

I didn't actually take my camera with me, but here's a picture of the outside of the spa that someone else took:

(Note: It was not snowing today, although it was really, really cold.)

I thought that having a camera around might make some folks nervous, especially in the dressing room, so I settled for before and after pictures of my hands and feet.

So, here's the manicure:

Before

After

And the pedicure:

Before

After

It's too bad I scraped my toe up the other day--otherwise all my toes would look just perfect! I really like the dark red polish. I couldn't commit to a red or pink for my fingers, so I ended up with the silver and it's growing on me.

I was at the spa from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm, which I think qualifies as an entire day. So, that's two goals accomplished today, February 25th!

Tomorrow I leave on my trip with my mom and next week I will visit Rennes le Chateau! So that will be 4 goals accomplished in two weeks. I might just make all of my goals yet.