27 before 28 list {frocktober, day 4}

Remixes:
Dress: 1, 2 // Cardigan

Eegads, it's that time again. An entire year has gone by and I'm sitting here as a fresh 27 year old. I very vividly remember lamenting my last few days as a 25 year old last year, and 27 somehow seems like a rather giant leap from that version of myself. So much has changed, and it has been a wonderful year.

Last year I made a list: 26 before 27. A little list of big things and small things that I wanted to accomplish over the course of 1 year of my life. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the way things turned out. Although I didn't get a pixie cut or a nose ring, and I didn't travel to a new country or ride in a hot air balloon or complete a rough draft of my book, I made conscious choices all year long to do things I love (and I may have changed my mind about getting that pixie cut. Again). We bought a house and are getting ready to have a baby boy. We saw the Grand Canyon, discovered new local favorites, made new friends. I started writing for Hello Giggles, and have read a ton of great books. We have experienced joy, struggle, heartache, and love. So many of the things I was stressed or worried or unsure about have been resolved over the last 365 days, and I am left feeling incredibly grateful for it all.

I'm not quite as nervous about turning 27 because it's going to be the best year of my life. I spent my last day as a 26 year old making French macarons, which allowed me to cross one last thing off that old list. But I'm ready for this new list. It is going to be full of wonderful, monumental things.

Without further ado, here's my 27 things to do before I turn 28.

1. HAVE A BABY {due 12/30/15} William Boyer! 1/6/16.
2. visit north carolina in the fall A September surprise is close enough!
3. move in to our house! #casaschan is open!
4. decorate baby boy's nursery we settled on Harry Potter/Winnie the Pooh/Lion/Adventure etc...
5. host a dinner party
6. learn to speed read
7. set a weekly date night
8. wear a fantastic halloween costume {big belly and all} Emperor's New Groove!
9. stencil a statement wall
10. sign up for eMeals again
11. finish 12 paintings (only accomplished a few!)
12. baby's first plane ride! {take a trip} many trips! Portland, Chicago, Columbus, Charlotte...
13. attempt to DIY concrete countertops attempted...and we'll be getting real countertops ASAP!
14. go camping it was freezing but I got my hammock time
15. use my pressure cooker (nope...that thing still scares me)
16. buy house plants {and keep them alive} bought one cactus...and he's hangin' in there
17. send more snail mail
18. make cat coasters
19. plan an out-of-country vacation
20. start learning a new language Italian!
21. deck out the new house for winter wonderland!
22. find and purchase a bar cart
23. clean out my closet had an Instagram sale!
24. average at least 2 published articles a month
25. read a new book series The Paper Magician by Charlie Holmberg! Love all of her books!
26. upgrade to a better camera / lens
27. reconfigure the day job Full-Time Mom! Woooo!

This will be a great year for learning, changing, decision-making, loving, nurturing, creating, nesting, dreaming, planning, snuggling, struggling, and more. I'm looking forward to every bit of it.