a bucket list for your 20's

most people have a bucket list, maybe not a formal one, but most of us have an idea of some things they would like to accomplish by the end of their life. but what if you gave yourself more of a deadline, say, by the time you turn 30? well then you have come to the right place! my friend lisa came up with this great idea, and we  ran with it, to have a bucket list for your 20's - some of these things the two of us have already done, (I mean we are 3 years into this decade already) but there are still many that we need to accomplish by our last day of being 29! i'm sure as the years go on we will find things to add, so by no means is this a finished project, it will change and grow as we do. without further ado, here is our list:

1. move out of your parents house

2. learn how to play golf (or at least go to a driving range)

3. fall in love

4. land a job that you truly love & love going to every day

5. attend at least 1 professional sports game of each of these: baseball, hockey, football & basketball

6. take a road trip with friends

7. purchase a designer bag (marc jacobs, louis vuitton, chanel - whatever your heart desires!)

8. take a trip to Vegas with friends

9. get engaged (hinges on #3)

10. host a real dinner party

11. attend the Kentucky Derby

12. make $100,000 a year (who says we can't dream big?!)

13. live in another country (even if it's just for a month)

14. visit a psychic

15. go to a hockey game in another state

16. go skydiving

17. travel as much as you possibly can, whether it's going to the state next to you, or traveling to Italy, take advantage of any opportunity!

18. find and keep a hobby that you're passionate about, maybe it's painting, writing or playing a sport; whatever it is that's important to you!

19. get a dog

20. go scuba diving

have anything to add? let me know!

within 5 years.

The man has done it again, folks. That is Chris Dessi, the man who sparked my initial motivation for getting this blog going. Earlier this week he tweeted a question of the day that was: "What's something fun or important you think you should do within the next five years?" My mind immediately started racing as I thought to myself, what are some things that I want to do in the next 5 years? Rather than trying to tweet something and squeeze it into 140 characters I thought it might be a better idea to write a blog post or more of a list on something fun crazy or whatever I want to accomplish within the next 5 years.

1) Get my own place - Hopefully, within a year (maybe a year and a half) I will have saved up enough money to move...somewhere. Whether I am lucky enough to still be at the job I am now and am able to move to DC or Arlington (anywhere with a closer commute) or whether I make a bigger move (like to another state, big) I hope that it definitely happens within a sooner rather than later time span.

2) Travel, travel, travel - I know this sort of contradicts my first point (that whole saving money thing) but I want to travel as much as I can before I "settle down" later in life. I want to go to Arizona and California (as I have friends in both places now and have never been to either). I ache to go back to London and other various spots in Europe. And there will always be trips to NY since so many loved ones and friends are there too. Not to mention Texas and Florida to see family as well...seems like I have a lot of planning to do!

3) Go skydiving - Well, as Dessi said, this can be anything, whether it's practical or not! I've always loved roller-coasters and any sort of thrill (nothing beats that rush of adrenaline!) And my cousin Kristen has gone skydiving not once but twice and raved about it. It seems crazy, but doing it within the next 5 years sounds like a good idea to me.

4) Have a semi-solid life balance in place - What I mean by this is I hope to have in 5 years a stronger sense of self. As of right now, in this very moment in time, I am still struggling with the fact that I'm not heading back to Marist right now to begin another year of classes and internships. Although I have grown leaps and bounds with getting to know myself and being confident with that person I still struggle. I hope to stay and become an even more positive person, I want to have a good routine down of staying healthy (i.e. working out more than like, once a week) and just overall have a solid "grip" on life.

For now, that's all I can really process about what I want within the next 5 years or so, but only time (and this blog) will tell what happens next!

a solid start.

I always like when a new month starts on a Monday. For example today, is Monday, August 1st. It makes it seem much more official, like you're starting off on the right foot. I have been both excitedly awaiting and dreading this month all at the same time. Why excitedly? On the 9th, I'm going to see one of my fave bands (Kings of Leon) in concert and I have a trip to New York (FINALLY) in the works which of course I am pumped about. Also, the heat & humidity in the DC area is getting pretty darn unbearable that at this rate I am ready to welcome the crisp fall air with open arms.

Why dreading? Well, for the first time in four years at the end of this month I will not be heading back up to school. It weirds me out, makes me wonder about my future, makes me feel old and scares me along with 1,000 other feelings all at once. But for now I will take it all one day at a time, starting with Monday, the 1st.

"funemplyoment"

During all of this wonderful (and not-so-wonderful) time to myself, I have had some fun added into this unemployment phase of my life. Trips to DC (mostly for the newest Shake Shack that just opened there) cupcakes, time with my parents, friends (in-between applying to what feels like hundreds of jobs). Thought I would share a few photos of what's been happening. Might as well enjoy some of this time while I have it right? I have the rest of my life to work ;)

    

    

                        

where's my place?

Having been living at home for a solid three weeks now, I find myself wondering, where is my place in this world? My dear friend Hannah, said something along those lines to me the other day as we were having yet another life discussion. Hannah, along with some of my other close friends are in a similar boat as me. She has passions in many different areas and is not quite sure what to do with her life and this vast space that has suddenly been opened to us called the "real world." I find myself day in and day out applying to countless jobs having yet to hear anything back from anyone. I know, I know, it has only been 3 weeks and I am fresh out of college but, so what? I'm darn good at what I do and I have 4 internships under my belt, why shouldn't someone want to hire me now? But I do know how hard it is to come across a job in this economy, thus I keep chanting in my head to "give it time." So as they say, only time will tell, at least I have some friends in the same boat as me to go on this journey with. :)