{Today’s project for CHLA}

I’m writing this at 12:04am, so it is officially my 29th birthday! I just got out of the Jacuzzi that Tony and I splurged on to ease our aging, aching backs… (Okay, I’m being melodramatic. We’re not that old, even if I’m “Hollywood old.” We’ve just wanted one for years and finally bit the bullet. It’s amazing.) Now, I’m chilling in a bathrobe with a face mask on, thinking about what I am looking forward to in my last year of being in my twenties. Here’s my bucket list – 29 things to do in my 29th year:

1. Get married.

2. Get over my aversion to camping. (I’ve only been once in my life, a long time ago when I was too young to know better, and asked the park ranger where the room service menu was. Tony plans to teach me to fall in love with sleeping on dirt, going to the bathroom in the woods and foraging for my food. That’s camping, right?)

3. Watch Goonies. I never have. It’s time.

4. Wear less make-up. Leaving the house without make-up feels like I’m driving off naked, and that is ridiculous. (The greater theme here would be to care less about what people think of me, but that’s too much pressure to put on just one year. That probably requires therapy.)

5. Expand my idea of what success is. I booked a lot of jobs in the voiceover world this year, and had so much fun working on them. They’re still jobs, and I can do them without worrying what my face looks like or how many tacos I recently ate, even if it’s not my face on a billboard. And it’s the one corner of Hollywood that doesn’t give a shit about a woman’s age. And I can wait forever for Hollywood to hire me to write something, or make something I wrote on my own. Or I can write every day and publish it myself, on Heels in the Hills. Hopefully, I can do it all. But I want to be proud and fulfilled, no matter what happens.

6. Run a 10K. I don’t know how many miles that is, but Tony says I can do it.

7. Meditate. I love the Headspace app, but use it sporadically. I plan to start listening to it every day. It’s only 10 minutes. I think I can reallocate some of my Instagram-stalking time to keeping my mind healthy.

8. Become more tech savvy. I want to know how to use an iPad the way I see babies working them at restaurants.

9. Perform more. It makes me happy.

10. Write more. It makes me happy.

11. Volunteer more. It makes me happy.

12. Cook more. It makes me happy.

13. Fantasize about baby names with Tony. It makes me happy. (Even though his favorite is Ronjohn. VETO.)

14. Put less pressure on myself. I’m a perfectionist and my own worst critic. But I think it will help my heart and mental health if I give myself a break every now and then.

15. Let go of the things not meant for me. Sometimes, I’m not going to book a role I really, really want. Sometimes, I’m going to eat the Indian food Tony wants, even when I really, really, really want sushi.

16. Try a Corepower Yoga class with Tony. It’s yoga with weights while Britney Spears blasts, from what I understand. He loves it (sans Britney). I need Bridal Arms. I’m doing it.

17. Try Katierose’s rock-climbing yoga class. (I think that’s what it is. To be honest, I was eating cake while on the phone with her as she was describing it, and went into a little bit of a sugar coma. Kro, what am I committing to, exactly?)

18. Write gratitude lists. Like Headspace, I do this sporadically. I want to prioritize recognizing and appreciating my blessings.

19. Spend more time with my friends’ babies, and my niece and nephews. My bestie/co-MOH Jacquelyn’s son turned one this year. I’ve loved his mama since we were that age. I need more of him in my life. Same goes for Matisse, my bridesmaid Barbara’s daughter who recently wished at a wishing well that I would come over to play with her more. Matisse, I’m coming! And I can’t wait to share my bridesmaid Julia’s blog about pregnancy and her sweet, hilarious Avery tomorrow…

20. Take better care of my skin. I’m pretty vigilant about wearing sunscreen even when it’s pouring rain, but I want to get more facials, wear more masks and stave off the needle as long as I can.

21. Entertain more. I love having my house packed with people I love.

22. Learn to cook healthy versions of my favorite meals. I recently found a recipe for fettuccine alfredo that incorporated greek yogurt and wheat pasta, and tried a low-carb zucchini muffin that was crave-inducing. I can’t live on frosting, sushi, tacos and wine forever.

23. Stop throwing money at flash sales and cheap trends; save and spend on select timeless investment pieces. One of my favorite purses I own is a Chanel bag my dad gave my mom in the ‘80s, and she recently gave me. Some things never go out of style.

24. Go on a honeymoon. Depending on the School of Rock schedule, we might not be able to go on one right away. That’s the best reason in the world to delay a honeymoon. But I hope we can make one happen sometime this year; my mom gained 15 pounds on hers, and after the fat camp she’s planning on sending me to to prep for my wedding, I’m looking forward to doing that myself.

25. Learn more about my grandparents, and their parents. I’ve written about how hard it was to lose my Grandpa Gil this year, and I want to spend more time talking to my Grandma, what it was like growing up in Panama, marrying my grandpa, raising two kids all over the U.S. and going to Harvard. I want to learn more about my dad’s grandparents, who owned a cafe and who I think I inherited my love for cooking from.

26. Discover new hikes and dog walks around Los Angeles. Tony and I have our favorite standbys, but recently discovered a new side street in our neighborhood that reminds us of Davis. We need to explore more.

27. Celebrate my incredible friends and what they’re doing. It’s so easy to get caught up in the rat race of our own lives; I want to spend more time hanging out with my friends (preferably in the Jacuzzi), and hear about all of the creative, hilarious stuff they’re working on. I can’t wait to catch up on Corey and Courtney’s new podcast. Katierose is pitching a killer TV pilot that I know will sell and I can’t wait to see. Kate and Leah wrote and are starring in what I know will be an epic show at Groundlings this Thursday night. Jon and Allison write for Undateable, and I can’t wait to watch the season 2 premiere tonight. I’m dying to see Emily and Mark’s Night Club band live.

28. Read a book a month. I’m seriously behind on my one-person book club. I love reading. No excuses. Less social media, more books.

29. Take on DIY projects instead of just buying things. Pinterest is supposed to celebrate the homemade movement, but there are so many ideas that I’m turning into William Randolph Hearst as I try to keep up with the Joneses. Instead of stuffing my house with new crap, I want to find ways to turn the crap I already have into a version of the crap I’m Pinning. Like my old side table and bookshelf from college that Tony painted gold and blue this weekend.

What’s on your bucket list this year? What else do I need to accomplish in my life before bravely venturing into my thirties?