Birthday Bucket List: 28 Things While I'm 28
I’m about turn 28, woot!! I am always one to grab these milestones and use them as opportunities for self reflection and goal setting. But 2020 feels like it just got started and so I’m already working towards my “more serious” habit based yearly goals. I wanted to think about fun things for my birthday. So when I saw Elise Joy’s newsletter about a birthday bucket list I just had to print my own copy and make my 28 things while I’m 28 list.
These things are SO RANDOM and differ enormously in what it would actually take to accomplish them. But they are all things I would love to do!
One of the reasons I loved this exercise so much is that it gave me a chance to consider some really fun things I’d love to do this year but none of which are actually essential. They are just fun! And therein lies the beauty of this whole thing. This whole list put into words what I think would be absolutely lovely to have happen in my life this year. But if it doesn’t? That’s okay! These are extra, fun things on top of daily life. Even if just one of these things happened it would be incredible and now that I’ve taken the time to write it down, I’ll really appreciate those moments if and when they do come. I hope you’ll be inspired to create your own “just for fun” list after reading mine, even if it’s not your birthday! Sometimes it’s just fun to dream.
As a bonus I included my list of 27 things I already did while I was 27. I really enjoyed looking back over the last year and realizing that I did a lot of great things that I’m proud of, some really big and some really small! We don’t realize how much good is in our lives until we take the time to reflect (gratitude is everything people). But hey, nobody’s perfect, so you might see a few things tucked into each list that are there to remind me of some things I’d like to improve.
28 Things While I’m 28
Learn Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata III, “Presto Agitato” on the piano
Design my guest room (+ make it happen!)
Have fresh flowers (that I grew from seed!) all summer long
Create my first youtube video
Release a collection of original watercolors
Waterski this summer
Play and sing “Lover” on the guitar
Photograph a set of “self portraits” of my daily life
Fill an entire sketchbook
Run a 5k in 20 minutes
Start a podcast with my husband
Draw or paint an actual person and/or animal
Host a favorite things party
Create a family photo and/or memory book
Create a family video
Make a “day in the life” video of my little one
Learn a hip hop dance routine
Design a fabric collection
Create a textile start to finish (design, print, sew)
Get par on at least one hole in golf
Design a t-shirt and be proud to wear it
Sew a scrunchie or hair accessory
Sew something I would actually wear
Make or buy curtains for my main floor
Clean out the laundry area
Do the splits!
Stop worrying about numbers
Buy new towels
THEME: Stop thinking, start doing
27 Things I Already Did While I was 27
Released my first art print collection
Launched 11x14 prints
Designed, sourced, and created a tea towel collection
Spent SO MANY HOURS with my son
Started cutting my own hair + bangs!
Got new glasses
Took a trip to the beach
Made my biggest painting EVER (set of three 22”x30” originals)
Tiled my kitchen backsplash (yes, me)
Created over 70 repeat patterns in procreate for my 100 day challenge
Before that, oh yeah, learned to use procreate
Spent TONS of time outside
Grew paperwhites, amaryllis, daffodils, tulips, rosemary, snapdragons, zinnia, and china asters from seed (and tried to grow many others that didn’t quite make it)
Learned to successfully make macarons
Released my 3rd skillshare class, “Creative Stumbling Blocks”
Worked out 5 days a week with very few exceptions
Got my first piece of art on minted!
Learned to use the very basics of photoshop
Went mountain biking
Designed my cousin’s wedding invite
Had invisalign
Built and painted storage for my little one’s playroom
Did a mini entry makeover
Watched my son learn to talk!!
Attended 2 art shows
Took thousands of photos of flowers
Spent a lot of time thinking when I should’ve been doing
For those of you that are still here (hi! thanks for reading this!) I wanted to make a quick comment on my theme for the 28 bucket list, “stop thinking, start doing”. There are probably people out there that need the opposite theme haha. But for me, a textbook over thinker, this felt like an important thing to sum up my list. I want to remember to not worry so much about how to do things, when I’ll fit them in, whether they are worth my time, etc. and instead just get down to actually living, actually making things happen, and therefore actually experiencing the joy that comes from doing things that you know you’ve always wanted to do.
Now go make your own list!