Ten days ago, I turned 49 and have finally hammered out my 50 by 50 bucket list. I am officially excited about the next 355 days – yet already exhausted! Is it time for cozies, snacks, wine and a nap yet???
Last year, Megan my “heart-daughter,” created her 30 by 30 list and was the inspiration for creating my own list. Her birthday is about six weeks away and she has checked off almost everything. She even went on a solo trip to Bali! (Congrats, Megan!)
Reflecting on each decade of my life has made me realize the following random things:
How many times I changed my hair cut, color, and style. (What WAS I thinking??)
How many bottles of wine I drank. (I should own a winery.)
How much money I spent on make-up and hair products. (I could feed a small country with what I spent!)
The number of miles I ran. (Love this accomplishment.)
How many photo ops I missed. (Glad there are videos in my mind.)
I’m still figuring out my path. (Bumps in the road helped me figure out I needed to redirect.)
Soul friends are everlasting. (Enough said.)
I will always totally love the movie Moonstruck. (“Snap out of it!”)
If Robert Redford, Sean Connery, or Liam Neeson live to be 100 – or tomorrow, I will still eat crackers in bed with any of them. (Drool.)
My 20s were better than my teens. (Hell, yeah.)
My 30s were better than my 20s. (Yeah, baby.)
My 40s are better than my 30s. (Abso-frickin-lutely!)
Age is just a number. (Thank you, Dara Torres.)
I can still hula hoop. (Super Ninja Hula Hoop Girl on the scene.)
Lipstick is a necessity. (My Southern roots.)
Not being able to physically have children doesn’t mean you can’t have children. (I have three “heart children” to prove it.)
I still hate olives. (Blech!)
I will never be an American Ninja Warrior. (Although I could play one on TV with a stunt double.)
My mother is sometimes staring back at me in the mirror. (And it always scares me when I hear her voice come out of mouth!)
So we now come to the part in the episode where I reveal my mysterious 50 by 50 list. These are in absolutely no particular order and I have purposely left five blank because I’m keeping those open for spontaneous write-ins!
Drum roll, please.
Hike to the Hollywood sign.
Go to Griffith Observatory.
Horseback riding on the beach.
Ride ATVs at Pismo Beach sand dunes.
Minimum of 10 minutes of yoga 3x/week.
Get scuba certified.
Learn to paddle board in the Pacific Ocean.
Drive a golf ball 200+ yards.
Hike to Cedar Creek waterfall in Ramona (outside of San Diego).
Buy a wetsuit.
Pay a stranger’s tab at a restaurant.
Go indoor rock climbing.
Go snorkeling.
Run Thousand Steps at Thousand Steps Beach 50 times (not all at once – are you kidding me! there are actually only about 250).
Eat at 5 Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives locations (one will be Hodads!).
Take a Sea Caves kayak tour in La Jolla, CA.
Write a letter to The Husband to open on his 60th birthday (3 years from now).
Go to a wolf sanctuary.
Eat chicken and waffles at Roscoe’s.
Take a self-guided food truck tour of Los Angeles.
Write a blog a month. (Instead of every 4 months!)
Take silly pictures with The Husband in a photo booth.
Jump on a pogo stick. (Yes, I did it as a little girl – but not as an adult!)
Ride a mechanical bull.
Bake a loaf of bread. (Yes, I’ve done it before – but it’s been waaaay too long!)
Drink a glass (or bottle) of obscenely expensive wine.
Eat a molecular gastronomy dinner.
Leave a 100% tip for a server.
Make ice cream and peach gelato the old-fashioned “crank” way.
Do a sexy photo shoot.
Give blood.
Make a kiva.com loan.
Go to a shooting range and shoot guns.
Submit my book to an agent each week.
Write a letter to my niece to be opened on her 13th birthday. (September 2017.)
Research and apply for college (Start January or August 2017).
Take a vacation with The Momma.
Write a letter to Megan, my heart-daughter, to be opened on her 30th birthday. (October 2016)
Write a letter to Danielle, my heart-daughter, to be opened on her 28th birthday. (January 2017)
Write a letter to Jimmy, my heart-son, to be opened on his 25th birthday. (July 2017.)
Write a letter to Heather, my sister, to be opened on her 40th birthday. (November 2016)
Write a letter to Mitchell, my brother, to be opened on his 36th birthday. (December 2017)
Shoot a 95 or less on 18 holes of golf.
Take wine tasting classes.
Take swimming and diving lessons.
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
TBD
There you have it. I'm going to take a nap now!
Stay tuned for updates!
Zeniitude for today:
No matter what your age, start your bucket list! Have fun! (And let me know you’re accomplishments!)