Planes, Trains, and Running Shoes

1. Travel to Cuba - This hasn't happened, and I'm not sure if it will. I've posted about my mixed feelings about traveling to Cuba before. I'm dying to go, but I want to go the right way. Whether that happens in the next 6 months or not, I don't know. Right now, I don't have immediate plans to travel to the island. 
2. Run a sub-4 marathon - Richmond, I'm coming for you. November 12, 2016.
3. Visit every Major League Baseball stadium (24/30) - I have 6 stadiums left to visit: Miami, Minneapolis, Detroit, Arizona, Anaheim, and St. Louis. With roughly 6 weeks left in baseball season, this might be a tough one to cross off the list. 
4. Cook my way through a cookbook - I haven't forgotten about this one, but I haven't even started. While in Paris, I finally found a cookbook that I want to cook through (after months of searching). I'll be cooking my way through "The French Market Cookbook" by Clotilde Dusoulier. Unfortunately, the movers lost my cookbook (the only item that went missing in my move), so I need to pick up another copy before I can start cooking, but I'm so upset that they lost the copy I bought in Paris at Shakespeare and Company, stamped with their logo! 
5. Do a 30-day yoga challenge 
6. Go horseback riding
7. Blog every day for a month 
8. Buy a designer outfit - This might have to be a 30th birthday present!
9. Go to the ballet 
10. Run another race abroad - This weekend's half-marathon in Vancouver crossed this off the list!
11. Go on another layover with The Pilot - Des Moines, IA - June 2016
12. Take a cooking class with The Pilot
13. Attend a black tie charity gala 
14. Order a wedding album - Our 2 year anniversary is coming up, I definitely need to make this happen!
15. Put all of my photos from my past travels into an album or scrapbook
16. Start writing the novel I have brewing in my mind - I'd like to have an outline done, or at least a full chapter before 
17. Go back to one of my favorite cities with The Pilot
18. See Kenny Chesney in concert
19. Visit another continent. 
20. Pay off my credit card debt
21. PR a race distance other than the marathon
22. Read a book in Spanish
23. Perfect French macarons
24. Go back to Paris with my mama
25. Make a lattice top pie.
26. Master these 30 recipes (i.e. know how to make them without looking at a recipe)
27. Go to one spot in DC and photograph it during all 4 seasons I have two pictures that I've taken in spring. I need to get back and take those shots again this summer to keep this going!
28. Tour the White House - Do you know how difficult it is to arrange a White House tour when you live in DC? Almost impossible. I've applied for a tour through Eleanor Holmes Norton's office every month for 3 months. I'm ready to just call her office! 
29. Take a painting class
30. Visit Carolann in Hawaii
So, I have some work to do! I'm hoping to set a PR in the half-marathon this fall during Richmond training, but I haven't planned any races yet. Just like with my 25 Before 25 list (which started this blog), I won't be devastated if I don't accomplish all of these things, but it's going to be a pretty fun 6 months while I try to get through as many of them as possible!

I was 22-years-old, fresh out of college and working my first job when I started this blog. I was living in Boston...a city I had moved to without having ever visited...just for a job that I didn't really love. One day, while flipping through a magazine in a doctor's office, I read an article called "Yes! You Can Run a Half-Marathon!" So, I decided to run a half-marathon and said that one day, I would run a Full too. I started this blog with running a marathon at the top of my 25 before 25 list.

You all know where that story went. Here I am...five years later...still blogging...still running...and I think it's time to nod my head to my roots and let you all know about something else I've been working on...my 30 Before 30 list.

In no particular order, following the theme of some personal, some professional and some just fun, here is my 30 Before 30 list. Some of these are repeats from my 25 Before 25...either because I didn't get to them...or because I'm starting them again. You can read that list here.


1. Travel to Cuba.

{via} Being a Cuban American, it's incredibly difficult to reconcile never having been there.

2. Run a sub-4 marathon.
3. Visit every Major League Baseball stadium. (22/30)
4. Cook my way through a cookbook.
5. Do a 30 day yoga challenge.
6. Go horseback riding.
7. Blog every day for a month.
8. Buy a Diane Von Furstenberg wrap dress.

{via}

9. Go to the ballet.
10. Run another international marathon.
11. Go on another layover with The Pilot.
12. Take a cooking class with The Pilot.
13. Attend a black tie charity gala.
14. Order a wedding album.
15. Put all of my photos from my past travels into an album or scrapbook.
16. Start writing the novel I have brewing in my mind.
17. Go back to New Orleans.

{via}

18. See Kenny Chesney in concert.
19. Host a dinner party.
20. Pay off my credit card debt.
21. Make my own article of clothing.
22. Read a book in Spanish.
23. Perfect French macarons.
24. Go back to Paris with my mama.
25. Make a lattice-top pie.

{via}

26. Master these 30 recipes (i.e. know how to make them without looking at the recipe).
27. Go to one spot during all four seasons and photograph it with my DSLR.
28. Tour the White House.
29. Take a painting class.
30.Visit Carolann in Hawaii.

Well, it's September and that means back to school! Classes start on Wednesday and it's my last semester of course work before I start my thesis which means sh*t is gettin' real!

I'm so excited for this semester. I'm taking some pretty interesting (I hope!) classes and doing an awesome research project with a wonderful professor and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

I've been in a weird funk lately but I had an absolutely amazing day yesterday and I feel like I'm on top of the world after it. The Pilot is finally home (thanks, Irene, you're a hoe) and all set to start flying planes! Next time you fly, take a peek in the cockpit! You might see him! I can't wait to have weekly dates with him! I hope we don't get sick of each other...just kidding!

So with the end of another month, means another recap! With less than 6 months to go on The List, I've acknowledged that I'm not going to be able to cross everything odd but you know what? I'm having an awesome time with it so I'm going to keep up with it and just see how much I can cross off! So let's see how I'm doing?

In the month of August, I:

• Ran 140 miles total...the most mileage I've ever hit in 1 month and am well under way in training for Marathon #2
• Finally started working on my college scrapbook again
• Read the Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Lamentations from The Holy Bible
• Reached 400 followers on my blog (hello new friends!) and wrote more blog posts than in any other month since I started blogging
• Visited Minute Maid and PNC Parks, homes of the Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates, my visit to exactly half of all of the Major League ballparks!
• Read "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad and "Sonnets" by William Shakespeare (and didn't really care for either) from The Book List
• Watched "To Kill a Mockingbird," "12 Angry Men" and "Apocalypse Now" (all during Hurricane Irene...loved the first 2, hated the second) 

So there you have it! Another productive month out of the way! September is going to be crazy busy and super exciting!

I can't wait.

How did your month shape up?