Today is my 27^th birthday. Which, overall, is an unremarkable number. It does not grant me any unique abilities I didn’t have before or lose me anything I possessed and it’s not a milestone number. It just is. However, with the relative difficulty of the past year in terms of ending one chapter of my life and beginning a new one in the midst of a pandemic, I think I’d like to set some goals for the future.

            I know it can be hard to be optimistic right now with the way the world is; it’s hard to know if survival is even a guarantee, especially in the long-term. And sometimes focusing on Big Goals can be disheartening when your life feels like it’s standing still. So this year I’m picking small, achievable wishes for the future—things I could make happen by myself (or even better with others) that don’t necessarily require the perfect life, or for things to be just-so before they can happen. Some of them are from a Bucket List I put together a few years ago and others are ones I’ve been thinking of, miss doing, or would like to do when the world is a little bit of a safer place.

            So here’s to 27, the year ahead, and working my way through this list (in no particular order):

1. Put my feet in the ocean again.
2. Go to IKEA by myself and spend as much time as I want looking at things.
3. Perform karaoke (drunk or sober).
4. Sleep on a trampoline.
5. Have a drink, gamble a little, and eat something absolutely sinful in Las Vegas.
6. Go to a wine tasting (preferably at a vineyard!).
7. Visit a lavender farm.
8. Have a picnic in a beautiful place.
9. Host a dinner party.
10. Perfect a signature dish.
11. Learn how to grill.
12. Stay at a bed and breakfast.
13. Get more tattoos.
14. Adopt a black cat.
15. Go to a Halloween party of some kind – it’s been too long!
16. Watch 666 horror movies (at least). 
17. Go on a road trip to a place I’ve never been.
18. Spend an entire day at a fancy spa.
19. Have a purple island in my kitchen eventually.
20. Collect miniature spoons and magnets from different places.
21. Have an all-night movie marathon with someone I care about.
22. Go apple picking.
23. Make a room-size blanket fort.
24. Eat at an expensive restaurant while wearing a very nice dress.
25. Visit Crater Lake and/or the Grand Canyon.
26. Spend an entire afternoon at Powell’s Books in Portland.
27. Try something new every year.