29 things to do in my 29s

It's my birthday today, and I thought that maybe for this last year of my 20s, I'd make a list of some things I'd like to do before I'm 30. I'm still thinking of more, so I'll add them as I come up with them.

1. Eat cereal out of a salad bowl. I realize now I never specified what kind or size of salad bowl!

2. Discover a new clothing style and put an end to the jeans/t-shirt combo I've been rocking since forever.
3. Find a good place to get my hair cut well and make going a part of my tri-monthly routine.
4. Work in a florist shop for at least a month.
5. Make:

• homemade donuts (or anything fried really, cuz frying freaks me out)
• macarons NOT macaroons (I'm so snobby about these already, it drives me absolutely wild when I see it spelled incorrectly. Just imagine how hoity-toity I'll be if I can bake the damn things correctly. I've done a lot of research, though, and I'm determined to win at this no matter the cost to my mental health. Why? Who the hell knows. But I do have grand visions of them becoming my signature cookie and everyone just dying to have them for Christmas and their birthdays. It's a vanity thing, clearly.)(At any rate, I already have a fall back plan. Signature cookie B is totally gonna be whoopie pies. We don't have them here and I've made them already and they were bloody fantastic.) (see attempt 1, attempt 2, attempt 3; attempt 4 I'm not blogging about. Same problem as #2 + oven temperature)
• rolled-out cookies (sugar cookies? whatever you call them. I'm inept at rolling and using cookie cutters) (see attempt 1)
• wontons (surprisingly easy, just time consuming!)
• cinnamon buns (I excell at making bread, but these always turn into tasteless, little stones for me. Go figure) (see sticky lemon rolls -- which aren't actually cinnamon buns, but they're exactly the same thing and the recipe could be modified to cinnamon. In fact, I plan to do that the next time I make them)
• truffles (I've had a chocolate chip cookie dough truffle recipe bookmarked for ages. Mostly I think I just want to attempt tempering chocolate)
• pâte à choux -- cream puffs! I saw it on tv and it didn't look as difficult as it seems.
• risotto

6. Read all the books I purchased years ago and never got around to actually reading. Currently reading:

• The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood

7. Learn more Greek. In fact, take a class if I have to.
8. Try to live without bread and sugar for at least a month.
9. Spend less time surfing the interwebs and more time out and about.
10. Actually do at least one of the many crafts I've bookmarked.
11. Learn enough HTML to make a difference. I'm still working on this, but I'm getting better!
12. Excercise more or at least not be so slack about it.
13. Get over my fear of plumbing and electrical.
14. Meet new friends.
15. Buy more flowers in the winter.
16. Accept my body for what it is and what it does for me instead of wishing it were something it's not ever going to be.
17. Prepare responsible adult dinners on the weekends.
18. Take a trip across Canada (aka seeing more than B.C. and Saskatchewan)
19. Accept that I'm an adult. I'm really having a hard time believing I'm just about 30!
20. Grow up my decorating style. Sure it's fun and quirky and make-shifty, but there's no reason why it can't be all those things while also being more real wood pieces instead of IKEA pressed wood pieces.
21. Learn how to say no without having to come up with a million excuses or lies for why I don't want to do something. I'm really tired of other people making me feel guilty because I don't want to or don't feel like hanging out with them.
22. Learn how to express my opinion better. Instead of saying, I guess I like it or Ok if you want to, I should say YES! I love it! I want to!
23. Learn calligraphy. I love writing like this now, and I accomplished my original goal. I did have a look for a chisel tipped pen, and guess what? They've now got Sharpies specifically for calligraphy! Swoon! I'm definitely going to add some more styles now that I have the basics down.
24. Learn how to drive stick or, alternatively, learn how to use ETS (Edmonton's public transit).
25. Buy things online (this seriously freaks me out). Does paying bills count?
26. Take a cake decorating and piping class.(check out the results)
27. Stop being so high strung over little things. I need to learn to relax and just let things come as they are. Taking a wrong turn can seriously wreck my whole day. I decided to take a different way home from South Common the other day and then I took a wrong turn which would have seriously set in a panic attack. But, instead, I was calm, turned around and tried another way (which turned out to be the right way). And then I laughed about it later. That's pretty good!
28. I can, not I can't.
29. Get better at photography. Learn my camera, set up a light box (or permanent area in which to photograph i.e. better lighting, backgrounds, settings), and work on interesting compositions.