Archive for category: 30-before-30

birthday goodness

birthday goodness

If you are wondering about how I fared in my 30-before-30 post, head on over the the 30-before-30 page, where I’ve just posted an in depth update! In other news: I had an awesome day yesterday.

I woke up at 6 (I’m a morning person, yo) to the best card and gift ever from the hubs.

Then I got to pull one of the “30 Things We Like About Al” from the gift my parents gave me! Yesterday’s thing? That I’m an Excel guru.

After about an hour of work at my computer, I was off to use my free birthday drink at Starbucks. I got a Venti.

I also stopped at Cobs and at the grocery store to pick up ingredients to make myself delicious french toast.

I then sat down and coloured for a few hours while I waited for the hubs to wake up.

When the hubs woke up, I made him some french toast while I opened the card from my grandparents, my in-laws and my brother. They were all so good!

After about an hour more of work, we set off on #fallwalk2012. (Each year we do a long walk in the fall. This year: 25.5 kms, a record even by fallwalk standards!)

We crossed the Burrard St. bridge, did the seawall all the way around the West End, Stanley Park, and Coal Harbour, crossed through Gastown to meet up with the seawall again before Science World, took a detour onto Granville Island, and then back to Kits.

We had planned on going for a nice dinner – likely to Vij’s – but by the end of fall walk we were plum worn out. So we stopped for beer and wings (and dry ribs and bugers) on the patio of our favourite local pub. This was extra good because we had just spent a dry September, where not only did we not drink, but we didn’t eat things like pub food.

Then we picked up a Safeway pumpkin pie for $2.99 and ate it while watching the reminder episode and the season premiere of Revenge.

I was in bed by 10:30, my preferred bed time.

So all in all, I had a perfect day.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends, I’ll be back on the blog on Tuesday!

October 6, 2012 3 comments Read More
Thirty

Thirty

Today I’m thirty. And I’ve never been more excited about where I am or where I’m going!

You knew this day was coming, because I’ve been keeping you up to date with monthly posts on the state of my 30-before-30 project! (I’ll update you on the state of that project, and what I’m doing next, tomorrow.)

I woke up this morning, and like with every birthday, I pretty much felt the same as the night before. I’m the same girl. With a few more wrinkles than I had 10 years ago. But a number isn’t going to change me.

On the counter was the perfect card and the gift from the hubs (since he never gets up as early as I do, he had set it out the night before).

I have an awesome gift-that-keeps on giving from my parents (30-things-we-like-about-al) so I got to pull out and read one of those things today!

I’m about to head out the door to go pick up my free birthday starbucks coffee and some fresh bread and fruit to make french toast. I’m having whipped cream on my french toast. Awesome.

Our website launched yesterday so we’re going to take the day off and go on “Fall Walk 2012″.

I’ll get the chance to visit with my mom and dad later today, and then the hubs and I are going for dinner.

Tomorrow some of our closest friends are hosting a thanksgiving dinner, to which we’ll bring ice cream cake.

Yesterday I was thinking about turning thirty and I realized I couldn’t be in a better place.

Seriously.

October 5, 2012 7 comments Read More
Photo A Day

Photo A Day

Well. Today is the last day of my 20s. It’s also the last day of both my 30-before-30 and the photo-a-day project I was doing as part of my 30-before-30 project. I can’t really believe it!

Here’s what a year in pictures (minus about 60 days, represented by coloured boxes) looks like. For bigger versions, see my tumblr!

October 4, 2012 2 comments
30-before-30 (Month 11)

30-before-30 (Month 11)

Hi Guys! I missed you! That being said, taking a 10-day break was exactly what I needed to get inspired again!

Now I’m back and ready to roll. And first up: an update on my 30-before-30 project. And guess what! This is Month 11. That’s right, I’ve been chipping away at this list for 11 months. And my 30th birthday is in 25 days. I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone. I can’t believe the changes that this year has brought. And as we creep towards the big 3-0, I can’t believe how happy I am. The hubs and I were talking about this on Saturday night as we enjoyed one of the most spectacular sunsets we’ve ever seen.

Even though I’m working harder than I’ve ever worked before, I feel like each and every day brings me closer to the life I want to be living. I love being my own boss. I love running my own company(ies). I love building something from the ground up. I love having the flexibility to play tennis on Tuesday morning and go paddleboarding on Friday afternoon. And while I’m terribly nervous that we’ll fail—and that I’ll lose this lifestyle—I know that we’ll make something work. Because we must.

So, with that rambling introduction done, let’s talk about the list! I did a pretty good analysis of the state of the nation last month (and I’m going to go into the real nitty gritty next month) so today I’m simply going to point out the last few things I need to concentrate on to make this year a success.

ONE: Workout Regime

AKA Item 20. I’ve had a lot of false starts on this one this year. Over the course of this month I need to find something that works and give it a good solid start.

TWO: Meals Database

AKA Items 27 & 28. Once again, I’ve had false starts all year long on these items. I’ve got big dreams for how I want them to work. No app (at least that I’ve found to date) meets all my requirements. I don’t really want to learn how to use open office database or pay for filemaker pro. A spreadsheet isn’t good enough.

THREE: Film Camera

AKA: Item 17. I bought a lot of film last month. Now to remember to grab my camera before I go out!

And that’s it. Of my gigantic, insurmountable list of thirty items. I’m down to three (or sort of four) that I really need to concentrate on this month.

And with that… let’s do this!

And tomorrow’s Travel Tuesday post? My friend Jenn and I go to Mendoza. Planning Jenn’s itinerary was just about the best thing ever (you all know how much I love planning things!) I spent several hours roaming the internet for the best prices and the best routes and the best dates for our trips, using sites like Dealchecker.

September 10, 2012 0 comments Read More
30-before-30 (month 10)

30-before-30 (month 10)

Pin. Original Post.

Who writes a blog post on the Sunday morning of a long-weekend? Well, I do! Because it just so happens to be the 5th of the month, and we are 10 months into my 30-before-30 project, and just two short months away from my 30th birthday.

I woke up this morning at 6:30, baked some delicious blueberry yogurt muffins to celebrate cheap and ubiquitous blueberries (recipe forthcoming) and then decided to sit down and write my heart out.

Aside: I appreciate I promised you a soul-barer last week. This post is still in the works. It’s about happiness. But I had a roller-coaster of a week last week, so I set it aside because it was losing the upbeat tone that it started with. Ah, the joys of self employment!

But back to the business at hand. This morning I took a look at my list and realized that while I will certainly fail at some items, and not complete others because my outlook has changed in the last 10 months, I’ve actually done a pretty good job.

13 items aren’t complete as of today. Of these items: 5 I will fail at (2 because I actually will fail, 3 because they don’t make sense anymore.); 4 are ongoing projects (but will be successful provided I work on them for the next two months); 2 I’ve just started and will complete (meal database); and 2 are awkward to do in the busy summer wedding season, but are items I’m going to concentrate on in the late fall.

So, here is the “state of the nation” (ok… the “state of the project”) as at 7:25 am on August 5, 2012.

    1. Start Project The Rest of My Life.
    2. Go to Antarctica, the last continent. 
    3. Photograph my grandparents in a “Love” session celebrating their 60th anniversary.
      • I’m certainly going to fail at this item. But I realized that this isn’t really my grandma and grandpa’s thing. So, instead I’ve captured some candids and will be sure to take lots of pictures while in Palm Springs for 10 days this October.
    4. Book and shoot at least 10 weddings as the primary photographer.
    5. Make a wickedly awesome video application for a CreativeLive course and hope to get selected!(Made a cute video, even if I didn’t get selected!)
    6. “Learn” to Tango.
    7. Dance like no one is watching.
    8. Convince my brother to let me plan his wedding.(Didn’t take much convincing.)
    9. Get back out to the mountains in the winter. I’ve missed it!
      • Epic Fail. Ran out of time due to move to Argentina. But now I live in Vancouver: Winter 2012/2013… here I come!
    10. Learn basic (or not so basic) web-development skills. (I’ve still got a ways to go, but people are paying me to build their websites, so I’d call this a success!)
    11. Improve my Spanish skills.
    12. Become a better food photographer. (I’ve still got a ways to go, but compare pictures from today to pictures from this time last year and you’ll see there is no contest!)
    13. Become a better proofreader.(I’ve still got a ways to go, but my daily proofreader friend finds fewer and fewer typos!)
    14. Cook something that takes more than one day.
    15. Clean my oven.
    16. Learn how to use stumble upon and spend at least 4-6 weeks trying it out.
      • Not gonna happen. Because nobody uses this anymore.
    17. Master the art (and the manual focus) of my new film camera.
      • “Master” is a big word. I’m certainly improving, and I love it! I just need to shoot more. That’s a goal for the next two months.
    18. Be less afraid.
      • I think I’m actually doing a really good job on this one: see update.
    19. Find a friend with a sail boat who will teach me how to sail, so one day I can disappear and sail around the world.
      • I think we *may* be out of time this year. But this was a stretch goal. This is a long term goal, I don’t need to do it today!
    20. Figure out a workout regime (hopefully running) that works for me.
      • I’m figuring it out! Lots of yoga recently is making my tendons and my shin splints feel better, the hubs and I have started playing tennis, and I just want to work a little bit more running back into my routine (and maybe start TRXing again). 2 months to go to get into a better habit!
    21. Do a 365 project.
      • This one is still going, and I would say it is a relative success!
    22. Find (or create) a great community of photographers to be friends & colleagues.

      • I’ve started to meet people, slowly, it’s hard in the summer but is fully a goal for later in the year once the season slows down.
    23. Develop relationships with other wedding vendors.

      • This is going very slowly as well. Same reasons.
    24. Set up and shoot a styled shoot with awesome wedding vendors.
      • I’m actually NOT going to do this one. I’ve got another plan instead. A plan that is more my style.
    25. Start a series on my photography blog (or this blog?) where I interview influential wedding photographers. (I interviewed one photographer, than realized that style of writing isn’t really my thing.)
    26. Get new business cards. Twice.
    27. Come up with a sweet database of lunch ideas, both for home and brown bag style.
      • It’s not yet in database form, but I’ve started.
    28. Better arrange my database of dinners.
      • Ditto.
    29. Post at least one new food post on the blog each week. (Even though the year isn’t up, I’m going to proclaim this to be a success. I’m sticking to a pretty strict schedule of 1 food post a week).
    30. Spend more time in Alberta with my family and friends.

      31.  

August 5, 2012 0 comments Read More
30-before-30 (Month 9)

30-before-30 (Month 9)

Time sure does fly, I can’t believe that I started this 30-before-30 project nine months ago. And even more, I can’t believe that I’ve only got three months to go! I’ve been distracted (really distracted) with weddings, and a new business, and settling in Vancouver so—once again—I didn’t go a great job on my list. Here is a brief run down of how I’m doing:

I’m fully committed to helping my brother plan his wedding—venue, stationary, photography, etc. (item 8), I’ve got a super small web-development business, and have built my first site for a client—check it out—(item 10), I did a pretty good job on my 365 project… until I went to the cabin where I misplaced my phone for a few days (item 21), I’m working on my network of photographers and other wedding vendors (items 22 and 23), though I should be working harder, I’m doing a pretty good job of food blogging—and quite an excellent job of baking—(item 29), and I’m in the middle of spending an amazing 12 days in Alberta with my friends and family (item 30).

As I mentioned last month, over the course of a year, priorities change. Next month I might do a full on re-evaluation of these goals, so that I don’t feel terribly guilty on my birthday if I’ve done a poor job on several. We shall see. Overall, though, I’ve had a wonderful month. I’m excited about where life is going, and turning 30… well I’m not afraid of it anymore.


Image from the I Am Project, found on Pinterest.

July 5, 2012 0 comments Read More