41 things to do before i turn 42

Last year I turned 40, an event that was partially eclipsed by Wren’s impending birth, which meant that I missed out (opted out) on the whole turning-forty-birthday-bash thing. To be fair, I’m not a shindig kind of girl, but because I didn’t mark the event with some kind of massive celebration, I sometimes forget that I actually am… 40. That is, was 40. Yesterday I turned 41, so now I’m technically, properly, unequivocally, in my forties.

I thought I would mark this birthday with a list, because a girl’s gotta have something to strive for, right? Last time I did one of these I was 38 and only managed to check a handful of things off the list. Many of these unchecked items have been transferred to this new list; others have simply lost their luster.

So here we go. A fresh year. In the next 365 days, I hope to accomplish the following:

1. Swim in the Mediterranean sea
2. Switch back to an 80 percent vegetarian diet
3. Start each day with fresh turmeric tea
4. Read 25 books by the end of 2016
5. Start baking again, without refined sugar
6. Apply for my Canadian passport
7. Make Sundays digital detox days (excluding blog posts)
8. Start a happiness project
9. Run a marathon
10. De-clutter my phone: compile footage into monthly videos and organise/delete photos
11. Find a fulfilling job
12. Take Wren to a music festival
13. Write more letters
14. Create a personal coffee table book of our travels
15. Go camping and hiking at least once
16. Start a daily meditation practice
17. Develop a roll of film every month
18. Buy a fire extinguisher
19. Start a private blog for Wren
20. Go to a car boot sale in search of old mismatched picture frames, make a photo wall
21. Take a driving lesson in London
22. Make elderflower cordial
23. Write a book (Ok. Let’s be realistic. Write the outline of a book and the first chapter)
24. Buy a new bike or fix my old bike, get a seat for Wren and start cycling again
25. Read a Jane Austen novel (I know, shocking that I haven’t already)
26. Grow a garden
27. Get an article published on Huffington Post
28. See the northern lights
29. Watch Casablanca
30. Go strawberry picking
31. Finish the baby blanket I started knitting before Wren was born
32. Go away for a weekend with my husband sans kid
33. Learn to speak basic Italian for our Tuscany trip this September
34. Go to a taping of the Graham Norton show
35. Cook an Italian meal with fresh market produce in Italy
36. Keep blogging once a week and write a post that gets 5,000 hits (hey, why not?)
37. Write a letter to my 50-year-old self to open on 11 June 2025
38. Donate blood
39. Take a Guardian masterclass
40. Learn to Salsa dance with Joe
41. Go to bed earlier, get more sleep
42. Bonus. Try to get through this Hygge list this winter.

I recognise that this is a SUPER ambitious list, especially with an infant, but this past year has been completely focused on motherhood and although I suspect the next two decades of my life will also be centred around my kid, it’s important that I keep growing as a person and that I do things for myself so that I can be the best mom possible. Hell, I’ll be chuffed if I even manage to knock ten things off this list. As Norman Vincent Peale said: “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”