30 Things Before 30

Dudes.  I'm getting fucking OLD.

I was at a dinner the other night with a 19 year-old and three 22 year-olds.  I wanted to cry.

I've been having back issues.  Like pains and tightness.  IN MY BACK.  That is something old people have!

Tomorrow I turn 29.  As mentioned previously, I've been fortunate to have traveled quite a bit and have had many incredible experiences (jumped off a cliff and swam with sharks in Palau, surfed and sailed in Australia, saw the Mayan ruins in Mexico, hiked the Great Wall in China, floated in the Dead Sea in Israel, etc.).  But for some reason THIRTY seems like a deadline by which I need to make a lot of check-marks on the grand ol' bucket list.  So I've decided to make a list of 30 things I need to do before I turn 30 in order to feel ready for my next decade.  Some of these are general goals I've had for a long time, some are things I feel I need to leave behind in 20's, and some are things I feel will prepare me for my 30's:

1. Eat at Providence
2. Book a trip to Africa
3. Leave current job / start a new job
4. Drink the champagne in the fridge that I've been saving for a "special" celebratory occasion
5. Run - actually RUN - in a race (even just a 5K)
6. Use the cooking class gift certificate my boss bought me for my LAST birthday
7. Get some sort of waterproof casing for either my iPhone or my Rebel so that I can document it when I...
8. Swim with whale sharks
9. Re-read The Great Gatsby, and read 3 other classics for the first time
10. Attend a beer fest
11. Try snowboarding or skiing for real
12. Test-drive the Tesla
13. Develop a proper regimen for taking good care of my skin (e.g. using face cream - ick)
14. Go a whole month without eating any meat whatsoever
15. Buy a pair of Louboutins or a designer bag
16. Watch at least 10 more of AFI's top 100 (I've seen 32 from the 2007 list)
17. Help an animal give birth OR be present during a surgery
18. Create something (e.g. a full script, short story, painting, etc.)
19. Learn how to make the perfect dirty martini (yum)
20. Go through all the junk in my room at my parents' house (and get rid of most of it)
21. Shoot a gun (at a target range)
22. Buy a new, carefully-chosen bicycle
23. Have a meeting with a financial analyst
24. Keep a plant alive for more than 2 weeks - preferably lavender
25. Go back to Best Friends
26. Try absinthe (the real kind)
27. Assemble an earthquake kit
28. Plan a reunion / vacation with my besties from college (this may already be in the works).
29. Answer the phone "Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?"
30. Forgive.

Anything I missed?

Wine & Wine Getaways: Any Californian's BT

I'm headed up to Solvang - a little Danish-themed town in Southern California's Santa Ynez Wine Valley - this weekend for a little getaway with Boyfriend.  We plan on visiting a handful of vineyard/wineries, riding bikes through the countryside, tasting aebleskivers and olive oil and chocolate (in addition to lots of wine), stopping by the miniature horse farm, and just generally relaxing.

I'll report back on our adventures after we return!

But while we're talking about wine, have you heard of Stacked?  It's basically 4 "glasses" of wine (California Merlot or Chardonnay), individually sealed, and then stuck together for easy transport.  Next to the Baggy Winecoat, this is the best invention related to alcohol I've ever heard of!

I can think of about a bajillion places/events at which this would be convenient:  concerts at The Hollywood Bowl, picnics in Griffith (or any park for that matter), screenings at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, ANY NIGHT AT HOME BY MYSELF.  And according to their website, one of the stores that sells it is the liquor store down the block from my house.

Will be purchasing immediately.

Happy weekend everybody!!

Free Beverage Service = Free Advice

image source: examiner.com

What you can learn about the person sitting next to you on a plane simply by which beverage they order:

Ginger Ale - your neighbor has an upset stomach - keep your distance!
Tomato Juice - this person is from, or at least once lived in, Boston/New England and therefore could be a Masshole - keep your distance!
Coffee (black) - this person is probably en route to a very important meeting - keep your distance!
Wine (on a red eye) - clearly your neighbor just wants to go to sleep - leave her alone!

(Can you tell that what I'm trying to say here is don't bother the person next to you on a plane?)

Apple Juice - your neighbor is a child and you should probably still keep your distance because if you set the metaphorical "bar" with high-pitched "hi there"s right at the start, you might be stuck playing peek-a-boo with the snotmonster all night.

Margarita - this person is your new best friend!

The end!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!! It's EVERYONE'S Best Thing (3/2 Edition)

First and foremost, tomorrow is my brother's TWENTY-FIFTH (holy crap) birthday.  I don't usually post on the weekends so I want to take this opportunity to give him a shout-out AND give you guys a sneak peak at some photos from our recent family vacay (these were all taken on Josh's new camera).


HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!!

1st stop: Nassau, Bahamas (our ship is in the background)

this photo is my current desktop background

hope you're celebrating with some Captain Morgan (or whatever your drink of choice is) tomorrow night Josh!

Second, I've recently discovered some fantastic Tumblrs that I'd like to share with you:

The Fluffington Post:  "News" articles...  about fluffy things.

Kitten Shocked by How Much Time She Spends on Facebook






The World We Live In:  Beautiful travel photography.





Animals With Stuffed Animals:  Pretty much exactly what it sounds like.





City of Love:  More travel photos, a travel bucket list if you will.





All Creatures [Great and Small]:  More animals - some adorable, some not as much, but all interesting and beautiful in their own way.



Can you tell what my major interests are?


Cats That Look Like Ron Swanson:  For all my fellow Parks & Rec fans.





Michael Buble Being Stalked By a Velociraptor:  No explanation required.

And finally, to send you off in good spirits for the weekend, I give you the best basketball-related video I've seen in a long time:

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYBODY!!

Taking Off!

See you on the other side, folks!

AUSTRALIA DAY: [Sometimes I Wish it Could Officially Be] MBT

As I think I've mentioned before, I became a full-on Australiaphile after I lived in Sydney for 4 months on a study abroad program.  It was one of the most fantastic experiences of my life to date.  Since today is Australia Day, I'm dedicating this post to my favorite country, it's wonderfully friendly and lovely inhabitants, and all the people I met while I briefly lived there.

Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?......

Blue Mountains

sleepy koala

penguins!

WOMBAT <3

right before one started humping my leg

Melbourne

Great Ocean Road

Twelve Apostles

Hunter Valley wine tasting adventure

surf camp!

7 Mile Beach surfing

echindas

baby 'roo in the pouch!

Fraser Island 4WD/camping adventure

Fraser Island shipwreck

the dingo that might have stolen our bag of wine

sailing in the Whitsunday Islands (wish I was able to find more pics - especially one of Whitehaven)

Brisbane

Sox win the World Series!

Nemo!

FAVORITE. PICTURE. EVER.

Can't wait to go back...  One day...