#6 Piano Lessons

So this item on my list, I am proud to say, I actually started a few weeks ago but I am just now sitting down to write about it. One day I pulled out Darren's keyboard, cleared some space in the living room for it and brought over two stools. And then that was it. LoL.
Darren tinkered around on it a few times but we didn't have any sheet music or any lesson books. One day while we were at Darren's mom's house a week or so later, we asked her to borrow some. Of course, she had a whole filing cabinet full of all the lesson, recital and technique books saved for all the levels. I took all the level 1s and two Christmas books.
I was extremely pleased and quite surprised at how quickly I picked the basics back up. Within an hour or so I had re-taught myself to play When the Saints Go Marching and We Wish Your a Merry Christmas. Since we borrowed the lesson books, I have been practicing for at least 30 minutes almost everyday.
I still have ALOT of work to do though. My goal is to be able to play Linus and Lucy by next Christmas and to play one duet with Darren!

#10 Harry Potter

In 1998, J.K. Rowling released her first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and everyone lost their ever loving minds. I was 11 at the time and already an avid reader. But I read short stories by Stephen King and forensic murder novels by Harlan Coben. So when everyone, including my mother and even my little brother, started to obsess over this book about a little boy who could do magic, I couldn't have cared less.

Regardless of my disdain, J.K. kept the books coming. She released two more novels in 1999 and another in 2000. Finally, in 2001, the moment all "Potterheads" had been waiting for: they made the movie! If you were alive and sane during these years I am sure I don't need to tell you anything else about Harry Potter. It literally took over the world. So, needless to say, I saw the damn movie...
And, ok, I admit... it was good! Really good! I loved the magic and the wonder of the wizardly world! The characters and costumes were so creative. The cast and music had a huge impact on the feel of the film. I finally understood what all the fuss was about.

 

By 2007, J.K. Rowling wrote 7 novels total. By 2011, there were corresponding films for all of them. Over the years, I saw all 8 films (Deathly Hollows took two films to make) but I still hadn't read the novels. Telling people you have never read Harry Potter is always an issue. Like, honestly a serious issue for some people. I can only compare it to how I feel when someone tells me they have never seen any of the Star Wars movies. So, I get it. Especially since I am such an avid reader and Harry Potter is a series that people who don't even like to read have read! Adults. Children. All races and backgrounds. Everyone loves Harry Potter.

 



So while I was making my 30 before 30 list I decided it is high time I fully convert to a Potterhead and read all the damn books already. Luckily my mom and dad bought me the entire series for Christmas this year. I decided to spend the last day of 2015 in bed with all three animals and read the entire first novel in a couple of hours.

Naturally I loved it! Since I have already seen all the movies I know what's going to happen. But as I always feel about watching a movie based on a novel, the book is always so much more descriptive and gives you such better background knowledge. I think they did a pretty good job keeping the first film as close to the book as possible, even all of the dialogue.

Anyways, I am excited to check another item off my list and to indulge into the next six novels!

#26: Visit a Castle

I think I saw this item on someone else's list and thought that sounded like a fun and do-able thing. It wasnt until after I finalized my list that I realized I had already been to a castle... Hearst Castle in San Simeon (near Paso Robles). But hey... why pass up the opportunity to visit another castle. I also started to worry that there would even be other castles I could visit in California. So I started to do some research and found that there are quite a few castles in my home state. According to one website, I had actually been to two castles previously...since they considered Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland a castle in CA you could visit. (I do not).

There was Scotty's Castle in Death Valley but it didn't look like your classic medieval castle and it was a little further than I wanted to drive for this particular adventure. Sam's Castle in Pacifica looked interesting but they had very limited tour dates and times.

So when I saw that Castillo de Amorosa in nearby Napa (only an hour drive for us) was a recreated Italian medieval castle built by a wine maker... I knew THAT was my castle!

                                    This photo is stolen from the internet. The rest are ours.

Straight from the brochure: "An architectural masterpiece. Authentically-built, 13th century medieval Tuscan-style castle and winery. Medieval designs and construction methods were employed to create the Castello; 30 years in the making- 15 years of actual construction."

Standing in front of the mote.

"It is surrounded by 171 acres, 30 of which are grapes situated on one of the most beautiful properties in the United States."

"The Castello has 5 defensive towers with battlements."

 

 

Wine Tasting in the cellar.
"There are 107 distinctive rooms with 95 devoted to winemaking."

There was a working farm with sheep goats and pigs. Chickens roamed the grounds freely.

"8 levels with 4 underground making the Castello 2/3 underground."

 

Ok, I stole this picture from the internet, too!

 

The Great Hall

  Standing on the draw bridge!

 

We went to the Castello with my dear friend Camille, her husband Nick, and their baby Grayson (pictured above :). Nick's parents also came along on our adventure. It was the perfect trip! The weather was great. It was just a little bit foggy which made the castle feel very authentic but the sun was out, too, so it wasn't too cold. What surprised me most about the castle is it has only been finished for a few years but it feels like it has been there forever. The wine was AMAZING! They only sell their wine at the castle; they do not sell it to restaurants or stores, which is really cool. We bought a bottle of my favorite, their blend: Il Brigante. The only disappointing part was they were not letting the general public go down in the prison and torture chamber, which I really wanted to see.

We finished off the trip by going to the Markham winery, which Nick's parents and Nick and Camille are members of. We had cheese and salame with our tasting there. Then headed to Gott's for some delicious burgers and a beer. Again, it was a perfect trip and I get to check another item off my list!

 



#9: Chess

Technically, number nine on my list is to become more proficient at chess. I have played chess a few handful of times before but never consistently enough to remember all the rules and definitely not enough to be confident about any sort of strategy.

Lucky for me, Darren's father loved to play chess and he taught Darren quite well, so I have a good teacher and playmate at my disposal! After the thunder and lightening storm last night, this morning felt like the perfect time to pull out the old chess set, make some yummy French press coffee, and play a few games. Darren won both games but he says I did pretty well.

I really wanted this item to be on my list because I really like the idea of being a good chess player! To me, chess has this allure of being a "smart man's" game, a traditional, worldly game. People who can just sit down and play a game of chess are cool! I mean, the game is over 1500 years old and has ties to India, China, Persia, and of course, the Romans.

 

 

 

Besides looking like a intellectual badass, there are lots of benefits to chess playing (memory, concentration, logical thinking, etc.). But I really like what this one article says about chess being an art form:

 

"In the Great Soviet Encyclopedia chess is defined as 'an art appearing in the form of a game.' If you thought you could never be an artist, chess proves you wrong. Chess enables the artist hiding within you to come out. Your imagination will run wild with endless possibilities on the 64 squares. You will paint pictures in your mind of ideal positions and perfect outposts for your soldiers. As a chess artist you will have an original style and personality".
 

How cool is that?

 

Unfortunately, this is not one of my items I can just complete and check off my 30 Before 30 List. It is one of those things I am going to have to keep working on and checking back in with myself to make sure I am actually becoming more proficient.

 

 

 

 

 

The List

Ok, so here is the actual list:

1. Name a star
2. Actually make something with my sewing machine
3. Be in a Flash Mob
4. Go to the Winchester Mystery House
5. Rock Climbing
6. Re-teach myself to play the keyboard
7. Go Vegan for 1 full week
8. Start learning sign language
9. Become more proficient at Chess
10. Start reading the Harry Potter series

11. Take a gun safety class
12. Visit the Riggs in Seattle
13. Ride in a cable car in SF
14. Volunteer
15. Go fishing with Papa
16. Ride in a Hot Air Balloon
17. Learn to drive a stick shift
18. Go skydiving
19. Buy a strangers meal
20. Take a bartending class

21. Kayak in the Bay during a Giants game
22. Attempt to surf
23. Go to the San Diego Zoo
24. Take a self defense class
25. Go to Alcatraz
26. Visit a Castle
27. Ride on an "old school" train
28. Zip Line
29. Plant a tree
30. Make a baby

The 30 Things I Want To Do Before I Turn 30 Years Old:

A lot of people freak out about turning 30.
Just Google "30 Years Old" or "Turning 30" and the internet is full of articles and images like "How to Accept The Milestone", "I'm 30: Have You Seen My Youth?", & "It's All A Big Joke Until it Happens to You!". Our pop culture is full of television episodes about the characters having mental break downs about turning 30; my particular favorite is the Friends episode when Joey turns 30 and they all reminisce about how badly each of them dealt with their 30th birthdays.

 

I wouldn't exactly say I am excited about turning 30 but I am also definitely not dreading the moment. However, I have been consciously thinking about the infamous birthday for quite sometime. I think it comes down to the fact that as a kid, you think 30 is very old, and that you will have accomplished so much by that point. But here I am, a few months shy of 29, and I still don't feel like a real grown up.

 

 

I am proud of many of the things I have done with my life so far. I graduated college, I have glided through the air 4,000 feet in the sky in the tiniest plane you have ever seen, I married the love of my life, I have been to all the monuments, including the White House, on the DC Mall, I have had two great jobs where I was continuously promoted, I have been the to the famous Arch of Cabo San Lucas and seen Land's End the southern most tip of the Mexican peninsula. But there is so much more I want to do!



 

Being an avid Pinterester, I started searching for fun ways to celebrate the big 3-0 and found that 30 Before 30 lists are quite popular! There are tons of websites, blogs, and lists dedicated to the subject! So I decided since I love making lists and checking things off as I complete them, that this would be the perfect way for me to celebrate the milestone and make me feel like I am a super accomplished 30 year old!



 

I set a couple of rules for my 30 things before I turn 30 list. I didn't want to put travel items on my list or else that is all it would be; all 30 items would be places I would want to visit and that would be financially impossible for the amount of time I have to complete my list.

 

By the way, as of today, I have 508 days before I turn 30.

 

My wonderful husband, Darren, who is being dragged along on this adventure with me, and I usually try to travel somewhere once a year. So I limited myself to one real travel item on my list (My definition of "traveling" is needing to get on a plane to get there). A few of the other rules were I had to do something nice for someone else, I had to learn things, I had to do something I had been putting off, I had to leave the world a better place in some way, and all of the things on my list had to be "do-able" and financially reasonable.

 

Even though I will be taking this list of 30 items that I need to complete in 508 days extremely seriously, I am not going to beat myself up about not finishing in time. There are a few things on my list that I would obviously like to accomplish by my 30th birthday, but some things can not be rushed, and I think as long as I get started or at least have a game plan I should still feel pretty good about it.