Lifestyle - 40/40 pt 2

Yesterday I told you that my birthday is coming up and I have decided to make a list of things to aim for before the big 4-0 coming up in 4 years. I shared half my list yesterday so today I best tell you the other half!

40 before 40 - part the second.

21. Visit Paris for a day.

Basically, I want to go somewhere on the Eurostar and this seems the best place to pick as I've never been to Paris!

22. Take madam to Disneyland.

I have wanted to visit Disney with madam for a couple of years. She is such a fan and if we make it there before she turns 8 it'll be sooooo much cheaper!

23. Write the first draft of a novel.

Because I have started so many books that I have never quite finished...

24. Have a full body massage.

I have never had one. I think I need to remedy this. Possibly whilst also being at some form of spa...

25. Dye my hair a bright colour.

I have wanted blue hair since I was about 14. I have several friends who have blue hair at the moment and I am hideously jealous of them. I've just never quite been brave enough to take the plunge and I know my parents would hate it...

26. Own a diamond!

I'm an April baby which means diamond is actually my birthstone. I think it's about time I owned one in some way. 

27. Give away one thing each month.

Because I think it would be good for me to try and be less selfish. 

28. Always have a notebook with me and keep them when full.
I've usually got a notebook on me somewhere, but I want to underline how important that has started to become for me. I think keeping my notebooks to look back on will help me to see my growth as well.

Finally finished my clouds notebook and moved on to my new one the other week...

29. Keep a folder for madam's schoolwork.

I want to remember all those rubbish pictures that she's done. Because she's getting better all the time and I sort of miss them!

30. Get a good photo of madam and I together :)
I don't have one! So many pictures of madam, none of us together :(

31. Learn to make a selection of cocktails.
Everyone should be able to make a few cocktails, surely!

32. Walk along the whole of Hadrian's wall.
This has been a dream of mine since I was quite young. I've always fancied a walking holiday and this seems a good place to start.

33. Teach madam to knit or crochet.
These skills have come to mean so much to me and I think part of the joy I have in them is that I share them with most of the females in my family. They unite generations and they have a wonderful community around them. Plus they're both such great ways to help find inner peace.

some of my latest crochet projects...

34. Learn to use a camera properly.

Rather than my "point and shoot and hope for the best" technique!

35. Visit the Natural History Museum.
Another place I've always wanted to visit. Really want a major museum binge in London at some point the Natural History museum is just top of that list.

36. Have breakfast in bed!
That someone else has made for me. Just once would be nice...

37. Grow my own food.
Um, because things taste better when you grow them yourself. 

38. Sort out the DVD collection.
As we have no TV we watch endless DVDs. They have a habit of migrating from where they are supposed to be and getting into the wrong boxes. It drives me insane. Must sort them out properly!

39. Make a Christmas tradition just for madam and I.
Because every family needs a Christmas tradition.

40. Create a work of art that I'm proud of and display it in my home.
I've had a plan to make a canvas for a few years and never got around to it as I'm worried it won't be good enough. I need to take the plunge and have some fun. And displaying it will help with my "everything must be perfect" issues!

So that's it! All 40 things I want to aim for in the next 4 years. Do you think I've missed anything? 

Love, Pearl.

Lifestyle - 40/40 pt 1

Friday is going to be a good day. I have got lots of plans with friends and with madam. This is because it's my birthday and I am going to be a whole 36. I feel incredibly conflicted about this. On the one hand I don't really care, age is nothing but a number etc, etc. But on the other I'm pretty sure my 20yr old self would be surprised at where I am in my life.

this is my excited face...

In the tradition of these things I have decided that I should make a list of things I'd like to achieve before I turn forty. Which will give me four years to get them all done. 

It genuinely took me two hours last night, wracking my brains, to come up with a list that I was pretty much happy with. I thought up 40 things; some of which are going to be quite easy, some harder and some possibly impossible! But I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't get them all done. This is just supposed to give me something to help me focus on achieving more with the next few years than I might do otherwise.

As it is a massive long list I shall split it into two posts for ease of reading. I shall do periodic updates to let you know how I'm getting on and what things I may have managed to cross off!

40 before 40

1. Make a dress for me to wear.
Pretty self explanatory...

2. Get control of my diet
As is this!

3. Sort out my divorce.
I have downloaded all the forms, I hope this will be done very soon!

4. Learn to finish one project before I start the next!
I am really bad for having multiple projects on the go at once. But I then never seem to finish any of them. I'm definitely all about the thrill of the new!

5. Make time for reading on a permanent basis.
My reading challenge has shown me how much I have missed regularly reading in my life. I want to carry it on even after my challenge has finished.

6. Give books I won't read again to charity.
This is an attempt to not allow clutter to build up. I know I have a few books on my shelves I genuinely will never read again, so lets make some space for better ones! 

7. Find a job.
Um, yeah, need to do that.

8. Take more photos of actual things.
I take so many photos of madam and food, I want to make more effort to record other things as well.

9. Learn a new craft.
Not sure which one yet though...

10. Remember I am valuable.
Because I forget too often.

11. Learn proper budgeting and stick to it!
You know, like an actual grown up...

There are bicycles, there are canals. Must be Amsterdam!

12. Take madam on a foreign holiday.
Because it'll open up a new world to her. And she's only ever been to Amsterdam when she was tiny! 

13. Take a trip to New York just with friends.
I have always wanted to go to New York and I would really like that first trip to be a selfish one where I get to do grown up things. And drink.

14. Take madam on an overnight trip that isn't to visit friends once a year.
The amount of excitement she has worked up for our overnight in Hull on Friday has shown me I should make more effort to take her places for just us. 

15. Start saving for a deposit on a house.
Because eventually, I want to buy one.

16.Cook a meal for my parents in my home.
They've not had a meal in either of the homes I've lived in in Beverley. This is a sad state of affairs!

17. Do something that scares me.
Meh! I can see that I am going to have to be high up at some point. Terrified already!

18. Get a cat.
Always wanted a cat. A British Blue is my ideal...

19. Have another child (!)
I never planned for madam to be an only child. I am thoroughly aware of the practicalities of that statement!

20. Watch a show in the West End (or on Broadway).
I'm a massive fan of a musical. I'd just love to see one in a big theatre and with an all star cast.

Look out for part 2 coming soon!

What would you put on your list?

Love, Pearl.