goodbye, 24.

Tomorrow is my 25th birthday, which means not only a wrap-up of my 25 Things list, but also a new list (26 Things to come tomorrow*), and a year of exciting things that happened. When I said goodbye to 23 last year, I don't think I could have predicted how much would change for me. Some of the things that I loved in my 24th year have little to no hold on my life now, and some of the small things have a stronger hold than ever. So in saying goodbye to 24 now, I feel like there were a lot of little moments, which are always, of course, my favorite, but there were some really big ones that made my 25th year a difficult, but important one.

1// I spent thirty days on my favorite blog project so far, which was literally just finding fun ways to take pictures of coffee.
2// I discovered the beauty of the shutter remote, and am forever changed.
3// My grandmother passed away in December, and in the chaos that was losing a loved one over Christmas, my entire family got to spend an amazing three days together celebrating her life, and thinking about all of ours in conjunction with each other going forward.
4// Finally finished my first year of project life completely, which made starting my new one really exciting.
5// I spent most of my 25th year focusing on the word grow, and have chosen to expand on that this year with the word adapt (see more about One Little Word here).
6// I met two of my blogging idols, Elsie + Emma of A Beautiful Mess.
7// I discovered my new favorite thing ever is using gold paint markers on white canvases (exhibit a & exhibit b).
8// I made a bunch of new friends, but two new besties that I clicked with so fast, we couldn't have planned it to be a more perfect match.
9// Finally got a new radio for my car. While this may seem like the silliest little highlight of this year, it has made life so much easier (no more mix CDs for me! Hello, the future).
10// I tried ten new restaurants around Long Island (and a few in NYC), plus a few breweries nearby, which has expanded the list of things to do at home a bit (it's usually a very short list, indeed).
11// My long-time Halloween costume idea finally came to fruition this year, and I want to be the same thing every year for the rest of my life.
12// Ate a Donut Plant pistachio doughnut, and my life is so much better as a result.
13// Rang in the new year like this.
14// Went on the most amazing trip of my life through Europe with two of my best friends.
15// I discovered my favorite nail color (and honestly my favorite color, period).
16// This was the year that I finally figured out what I want to do with my life. This. Writing. Telling Stories. Connecting with people through the written word. I want all of it, and though I wish I figured out all of this sooner (say, senior year of high school when I had to pick a major), I am embracing the crazy now and making a real go of it.
17// I got my fifth tattoo in six years, and have kept with the tradition of never getting more than one in the same age year.
18// Got to spend a weekend in Montauk with my friends right at the end of the summer, which was probably the best summer send-off of my life.
19// I went to a vineyard for the first time, and seeing as wine is my first true love, it was a solid, though messy experience.
20// Flew to England for ten days to finally spend some time with my best friend. I seem to love having the people I love be in another country.
21// I read I'll Give You The Sun, and it made me feel all of the feelings. It is the type of book that I would love to be able to write one day, and reading it has made me more excited about that. (Notable mention for book of the year goes to Still Alice, which was also absolutely incredible).
23// After a brief hiatus at BuzzFeed, Max is still in my daily life, which I could not be happier about.
24// Skylar Fallyn was born around my half birthday, and even though I was nervous before she arrived that I wouldn't be able to fit enough love in me for both Max and her, she's stretched my heart to triple its size. Couldn't be more in love with her.
25// Though only about half of the things on my 25 Things list got completed or started, having the list on my mind all year really helped me to think about goal setting in the future and what types of goals are important to me as I grow and change. It was a good experiment, and I'm going to continue it and try to make more attainable goals, as well as goals that I really want to see myself work toward in the upcoming year.

Saying goodbye to the first quarter century of my life, and hoping this next year will be full of more of these little moments.

*EDIT: here they are.

25 things in my 25th year: the half-year update.

Yesterday was my official half birthday, which means I'll be 25 in six months, the age I set as a deadline for quite a few different things. Some of the items on the 25 things list are small, some are pretty substantial. Over the last six months I have grown a lot, both through the implementation of this list in my life as well as other factors. Much like last year's summer bucket list, this birthday list has lit a metaphorical fire under my tush, and I like that kind of pressure from myself to achieve and accomplish both small & large goals.

Here's a portion of the list and my thoughts six months out:

1// learn how to get off of the auto setting of my DSLR.
I have been reading blogs, a "for dummies" book, and watching a few YouTube videos to get this one going. It's a process for sure.
3// start up my etsy shop again.

I'm not sure if this is still one of my goals for this year. I love etsy and shopping handmade on it, and I love the products that I have considered selling, but so far, there hasn't been the right time to start a small business, and I'm okay with that for right now.
5// find a new job.

To tie in with the above item, I am looking to get my career really moving in the next few months, so a small business will have to find a place to fit in among all of that. I'm getting really close to ticking this one off the list, and it's very exciting.
6// go to at least four concerts. (|||)

The Script & One Republic in June, One Direction in August, and Ed Sheeran last weekend. Some of my favorite artisits. It's been a great few months for concerts and I'm looking forward to the next six.
7// become a morning person (I love mornings, but can never wake up).

Still nothing here. Waking up is hard.
8// go to California again.

Anyone?!
9// write down some of my grandma's famous recipes so I can make them for my future children.
We had a little scare a couple of weeks ago with my nonna, so now more than ever this item means so much to me. I'm ready to get out a notebook and throw on an apron asap.
11// try ten new restaurants on LI. (||||)
This has been one of the most fun items on the list. I love going out to dinner with friends to catch up, chat about life, and have a drink. Trying to branch out and go to a bunch of new places has made that even more fun.
16// travel someplace new.
I've probably really overdone the whole contiki thing by now (#cantstopwontstop), but check out the link above to see what I got up to in Europe this past July.
18// buy fresh flowers for the house every weekend for a whole month.
I have been loving doing this, and can probably cross it off even though I haven't done it four weekends in a row yet. Fresh flowers are something that I've realized in the last six months actually make me extremely happy. It's the little things.
20// get a month of hot yoga and go at least twice a week. (May 2014)

Love, love, love hot yoga.
21// get my NY teaching certification finalized.

This is a tricky one. I've talked a bit about my career changes and what I'm looking to do in the future, so this item is kind of a "moo point" (friends, anyone?). But really, I don't think this one will need ticking off in the end, and I am so fine with that. I have made room for bigger, better, more fulfilling for me things, and I'm pumped about it.
22// move out of my parent's house.
Funny how this all ties in together with all of the job related items, but obviously money ties into all of those as well. I love my parents, but I have a feeling they are pretty close to being rid of me.
24// take a spontaneous road trip.

Fall foliage is around the corner. I feel this one coming on soon.
25// inspire someone to make a list for their birthday, or just-because!

I would still love to cross this one off because reading other people's lists is so fun, inspiring, and also pretty nosey. Everyone loves a bit of nosey, though.

These are not all of the items on my list, you can see the original here, but these are just a few of the small ones and big ones that I thought I would touch upon. I'm looking forward to the next six months and seeing where my life is then, because when I created this list in March I could not have imagined how different things would be just six months down the line. Life is funny like that, isn't it?

25 things in my 25th year.

It's my birthday!

This new year I saw a lot of bloggers make 101 in 1001 lists (see Kristin's and Ashlyn's), which is basically what it says - a list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. It was appealing to me, but also seems very ambitious and not as realistic for me to keep up with because I'm a fan of more short term goals with things like this, so I decided to make a list of 25 things to do in my 25th journey around the sun.

1// learn how to get off of the auto setting of my DSLR.
2// send 10 "just because" gifts to friends and family. (||)
3// start up my etsy shop again.
4// write a letter to myself today to open on my 25th birthday in 365 days. (March 17, 2014 better late than never).
5// find a new job. (September, 29, 2014).
6// go to at least four concerts. (One Republic, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, The Script)
7// become a morning person (I love mornings, but can never wake up).
8// go to California again (I'm thinking let's just pack our bags and move, but that's a lengthy work in progress).
9// write down some of my grandma's famous recipes so I can make them for my future children.
10// lose ten pounds. (|||)
11// try ten new restaurants on LI.
12// cook dinner for my family once a week for a month. (April 2014)
13// take a calligraphy class.
14// attend a taping of the tonight show with jimmy fallon.
15// send a handwritten note at least once a month.
16// travel someplace new.
17// get this blog to 100 followers on bloglovin' (so far I have a loyal 13).
18// buy fresh flowers for the house every weekend for a whole month. (April 2014)
19// have a complain-free week with a bitch jar (think Schmidt's douchebag jar) to keep me in check and make some changes.
20// get a month of hot yoga and go at least twice a week. (May 2014)
21// get my NY teaching certification finalized (procrastination at it's finest, people).
22// move out of my parent's house.
23// learn more about html with either a book or class.
24// take a spontaneous road trip.
25// inspire someone to make a list for their birthday, or just-because! (while it's not what I had in mind, I inspired myself to make a new list for 25).

So here I go, another year older + wiser (not) and ready for some new challenges and experiences to cross this list off with.