I ticked this off my list of 40 things to do before 40 a little while ago, but have been waiting to write about it in the hope that my message in a bottle would be found by an exotic prince, held captive on a desert island miles away, but unfortunately that was not to be.

Instead, a month or two ago, I had an email that went like this…

message in a bottle

That’s not terribly exotic is it? Plus it was only about 4 miles from where we launched the bottle. I did reply, but heard nothing back. Possibly Mark was annoyed with me for littering the Somerset coastline when he was trying to tidy it up? The littering aspect was something that hadn’t really occurred to me when I added the challenge to the list, and I did feel pretty bad actively chucking a bottle into a river, but by that point I was committed. View Post

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With my 37th birthday fast approaching, I have been cracking on with my list of 40 things to do before I’m 40 and a couple of weeks ago my boyfriend took me to watch Bristol City play West Ham in the FA Cup – my first ever football match!

Bristol City football club

I was excited, but unsure of what to expect as I had two very different ideas of what a football match would be like. One was full of rowdy men, swearing ruthlessly and generally displaying the very worst that humankind has to offer. The other picture in my mind was of Topsy and Tim going along with Dad to their first ever football match, enjoying a wholesome day out shaking rattles, only having to deal briefly with one large and slightly ‘cross’ man who is standing behind them and getting a little overexcited when goals are scored. View Post

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Looking for cool things to do in New York?

Forget Times Square and the Empire State Building.

Central Park? Sure, it has trees, but who cares? OK, lots of people, but come on, it’s just a park. We’ve all been to a park. Also I visited New York in January and New York in the winter is COLD.

Have you ever taken a ride on a wooden escalator though?

No, I didn’t think so.

When the flagship Macy’s store moved to 34th Street in 1902 is was the very height of innovation and sophistication and its wooden escalators were no exception. Today you can still find several sets of the escalators in the middle of the store, so after checking in at my hotel and giving everyone I saw two dollars just in case, because I don’t understand how to tip, I headed to Macy’s – one more big tick on my 40 things before 40 list.

A few kids have apparently had fingers severed in the steps but that is surely a small price to pay for the preservation of heritage?

Macy's wooden escalatorOne peril of travelling alone is that most of your holiday snaps are massive close ups of your own face, with something interesting just about visible in the background. Like this one: View Post

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Dark HedgesLast week I ticked one more thing off my list of 40 things to do before 40. It’s a good job quite frankly, as time is slipping away and I’m a little behind schedule. The lemon curd may have been mastered, but I’ve yet to get anywhere near a water bed, let alone Iceland.

Last week was all about the Dark Hedges in Northern Ireland, inspired by something I cut out of a newspaper a couple of years ago. I really like cutting things out of newspapers and magazines, partly because I like the idea of trying new things but also just because I find the scissor action very satisfying.*

The Dark Hedges is an avenue of beech trees, planted in the eighteenth century by the Stuart family in a bid to impress visitors as they drove up to their home. Bee and Belle may have been fairly nonplussed – ‘Is this it? Just some trees?’ – but it certainly impressed me.  View Post

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As avid readers, (which you all are obviously), you’ll know that we recently went on a bit of a motorhome adventure, in a van very kindly lent to us by Bailey of Bristol.

This was it:

Bailey Approach Compact

Motorhome crush

As well as being great fun, and an opportunity for us to listen to countless mystery novels on audio book, it was actually part of a grander plan. It isn’t for nothing after all that a girl is prepared to wheel a box of her own poo across a field of holidaymakers. It was in aid of ticking off another item from my list of 40 things to do before I am 40; specifically to visit every county in England. View Post

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We’re home!

Did you miss me?

No, well, never mind, I’m back anyway whether you like it or not.

I’m going to be writing all about the trip over the next couple of weeks but before I distract you with tales of ancient monuments and rainy walks I just wanted to say a massive thank you to Bailey, who lent us the motorhome for ten days, allowing us to visit 12 counties in all and to tick ‘visit every county in England’ off my list of 40 things to do before 40.

I was really nervous before we set off about how I was going to manage a motorhome, but I actually loved driving it. Here I am, looking rather pleased with myself having successfully got us to our first Caravan Club site:

Bailey Approach Compact View Post

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Now it may feel a bit like I have given up on my 40 things before 40 list, but I promise I haven’t, I’ve just been a little distracted of late. It’s still happening though. I have been to the opera and launched a message in a bottle and everything, I just haven’t quite got round to writing about them yet.

One of the things on my list is to visit every county in England and I am intending to get that one ticked off as soon as this summer, thanks to the loan of an amazing motorhome from Bailey of Bristol. During August Belle and I are going to be hitting the road and visiting seven counties in seven days – a grand finale to this item on the list, where we tick off the last seven all in one week. We’ll be staying at a different Caravan Club site every night and will be working our way through Bedfordshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, East Riding, South Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire – I need your help though for suggestions of places to do or thinks to visit along the way!

We’re going to be travelling in a Bailey Approach Compact 540. They are ideal for just me and Belle as they actually aren’t much wider than a regular car yet have everything you need for a self-sufficient holiday. Pretty cool right?

Bailey Approach CompactI was a little concerned however that ‘hitting the road’ could quite literally mean ‘hitting passing cars and trees’ as I am not terribly confident when it comes to driving large vehicles. Our last house move, where I was in charge of van driving, ended at 10.30pm in a dark garage forecourt with me crying, having backed Boyfriend and the van into a parked car, so you can see why I might be a little nervous. View Post

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easy lemon curd recipe

In lieu of not being in a position to jet off to Iceland right now, I thought I should crack on with one of the more affordable options on my 40 things before I’m 40 list, so this weekend I decided to have a go at an easy lemon curd recipe.

I have always loved lemon curd, but had imagined it to be one of those things that would involve large pans and thermometers and possibly a frilly apron. It turns out though that making lemon curd is really easy! View Post

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You may remember that back in April, around the time of my 35th birthday, I set myself the challenge to come up with a list of 40 things to do before I’m 40. Some, like swimming outdoors in Iceland, are going to require quite a bit of time and money. Others, like making my own lemon curd, not so much.

A couple of weeks after starting my list I went to America for SoFabCon. SoFabCon is a blogging conference organised by Collective Bias, the fab shopper marketing company I work for, so it was fantastic not just because I got to go on a plane all by myself like a grown-up, but because I got to meet so many of the wonderful people on the team – people I had met by email and Google hangout, but never in person.

It was also a great opportunity to tick something off my list. View Post

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It was my birthday yesterday, so to kick start my 40 things before 40 list, I did one straight away!

Pretty good going I thought. It will make up for the fact that the other 39 get done in the last six months before my fortieth.

Normally when my mum asks me what I want for my birthday, I am less than helpful. “Just buy me something exquisite and charming,” I say. She tends to look doubtful. This year though I knew exactly what to say. “I’d like to have lunch in a Michelin star restaurant please,” I said. It sounded a tad on the grabby side, but better than asking for a holiday to Iceland I thought. Plus that way we could have lunch together. Quality Mother and Daughter time and all that.

So yesterday lunchtime we set off to Casamia in Westbury-on-Trym. I put on my best shoes specially and even brushed my hair. It was all very fancy. View Post

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Update: I wrote this post originally in April 2013, but rather that start from scratch I thought I would just add new things to my list here as I thought of them and cross off the ones I do. This post has new things since you first read it, so best read it again :-)

…

This week, with my 35th birthday looming, I have taken some important first steps in my 40 things before 40 project.

First off, I bought a new notebook. This is possibly the most important step, and I do sometimes wonder if I may not have just come up with the whole idea purely as an excuse to do this very thing. I do love a bit of cutting and sticking after all. However, despite having purchased said notebook, got it home safely, and stroked it for a little while, the novelty didn’t seem to wear off, so it was time to start writing in it.

Best felt tip pens at the ready.

40 things before 40

I am looking for a total of 40 things to do over the next five years, but I figure I don’t have to have them all decided until a year before the deadline, as I am known for being a tiny bit fickle and am sure to come up with new ideas along the way.

Here’s what I’ve got so far then:

  • Eat a meal in a Michelin star restaurant – I did this one on my birthday! Read all about it here.
  • Got to the opera – Done! I went to see Turandot originally and have seen a few more since. I’m not a fan, although I did like that with Turandot we came out into the restaurant for a different course between each act. That was fun.
  • Visit Auschwitz – Done. Read about it here and why I didn’t feel how I expected to feel.
  • Visit the Dark Hedges – Done! Read about it here.

dark hedges northern ireland

  • Ride on the Orient Express
  • Stay in one of the places from the Amazing Spaces programme. – Done! I actually can’t remember where it was, but I remember thinking ‘Oh this means that I can cross this off my list!’ I’m sure it will come back to me.
  • Drink a milkshake in an American diner – Done! See the evidence here.
  • Grow an avocado plant from a pip. – I’m really trying with this one but the damn things refuse to grow.
  • Solve a mystery Nancy Drew style (i.e. in matching hat and gloves) – I went to a mystery evening at Belle’s school and bought a Nancy Drew style hate to wear especially, so I think this counts?
  • Go to a festival on my own. I’ve thought about this one a lot and decided it’s not that important to me anymore. Although I have been to things like the Bath literary festival so maybe that counts??
  • Do a driving experience where you get to go off road and drive through rivers and things like that. (I like driving through puddles at the side of the road when it’s really rainy.) – I’ve done this one – evidence here.
  • Hang out in a 19th century Ottoman mansion and take a cruise up the Bosphorus

Istanbul hotel

  • Sing in public – did you not see my Mariah Carey at the 2017 taunton freelancers Christmas party??
  • Tell a joke at the Edinburgh festival (this one can be just in the street)
  • Cook a souffle – I’ve done this!

  • Visit every house I’ve ever lived in. I’ve decided I’m not that fussed about this one either. I mean, I LIVED in them all, so technically I’ve done it anyway right?
  • Swim (or splash a bit at least) outdoors in Iceland (country not shop) – this was a tiny bit late but I did it a couple of months after I turned 40 – the trip was a birthday present from my lovely sister and brother-in-law.
  • Fly business class – I’ve done this a few times now, only for work when someone else has been paying. It’s pretty nice being able to lie flat but I’m not sure it’s really worth it, unless you have more money that sense. You all arrive at the same time still.
  • Visit Sintra in Portugal. It’s a crazy multi-coloured fairy castle. What’s not to love? – I did this one just a few days before I turned 40!Sintra portgual

Image – Mapics/shutterstock

  • Take an open top bus tour in ten different cities (I am a sucker for these – all the best bits of sightseeing but sitting down!) – I’ve done London, Barcelona, Cambridge, Liverpool, Stratford, Bristol, Bath, Derry, Paris and Dublin. Hoorah!
  • Own one of those wicker baskets that fits on the stairs. (I know this is ridiculous, I’ve just always wanted one.) – My mum got me one of these for my 39th birthday! And very lovely it is too.
  • Live in a tree (even if just for a night) – So is this!
  • Make fresh pasta from scratch – yep!
  • Publish a book – this is happening! This is a weird one as I’d kind of decided it wasn’t something I wanted to do after all, and then TWO DAYS before my 40th birthday a publisher emailed me out of the blue. If that’s not fate then I don’t know what is.
  • Have a family portrait done – yep, we did this one! Courtesy of Life is Crawsome
  • Get a tattoo – done! 

  • Go to a make-up counter for a makeover and learn how to actually put on make-up like a grown-up – I’ve done this! Sometimes I even put the make up on…
  • Have something custom made – yes! I was a bridesmaid at my sister’s wedding in August 2016 and had my dress made. 

  • Sleep overnight on a train in a proper bunk, Hercule Poirot style.
  • Buy a house – Done! Who’d have thought it!

I was tempted to add ‘become debt free’ but I fear it may rather conflict with the other 39. If you’ve counted, you may see that there are only 39 things on the list – I’m leaving one for luck in case anything else amazing occurs to me.

So there we go! Not long left now… If you can help with any of the outstanding ones then please let me know!

 

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Two weeks today is my birthday. I will be 35.

(I know it’s hard to believe, I barely look a day over 21, etc etc).

35 seems like the kind of age where you should be making plans. By 35 you feel should have at least bought a house, possibly be married, maybe have some savings. I of course have done none of these things. Whoops.

I never have been very good at long term planning though, and after getting in the whole ‘have children’ thing pretty early on, I’ve always felt that my ‘make a commitment to something Proper and Grown-up’ box has been ticked. Now though, I’m beginning to wonder. I’m beginning to wonder if actually it might not be a bad idea to have a bit of a plan. View Post

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