two years of fancy & 30 before 30

This weeks marks the second blogiversary for live the fancy life! Thank you to all of you who have read, commented and shared this blog with others. I’m looking forward to my third year with this blog! I’ll be adding even more simple and inexpensive party tips and ideas, sales alerts, home design inspiration, freebies from across the web and of course, ideas for mamas and babies!

While it’s the blog’s 3rd year, this year marks my 30th! Yes, I’m the freak holding the camera and smiling uncomfortably in the photo below, but doesn’t the pic scream “PARTY!”?

{just a few of my favorite ladies at my bachelorette party}

Inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Nicole of Making it Lovely, I have decided to share my list of 30 before 30 as it stands today (which is 28 before 30). I will turn the big 3-0 March 25, 2012. Some of these are more challenging and more interesting than others, but all of them are important to me.

Perhaps you can all hold me accountable? I have some time, but I have a very active 6-month-old baby (see below), so time is a little limited. By the way, happy six month birthday Bodhi (someday you may read this for tips on how to impress the ladies)! You have changed my world in ways I never thought possible and I love you to pieces!

{photo credit---Melissa Oholendt Photography}

Since I’ve been working on this list for a while, I’ve already started crossing some things off. Here goes!

1. Write three paid articles for magazines—done with two, one to go
2. Take a photography class—done
3. Learn to use my camera on the manual setting
4. Take monthly photos of Bodhi for one full year
5. Make photo book of our wedding finally
6. Make photo book of Bodhi’s first year
7. Run a 5K (I’ve done this before, but post-baby is another story)
8. Declutter our office
9. Take the Making Things Happen challenge
10. Take a vacation alone with my hubby—scheduled for our anniversary!
11. Join a mom’s group that meets in person
12. Host a moms-only event
13. Start a Facebook page for moms I know
14. Lose the rest of my pregnancy weight
15. Go to Baby/Mama yoga (at least once)
16. Interview someone who inspires me and feature them here
17. Throw myself a lovely 30th birthday shindig
18. Take Doula training
19. Start a parenting blog or add a parenting section to this blog with contributing writers—done for a while now—see monday {momday}
20. Throw a fancy cocktail party (I do this many times a year, but it’s a lot harder now, so wanted to set a goal)
21. Stop drinking soda (practically complete)
22. Get a yellow front door—this will be complete soon.
23. Guest blog on one of my daily favorites—in progress! Excited to share with you soon.
24. Do three newborn photography sessions—one will be done this weekend, two to go!
25. Travel with Bodhi by airplane.
26. Work on making time for my closest female friends (this is vague, but is very important to me)
27. Ten random acts of kindness—my husband and I have been talking about carrying Target gift cards with us everywhere so we can randomly give them to people. What other ideas do you have?
28. Send a card a week to someone just to let them know I’m thinking about them.

I will be filling the other four items in soon. What are you hoping to do this year? Do you have a list like this? Please share!