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365 til 33

If you’ve been following along with my blog since the beginning then you know that I come up with a list of goals to tackle each year. The first year, 365 til 30 my goals included driving across the USA, learning French, learning how to tango, going camping, spending a week at Tassajara, Learning how to cook, volunteering, getting a French bulldog & publishing my writing. I was pretty damn successful that year in accomplishing my goals. To the point of obsession actually. Accomplishing those goals before turning 30 was all I could think about for 365 days. Brian was very happy when that year was over. HA. Over the last few years I have continued to create a list of goals…doing so helps me focus on the things I want from my life…a framework if you will.

365 til…33!

Travel

Every year you can pretty much guarantee that one of my goals will be travel related. I am a travel nut! Seriously, why can’t I just travel the world and get paid for it? (Is anybody listening? I’m totally available if you want to pay me to travel) During 365 til 30 my travel goal was to drive across the country (check!)…during 365 til 31 my travel goal was an overseas trip (Brian and I went to Hong Kong and trekked Nepal!)…365 til 32 my travel goal was again an overseas trip but this time for our honeymoon (we took a month off and went to Vietnam and Bali) This year my travel goal is much simpler, all I want to do is take a road trip with Brian. I love road trippin’ with that man. Actually, it was on our first road trip together that I knew I loved him. We were only a month into dating when I asked him if he wanted to take a road trip to Santa Fe with me to visit my friend Chantal. He must have thought I was crazy. Who would want to sign up for that many hours in a car with a person you’ve only been dating a month? The answer to that question is ME! And him I guess Brian as well because he said yes. Luckily, it was a total success. This year I’m thinking a road trip from LA to Seattle. My ideal stops along the way would be….Big Sur, San Francisco, Ashland, Eugene, Portland, Olympia & Seattle.

Learn

This year I am dying to learn more about photography. For a girl who appreciates a beautiful photograph, it is a crying shame I can’t shoot one as well as I’d like to. Especially when it comes to this blog, I would love to post higher quality photographs. Well, I guess I do sometimes but sadly they are not shot by me and instead by my photographer husband. With that said, I will be signing my ass up for a photography class as well as making Brian teach me all his tricks. He even has an extra Canon Rebel camera waiting for me. Winning!

Writing

You can also pretty much guarantee that one of my goals each year will also have to do with writing. This year it is travel related. I want to publish my various travel (road trip, Hong Kong, Nepal, Vietnam & Bali) essays. Wish me luck!

Health

I want to go vegetarian for a month. Ever since my gallbladder surgery a few months ago I have had the hardest time with my digestion. It’s been driving me crazy! I’ve decided that meat might be the culprit. This coming from an Irish gal who loves a good steak. Sigh. I thought what better time to test out vegetarianism then now! Oy…I’m scared. Any vegetarians out there want to offer some advice?

Home

Decorating our new home has been on hold for a bit now…between shelling out money for our wedding and honeymoon we have been neglecting our home. The space totally deserves more! I plan on decorating with the help of pinterest and my very talented interior designer mother. So here we go…one room at a time.

find me elsewhere:

instagram @kate365 / facebook / twitter

Tags: 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, 365 til 33, adventure, Ashland, Big Sur, Brian glodney photography, camping, decorating, Eugene, Explore, family, French Bulldog, goals, Gratitude, growth, happy, home decor, home decorating, humor, Inspiration, Joy, Kate McClafferty, LA to Seattle, Learning French, learning how to cook, learning how to tango, Love, lynn deegan design, Olympia, overseas travel, photography, Portland, san francisco, Seattle, Tassajara, travel writing, universe, vegetarian, volunteer

Comments 23 Comments
Categories 365 til 33, everyday life, Publish My Writing

33

5 Jun

Considering I am a little over 30 days away from 30 (Duh duh duhhhhh! Geesh, I sincerely hope the world doesn’t implode on July 8th) I have decided to write love letters (or hate letters in some cases) to each of my goals as a way to reflect on this crazy year.

So here I go…

Dear Learn How To Cook,

I only put you on the list because I realized that, sadly, I couldn’t eat at the Whole Foods prepared section for the rest of my life. That, and I thought it would be nice to be able to cook dinner for my future kids- those little imaginary bundles of joy deserve a mom who makes homemade dinners, right? So for those two reasons, I put “learn how to cook” on my “365 til 30” list and tried to forget about my earlier bad experiences attempting you – hey, people can change, right?

After fearing you for so long, I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to tackle you at first. How does one learn to cook? Should I teach myself a new recipe each week? Learn a whole book of recipes a la Julie and Julia? Maybe take cooking classes? I was stuck….but then I had an idea! What if I asked people in my life to teach me their favorite dishes- they would most likely be patient with me as well!!

I have to give myself a pat on the back for this brilliant idea because not only did I learn how to cook this year, but I formed surprising new bonds and strengthened old friendships and connections in the process.

Learning how to cook brought me closer to everyone in my life.

I fell in love with the process of gathering in the kitchen to cook with friends…conversation, laughter and good wine flowing in the process. I also fell in love with that warm feeling I got in my heart when I prepared a meal for somebody else…there is something so nurturing about it. In addition to that warm feeling I got in my heart, my ego also wanted to scream with delight…I. Made. This. For. You! Aren’t you in awe as well??! Where is my applause?!

Some of my favorite memories this year happened attempting to master you. I laughed A LOT, cried once (ok maybe twice), got over my aversion to handling raw chicken, learned the famous chicken & dumplings dish my pops ate as a kid, learned the art of cooking with ski googles and almost chopped my finger off only once. I’d say this whole adventure in the kitchen was a success!
So thanks, cooking. Thanks for making my life come alive. Thanks for helping me see what I want my kitchen to look like moving into my 30’s. Now I know that I want to be the kind of woman who has her friends over for Sunday night dinners, makes breakfast in bed for Brian, whips up delicious soups on rainy afternoons and bakes pies with her kids.

You helped me become a better woman.

I have decided that I will be keeping you on my goal list for next year because I plan on doing lots and lots more of you during my 30th year. This is only the beginning for us.
Love, Kate

A trip down memory lane…

-learning Aunt Paule’s famous Kugle recipe–

– Learning Mary’s Peach Pie–

– Learning Pamela and my Dad’s lemon squares–

– the night I handled raw chicken and almost killed people by serving a raw bird-

– learning how to make pizza from scratch–

– Moroccan chicken with Alex-

– the night I realized I was comfortable in the kitchen-

– The night I tried to go all Julia Child-

-the night I wore ski goggles to cook-

– learning my grandma’s chicken & dumplings–

– learning Aunt Michelle’s apple cake-

Many more to come….

“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”

Harriet Van Horne

365til30: instagram @kate365, twitter, facebook

Tags: 365, 365 til, 365 til 30, chicken & dumplings, Chicken Teriyaki, Cooking, dinner parties, family, goals, happy, Inspiration, inspirations, Kate McClafferty, Kitchen, Kugel, Laughter, learning how to cook, Love, meals, mexican food, nurturing, Peach Pie, turning 30, universe

Comments 18 Comments
Categories Learn How To Cook...in the process!!

I am a writer, blogger and host living in Los Angeles, CA with my husband Brian and French Bulldog Frank.

I started this blog in 2011 on the eve of my 29th birthday because I was feeling frustrated with the state of my life. In an inspired moment I compiled a list of 10 goals to accomplish in the 365 days leading up to my 30th birthday. Goals that I thought would bring me closer to the life I wanted-- and with that, 365 til 30 was born. That year was an incredible journey and truly changed my life. Since then, the blog has grown to include everything that happens after turning 30.

My professional website can be found here.