39 Things to Do Before I turn 40

39 years of age.

Today, I am 39 years of age.

How in the heck did that happen? Just yesterday I was 5 years old, sitting in my living room, playing with my Masters of the Universe action figures. Now I am 39 years of age, with a real career, friends, love in my life, money in the bank, and now playing with my Masters of the Universe action figures in my bedroom. But as a woman, the cry of "Oh my Goodness I am turning 40!" is something to be afraid of and to not embrace. We, as a society, have been conditioned to be afraid of turning this number. That being 40 is a plague of some sort. Remember Sally’s meltdown in When Harry Met Sally?

Sally: [Crying hysterically] And I’m going to be 40!
Harry: When?
Sally: Someday!
Harry: In eight years!
Sally: But it’s there! It’s like a big dead end!

Only it is not the end for me. I’m not dreading turning 40. Not at all. I am running towards it at warp speed. I would be perfectly fine to fast-forward through my 30s because they have been a mess. I’d love to start fresh with this new decade. I’d really love to find some deep pockets of confidence and self-awareness. As today is my day of born (Thank you Matt Hardy), I thought to myself -- hey I like lists. Bucket lists in fact. I looked online for some ideas and immediately laughed. These goals are certainly not anything I could achieve with the time I have before I turn 40! For example: “compete in the Ironman Triathlon,” (yeah. You are talking to a person who dreads exercise, even though she loves to swim.) “travel across Europe by train on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express,” (Um, with the way trains have been derailing lately? Yeah no thank you. I want to live past 40 -- not die at 40) and “go yachting in Monaco or St-Tropez,” (With what boat?) Clearly I needed to create my OWN list, a practical list, a manageable list, a list just right for a geek bookworm teacher without an unlimited budget and private jet. After all, who wants to feel like a failure on the cusp of 40?! So here we go -- Here are my 39 Things to Do Before I Turn 40. I will update this as I do it throughout the year.

1: Watch the movie “This is 40”
2: Go to the Central Park Zoo.
3: Get my lion cub tattoo touched up/redone. (Can not do because of my rheumatoid arthritis. Would be too much of a health risk)
4: Get a new tattoo.(Can not do because of my rheumatoid arthritis. Would be too much of a health risk)
5: Have a romantic picnic and visit an art museum.
6: Do the MP3 Experiment or another flash mob experience through Improv Everywhere. Done on 6/21/2017
7: Have a spa day at Bliss with a girlfriend.
8: Get a professional makeup lesson.
9: Buy new bedsheets.
10: Submit one piece of poetry to a magazine.
11: Name a star.
12: Take a hip hop dance class. Done on January 17, 2018
13: Write more letters.
14: Read 5 books I don’t want to read. (Moby Dick, War and Peace, etc)
Here are the books I have chosen for this

1: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

2: Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James

3. A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

4. Finnegan’s Wake by James Joyce

5. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

15: Continue to accentuate the positive in life.
16: Write a sentence every day for a year (March 29, 2017 - March 29 2018) (I did not do this. Doing it now as part of my 2018 goals.)
17: Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. (Done on February 21, 2018)
18. See Hamilton on Broadway. (Done on March 10, 2018)
19. Try a lipstick color that is outside my comfort zone and wear it out for one full day. Done! Tried Colour Pop Cosmetics Ultra Satin Lip in Brooklyn. Wore it out to Pro Wrestling Magic on April 15, 2017
20. Spend an entire day offline. Done on May 20, 2017 and it will be become a weekly habit
21. Grow a plant from seed and watch it grow. Was not from seed but I have a succulent thriving in the window!
22. Forgive your frenemies and move on. I am only hurting myself by holding on to grudges. Stop letting them have power over me.
23. Go back into studying French.
24. Lose 39 pounds.
25. Learn how to embroider. (Done on September 21, 2017)
26. Take a fancy cooking class. (Done on December 2, 2017. Made some macarons!)
27. Complete an art class.
28. Break at least one bad habit. (Done. Have stopped biting my nails/cuticles. Yay for manicures!)
29. Go visit a psychic. Got a card reading at the Pagan Pride Festival on September 30, 2017
30. Write my will.
31. Hand out a $100 bill to a homeless person in need.
32. Get my upper right ear re-pierced properly.
33. Buy a Canon DSLR, read the manual, and set up some photo shoots.
34. Learn how to cross stitch.
35. Stop judging others, more importantly stop judging yourself.
36. Take a class in something weird Radical Self Love Coven, Tap That. I do not think it is weird but others do.
37. Fly in First Class. Not Business or Business/First, but a full-fledged First Class experience.
38. Think one positive thought every day before you get out of bed
39. Breathe this all in and realize I have lived and continue to live one badass fulfilling life. DONE.