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.

About a Girl.

When I graduated from college last May, I assumed I would stroll through the gates of our green and gated campus, entering the "real world" with a diploma and a crystal-clear vision of what the future would entail...

...my road map must have gotten lost in the mail, because I still haven't seen it and I have no idea where I'm headed. Despite this, I'm learning a lot about myself, including a few things I probably should have already known. For example, I love to write. I also really enjoy design-- fashion, interior, graphic, you name it. Here's another little tidbit-- I don't have much of an adventurous side. I don't mean in the "exciting sports" sense of the word, but more along the lines of, "How on earth could I want to become an interior designer?" sense.

Perhaps it's my small-town background, perhaps it's a fear of disappointing my parents (I'm an only child and a recovering goodie two-shoes, to boot), but I'm learning to embrace myself for who I am. One tiny step at a time.

That's where you come in, blogging friends. It is my sincere hope that this blog will serve as a teeny, tiny toe-dip into the ocean of my professional future. I promise to provide you with entertainment-- beautiful photos, designs, shoes, and the like-- if you'll just give me a chance to ride without my training wheels. We get one chance at this life, and I'd like to make the most of mine-- even if I have to learn to break the rules to do so.