30 Before 30

Thank you for all the sweet birthday messages! The night of my birthday I went to a super beautiful, intimate wedding for a dear friend, and danced away with wonderful friends and an attractive man so much that I broke my dress AND my neckalace.  So pretty much 29 is just like 19. 🙂

In all honesty, people keep saying “it’s your last year in your 20s” (I prefer to say this is my last year in my mid 20s, thankyouverymuch) like it’s a big deal and I should expect 30 to be some giant, epic life changing thing.  Who knows what 30 will be like? But I thought this could be a fun opportunity to share some goals I have over the next year, with a super cheesy list titled “30 before 30”.  I love cheesy. 🙂

1. Get bangs.  Check- see above! Snip snip.  The morning of my birthday I got bangs cut because a- my husband loves me with bangs b-I was ready for a change and c-they will force me to fix my hair more.  Yay!
2. Eat more holistically.  I’m not a huge junk eater, but I tend to rely on the same easy meals like eggs or black bean burgers. I’d like to branch out and try to incorporate more fresh fruits and vegetables in our diets!
3. Cook and create. Along with that, I want to work to cook more and create new recipes to share.  Luckily for me, Scott and I love cooking together and it’s one of our favorite date night activities.
4. Finish our remodel.  This is a big one! I would love to throw a giant party on my 30^th at our house and be done! I know wherever I live will never be “done” as I am constantly rethinking and recreating things- but I want furniture in the rooms and bathrooms to all be done and everything to be functional.
   
5. Improve my photography. And to tag on to that, I also want to continue working on food photography and styling.  Ya’ll- food photography is hard.  I have been improving, but still have a long way to go.
   
6. Connect & reconnect.  I want to connect with newer people and turn acquaintances into friends.  It’s so easy to just stop and wave and say hello to co-workers or  neighbors without actually getting to know them. Unfortunately my cup was a little too full over the last year and I feel like some old friendships could use some rekindling.  I want to make more of an effort to see friends that I don’t get to see often.
7. Unpack.  Sadly, about 50% of our stuff is still in boxes.  Now that we have a light at the end of the tunnel, it will be time to unpack soon hopefully!  I miss all our personal things and all my books.
8. Organize.  Right now, everything is everywhere.  There doesn’t seem to be a ton of rhyme or reason or organization, but with the full scale remodel we’ve been in for the past 14+ months, can you really blame us?
9. Simplify.  Obviously, we are functioning just fine with a large chunk of our junk in boxes.  We have already donated a ton of stuff, and we want to donate more. We want to be really purposeful in what items we allow to share our space with us. 🙂
10. Create art.  I love, love, love art.  I’m in awe of people who can paint, I really am.  We  have been art museum members and gone to currated shows—we are those kind of people.  Alas, I was not gifted with the ability to draw or paint (except walls, yay?) but why should that stop me?  I’ve been experimenting with mixed media and watercolors, and even if I am not professional, I’m having fun. Why not?
11. Read more.  Like I said, I am a huge reader.  I love books.  Like have a book obsession. It’s hard to set time to sit down and read, but I want to be much more intentional about setting aside time to do that.  I have a stack-maybe 5 stacks, but who’s counting-of books to read.  Jane Eyre is next…if I can ever stop reading Pride and Prejudice.  Agh!
    
12. Garden.  I want to grow at least one thing.  Just one! I always start out good, but then they all die.  I guess you have to water them or something.  Geez, greedy.
13. Workout.  I would love to get into an exercise routine where I have something I look forward to doing. I am really liking running these days, but miss biking, and weight training. So it would be cool to get into a rhythm of some kind.
14. Be bold.  It can be too easy at times, to agree with the crowd, and sink into indifference.  But there are things (and people!) worth fighting for, so I hope to become a little more bold this year.  But still be nice. 🙂
15. Write.  Between writing all day at work and writing this blog at home, I don’t have a lot of time for writing just for me.  I miss journaling and expressing things that I don’t have to worry about others reading.  Maybe, if I am bold I will write that stuff and still share it.
16. Travel.  I have wonderlust big time.  I want to see the world! I am really hoping to make it back to Europe this year.  I miss Paris desperately and want to see London and Italy.
    
17. Explore Dallas.  We’re no Paris, but we are pretty cool.  There are a ton of restaurants and museums and activities and shops here that I have never gotten a chance to explore.  I hope to break out of ruts in that sense.
    
18. Learn French baking.  Particularly the Macaron. Now that I’ve tasted my first ones I really want to make them myself! Besides, they are just pretty. I already concurred the cronut, which is a hybrid of France and America, right? 😛
    
19. Get into nature.  I love being outdoors but I am a total wuss when it comes to cold weather and tend to hibernate indoors.  I’m not going to let winter rule me this year! Boo you winter! I will keep enjoying the world, even if you are dark and cold.
    
20. Golf and play tennis. Scott and I have been talking about doing these two things together since we met almost six years ago.  Six years!!! What!?!
21. Pray more.  I’m not a very good pray-er.  It’s way easier for me to turn and talk to Scott, or a friend or family rather then taking time to sort things out with God. Prayer takes practice (or so I hear).
22. Dress up.  I tend to be pretty consistent with my dressing and wear the same outfits over and over.  I have been inspired by some of the awesome fashion blogs out there to branch out, just a tad, while I’m young and in my mid 20s. 😉
23. Make bold décor decisions.  All the spaces that I adore are bold and beautiful, but when it comes to our house I get fearful and chose grays and tans.  Why not navy and fuchsia? 🙂
24. Be creative.  I would like to challenge myself to take up my creativity a notch with house projects and life in general.
25. Nurture my marriage.  Our marriage is awesome.  It really is the best ever, but we could use some breaks from work and remodeling and everything else to just hang out and have fun.
    
26. Open my etsy shop.  Technically I have an etsy shop.  It has 0 things in it, so no big deal.  I have been planning on stocking it for like..mmm….2 years or so? Time to buckle down and do it!
27. Network with other bloggers.  There are some truly fabulous, brilliant, talented people out there that I would love to work with at some point—I just need to take initiative and reach out, scary as that seems!
28. Manage my inbox.  Currently I have over 1,000 unread emails, and it’s growing daily.  At one point I had 10,000+, then I got it down to like 20, and now it has snuck back up, agh!
29. Pay off debt.  If we are really intentional, we could be totally debt free (except the house) this year.  It would require a lot of discipline, but would be worth it.
30. Write my novel. I have started 3.  The first chapters are brilliant. The concepts are wonderful.  The initiative has died.  Even if no one reads it, I want to finish one!

That’s my list. 30 before 30.  I guess this is sort of like a head start on New Years Resolution!  I am such a list person- I have scraps of paper all over the place with random lists of things- groceries, goals, blog posts, gift ideas- I have tried to go paperless and put them on my phone, but I am old-fashioned and just like pen and paper.

Are you all list people?  Pen and paper people? Or are you super savvy and techy?

Tania Griffis

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Tania Griffis is an accomplished writer, blogger, and interior designer with a Journalism degree from the University of Oklahoma. She started her popular blog, Run to Radiance, in 2011, demonstrating her design expertise through the personal remodeling of six houses to millions of readers across the globe.

Tania also owns The Creative Wheelhouse, a respected ghostwriting agency for bloggers, further showcasing her talent for creating engaging and informative content.

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