30 by 30

Hello Dear Readers. After completing my (semi) recent birthday, I've decided to follow in my dear friend Ellie's shoes and chalk up a set of goals for myself to complete by my next birthday. You can read her fabulous blog over at Stiches and SNPs. Some goals are big, some are little, but I am declaring them in order to be held accountable. I let myself off the hook for some things if I only risk disappointing myself, so I figured that being motivated by semi-public shame would be just the kick in the pants I need to get some things done. Feel free to comment, participate, check in on me and suggest modifications to my goals. Without further ado, I give you 30 by 30.

1. Complete our wedding scrap book. I did the slick commercial one, now I need to do the version where I'll put in our invitations, programs, and the sign-in cards we had our guests write. Have I bought some supplies? Yes. Have I started? No.
2. Tile our entryway. That faux malachite has gotta go, so it's time to bust out the tile saw again.
3. Have the light fixture in our bathroom centered and paint the room. Half involves calling an electrician and the other half will be all me. I'll let you work out which is which.
4. Floss more. Simple, yet difficult to enforce. I want my dentist visits to be quick and painless- literally.
5. Visit Frank Lloyd Wright's house Fallingwater. It's not that far to drive to PA, and I had better do it while I live in the area. 5 b. Visit the Pope Leighey house- it's like 10 minutes from me and I haven't gone.
6. Sew a skirt using the fabric I bought at Mood. This will be the first piece of clothing that I make myself.
7. Do ancestry research at the New York Public library. Both George and I have ancestors in the New York City area and many of the library's resources aren't online.
8. Sew a handbag...most likely with fabric from my new favorite place, Tonic Living
9. Make a quarterly photo pilgrimage. Take part of a day each quarter to go out and just take pictures.
10. Corollary to 9- re-read my digital SLR manual and remember how to work all its features again.
11. Cook something that really scares me about once a month
12. Finished the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo series.
13. Learn to make 2 Indian dishes that aren't chicken tikka masala.
14. Read the whole George Smiley series by John Le Carre, preferably all from the public library
15. Drink more water and less Coke. *sigh*
16. Refinance the house. Good times ahead there, friends.
17. Get all the art framed that we already own.
18. Learn to knit enough to make a scarf.
19. Get a real filing cabinet: the two plastic totes are just not cutting it anymore.
20. Start a Tumblr account for my photos to see if anyone likes them besides me.
21. Visit an art museum at least quarterly. It's only the Potomac...I've got to cross it more often.
22. Create more original recipes like my cheesecake bars instead of just making everyone else's recipes all the time.
23. Visit a beach in Maryland this year. I've lived on this coast for 5 years and have never stuck my toes in local sand- it ends this year!
24. Take a knife skills class to, ahem, sharpen my knife skills in the kitchen
25. Blog at least 3 times per month OUTSIDE of Feeding Friendship posts
26. Reshape my rear end via exercise until it is a shape that fits into all the work pants I already own
27. Celebrate 5 years of coupledom with George in June by taking a trip of some kind (neither of us can believe it's been that long)
28. Call/Facetime/Skype/see my friends more often: ie, suck less at keeping in touch
29. Run another race with Ellie and Veronica this year
30. Start hemming & shortening a significant portion of my own skirts and pants. With my deceptively short legs, that tailoring adds up at $15 a pop, and the savings will soon pay for my sewing machine.