I turned 32 this past Saturday! There was a party at our house and the weather cooperated: it was sunny and 72 degrees, perfect for sitting outside and drinking cocktails on the lawn with friends.
In addition to being my birthday, the party was a celebration with our Portland pals of Matthew’s and my nuptials. I was all set to make a wedding cake, and then I remembered that neither of us really likes cake. What we do like is cookies, so I made six dozen cookies, all of our favorite varieties, and stacked them in the shape of a 2-tiered wedding cake:
wedding cookie cake
The wedding topper are statues that Matthew and I found in a “free” box outside of an apartment complex while on a walk last year. They made me laugh, so I pocketed them and they’ve been on my bedside table ever since. Five minutes after I took this photo, they fell off and the lady rabbit lost her ears and part of her hat!
For the food, there was a baked potato, tater tot, and tortilla chip bar, with all the fixins:
baked potatoes, tater tots, chips, chili, fixins
This was pretty much the party food of my dreams. (If you want me to cater your wedding, don’t just sit there being jealous, just say the word!)
But I know why you’re here. You want to know if I polished off any more items on my “32 Before 32” list.
After the last update, there were still 17 items left. In 20 days, I only managed to knock out two of them:
14. Donate dead car to charity
dead car being towed out of our driveway
I can’t even take credit for this one, though, because Matthew did all the work! Thanks!
15. Make five year career goals with micro-goals to work on now
I did an awful lot of thinking on this topic. In the past ten years, I’ve been a: Montessori school assistant teacher, cubicle worker at a dot com, massage therapist, labor doula, after school childcare worker, telecommuting production specialist for the same dot com, cookbook author, and now nanny. Each has had its benefits; none were what I thought of as a career. Either they were emotionally and spiritually fulfilling but didn’t pay the bills (childcare, massage, doula, cookbook author) or they paid well but weren’t fulfilling (cubicle jobs). For over a decade, I’ve been trying to balance these two types of jobs, trying to find a way where I can keep doing what I love, but also have one of those savings accounts adults are always talking about. I haven’t found the right balance (yet), but I aspire to.
So I drafted several five year career plans and came up with nothing. I will continue doing what I’m doing now because I love being able to spend so much time with Milo, I love the kids who are staying with me, and I am good at it. When Milo is old enough to start preschool, I may continue to watch children or I may switch gears. If Portland is still supporting a food cart culture, I think that I would really enjoy having my own food cart. I don’t know right now. But not for lack of thinking about it. If anything, I’m giving myself permission to stop thinking about it all the time.
Please let me know about your own experiences around deciding what you want to be when you grow up. I would love to hear them.
happy belated birthday!
i love the idea of the cookie tower. and i’m pretty sure my mom has those rabbit figurines somewhere around the house.
as far as career goals go, i never had anything lofty in mind. from a very early age, i wanted to be a teacher and/or work with kids, but after spending a good chunk of time doing student teaching, i realized that i didn’t know if i could get past the problems i had with my local school system & the restriction put on curriculum. my parents never instilled anything in me about making a set amount of money, so long as i could pay my bills and be happy, so my goals have never been fueled by money. i’m still obviously figuring out my career path, and i’m sure it will be a never ending thing because there’s so much i want to do. i think being a rad nanny + having a food cart is a pretty sweet deal!
had a blast at the party, babe.
food cart sounds awesome.
Happy belated birthday Joanna! Sorry I missed the party. It looks like it was an awesome evening. We must get together soon.
XO Julie
that food bar was the most excellent!
i wish i could figure out what i wanted to do as a career! i feel better knowing that you and other friends i have that are (a tad bit!) older than me are still trying to figure that out as well. i’m a procrastinator (as you know) and so i don’t think about retirement and what i shall do when i can’t work and haven’t saved enough money. i live in the now, one might say. perhaps i should have offspring and force them to take care of me…
well i feel like a bafoon! i had no idea it was your birthday, friend. oh gah.
happy belates!
xo
kittee
I am completing stealing your idea for the potato, tater tot, and tortilla chip bar as the food for my twins first birthday party!
thanks for the best idea ever!
Happy belated birthday!.
I don’t have any career advice but I would totally eat at your food cart if you went that route.
Happy Belated Birthday, Joanna! I love your party food! Congrats on getting through as much as you did on your list!
happy belated birthday!!! I have several fantasies regarding life plans. The most achievable would be to be a peri and post-natal superstar childbirth educator, labor doula, and fitness specialist. And then do healthy sexuality workshops for kids, families, and parents. i think that would be fun.
So there I was trying to figure out what i was going to do today. The past six months I have been also trying to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life.
up to this point I have started the career I intended. I’m happy here, but I do want more also. I never craved doing the math required to get a six figure job, nor do I have the administrative patience to work towards a tip tier gig.
What I have always wanted to do is tell a story. I’m great at stories, but I still have that nasty bit of dyslexia to deal with…… 10ish years ago you said you would edit. still intersted in the gig?
hi! i was in jersey and totally missed this comment. yes of course i’d edit!
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