My girl Sunrise sent me an article via Huffington Post of a list originally published in Glamor magazine called “Turning 30: 30 Things Every Woman Should Have And Should Know.”
photo from magculture on flickr
I understand this list has been passed around from girlfriend to girlfriend, so perhaps you’ve seen it before? In any case it is a fabulous list – and you know how much I love lists of things to check off before turning 30 – so I had to share my favorites. I couldn’t just pick five, so I took my fave five things we should do, and my fave five things we should know. Check out the full list here, then add your two cents in the comments!
By 30, you should have …
A decent piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in your family.
A past juicy enough that you’re looking forward to retelling it in your old age.
One friend who always makes you laugh and one who lets you cry.
Something ridiculously expensive that you bought for yourself, just because you deserve it.
A skin-care regimen, an exercise routine, and a plan for dealing with those few other facets of life that don’t get better after 30.
By 30, you should know …
How you feel about having kids.
How to quit a job, break up with a man, and confront a friend without ruining the friendship.
How to kiss in a way that communicates perfectly what you would and wouldn’t like to happen next.
How to live alone, even if you don’t like to.
That you can’t change the length of your legs, the width of your hips, or the nature of your parents.
Wether you’re looking forward to 30 or are hip and happy on the other side, what do you think we should have/know by 30?
Bigger in Real Life 
I have such mixed feelings on this list or any list of things before a certain age. I discovered this list the other day on Pinterest and love it. But part of my issue with these lists for me is that I have such an issue with comparing myself to them or other people. Yes, that’s my own problem but it’s a huge source of why I am having a mid life crisis with turning 25. There are these expectations we put on ourselfs to have things accomompished by a certain age(25..30..35..etc) and when not fulfilled you feel like a loser. With all of that said I actually really like this list and there are things on there that I’d like to see happen in the next 5 years.
I guess my orginial Comment didn’t post.
so I’ll go at my novel again. 🙂 I have mixed feelings on lists like these. First I’ll say I did love this list and there are things id like to accomplish in the next 5 years from it. On the flip side one of my biggest faults is that i compare myself to everyone and everything. I am terrified of turning 25 this year and a lot of that comes from comparing my life to others and where I thought/expected to be at 25. One of the things about lists like these for me personally is I expect to have these things by 30 and if I don’t I feel like I failed. I know that it’s not true and those are just lies being fed to me by the evil one BUt it’s something I struggle with. I love lists, I love goals but I hate not fulfilling them. I hate knowing that my story is still being written and it’s not being written in the way I expected it. 🙂
I love your heart, Cyan. You know, one of three best things I’ve learned from making a 30 Before 30 list is the value of letting go of goals as life changes. It’s taken me awhile to not see this as a failure, but as a marker of growth. I’m actually writing a post about letting go of a pretty major goal as we speak. Let life happen, sugar, and by the time you’re 30 you’ll be exactly where you are supposed to be. Not because a list says so, but because you’re living your life, which is uniquely yours.
Another great list, Christy! Are you in the business on tabulating things? 😉
I don’t know why, but I love the first one: owning a grown-up piece of furniture. I think is because, for so many years M and I could not afford very nice things, and so, well, we ended up at thrift stores’ mercy. Luckily, I have a good eye for that kind of stuff, and enjoy the treasure hunt. But you are SO right; the day we bought our first piece of “expensive,” (I’ll never forget. It was a $900 brown microfiber sofa and cherry red ottoman.) furniture, it felt as if we had achieved some sort of rite-of-passage. 🙂
“How you feel about having kids.” <—- This one scares me . . . Eeeee. *pass*
I feel you! I think a couch is every couple’s right of passage piece, it was for A and I. Remind me to tell you about our epic fight about our theoretical couch sometime. 🙂 I still am a thrift/Craigslist surfer…why pay fill price when there is great stuff out there?
LOL! That sounds like a great story!
Agreed! Love me some Craigslist!