Update: 25 Before 25.

With less than a year left until my 25th birthday, I've been thinking about my list... what I've accomplished, what I've got coming up, and what's left to do. Check it out below for an update on my quarter-life bucket list:

1. Take a trip on the flying trapeze. (Classes available at NYC Trapeze School.)
2. Complete the Walt Disney World Princess Half-Marathon. (Registered! Run takes place 2/27/11.)
3. Get my Equity card! (This one is going to take some serious work.)
4. Publish an article on The Huffington Post and/or Lonny Magazine. (I realize these are quite different publications, but both would mean a lot to me.)
5. Travel to the bottom of the Grand Canyon by mule. (Booked! March 2011!) NEXT WEEK!
6. Volunteer abroad. (Preferably through the She's the First 360 series-- and to Haiti... Summer 2011?)
7. Produce the Miss Not-So-Shore Pageant and raise $2,500 for the Children's Miracle Network. (In talks... March 2011.)
8. Purchase a Louis Vuitton bag for myself. (Certainly not a totally selfless goal, but I'm over it.)
9. Learn to play the cello. (Or at least take some lessons.)
10. Learn to speak French. (This has seriously been a goal for the last ten years.)
11. Sponsor a girl at the Shanti Bhavan Children's Project. (This will hopefully happen after my fundraiser in October '10.)
12. Learn to sail. (There is also, not surprisingly, a school for this in NYC.)
13. Go hang gliding! (This was a compromise made with my mini-me as I am not quite comfortable enough to put sky-diving on the list.)
14. Read (or re-read, as the case may be) all of Jane Austen's novels.
15. Design and create an evening gown for myself. (This, as a pageant girl, has always been a personal goal of mine.)
16. Save $1,000. (My savings account is always floating somewhere around $10... like, why bother??)
17. Pay off credit cards. (Womp, womp. I'm working on it.)
18. Place in the Top 5 at this year's Miss New Jersey pageant. (Can... she... DO IT?)
19. Consume beignets with my "ride-or-die" (her term, not mine) in New Orleans.
20. Ride in a hot air balloon.
21. Gain acceptance to a master's program. (Like.. a real one.)
22. Complete the 5-Boro Bike Race.
23. Take a Cake Decorating Class.
24. Produce a show for the inaugural season of the Musical Theater Academy.
25. Last, and kind-of nerdily least, finally archive my digital photo collection. It needs to happen.


So, as you can see, I'm a little behind. While this is certainly a little nervewracking, it's also an interesting means of finding perspective. Already in the seven months since I created this list, I've developed new interests, new goals, and new dreams... with those come new challenges, new obstacles, new frustrations. The point is, I am learning so much about myself and about life. I'm learning about the importance of continual growth and development, and that's a really wonderful lesson, regardless of whether I'm 24 or 124.


So, once again... hey, life! Bring. It. On.

Getting creative for Valentine's Day!

Love Is Sweet Valentine's Day Card

Modern greeting cards and party invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

It's raining, it's pouring...

Yes, I am totally and utterly aware that it is the first day of December. Yes, I know that the holidays are mere weeks away. Don't get me wrong, I am unreasonably excited for Christmas.

I am beyond thrilled to see the Nutcracker with my one of my nearest and dearest; I am excited to go tree shopping; I am ecstatic about Starbucks heavenly peppermint hot chocolate & the parades & mailing cards & all of those things... but when Lilly sends me an e-mail like this one... I just begin to imagine myself on the deck of a cruise ship... tanning, reading & sipping a mojito. If I could also borrow this young woman's bone structure, my mental imagery would be about as close to Heaven as it gets.

Seriously, though... anyone up for a trip to Mexico?

Yes, I know I wouldn't look like this, but a girl can dream, can't she?

This might be a better choice for me.

...and I'll take one of these, please.

I promise next time I'll attempt to be more seasonally appropriate...

OBSESSED.

It's totally likely that I should have named this blog "shoes I really want to wear on my tootsies," or maybe even "shoes I'd really just like to see when I open my closet," but alas... I did not.

Instead, I tricked you into thinking I live this super exciting life and that's only like half true. At any rate, these are my latest obsession, and they serve as evidence (as if there was any doubt) that I am actually just a younger, smaller version of my mother.

Available at TopShop. $100. Run. Do it!

Harry Potter. HARRY POTTER, YEAH!

I am beside myself with glee. Why, you ask? Well, because in only a few short hours, I will be seeing this darling little lady light up the big screen in all of her Hermione glory.


...and since we're on the subject of Emma Watson, am I the only one who is absolutely OBSESSED with the styling choices she's been making?

HELP. Too gorgeous for words. Clearly, I have a bigger-than-tiny girlcrush on Miss Watson, so since we're freely admitting this, I'm just going to keep on trucking down this lane and compliment her some more. For instance, how is she so mannerly & delightful? The girl is like a qua-billionaire, and yet she chose to continue on with her education because she is "addicted to learning." She is polite and seemingly well-grounded, and I'd just like to box her up and make her my own.

That is all!

Trinkets, Baubles, Christmas

Soooo... I love Christmas. I really love holidays in general, but Christmas is the big show as far as I'm concerned. I love just about everything about it. Someday soon, I'll make you a whole list. For now, I'll just admit to stopping at Starbucks only to hold one of those blessed little red cups in my hand and also to purchasing Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas II You on iTunes this morning.

This is my blog, so no judging, please & thank you.

Also, because I can't drop by without sharing some pretty with you:

$100, on sale at Madewell-- and there's a free shipping offer to boot!

Wowza.