Happy birthday to me! Friday (February 9) I turned 25. Quarter life is officially here. I spend my special day in Paris and when you read this I am still there. I feel really lucky that I was able to have a birthday trip. In October (2017) I shared a post about 25 things I wanted to do before I turned 25. I already had mentioned that I would like to spend my special day away on a trip. Feeling so happy that this wish came true.

I also feel overwhelmed by turning 25. I still feel like society sets these standards that after 25 your life should be serious and all fixed. I don’t have my whole life figured out yet and I feel ok with that. I still have a lot to learn, see and do and I am not exactly where society tells me I should be in my life. Does that really matter though? I really need to learn to not think about these standards so much. So, I am a bit torn between doing me and being happy with who I am and the societal pressure. It’s a phase, I hope. I am also too aware that I am closer to my thirties than my twenties and that also frightens me. I can’t really explain. Can some of my 25+ readers relate?

As part of the celebration, I thought it be also fun to look back on the goals that I set myself in October. Like I mentioned back then, these are no life goals whatsoever. More fun and spontaneous actions. Did I achieve some of these goals? Keep on reading to find out.

1. Send a card. DONE – I send one to my mom telling her how much I love and appreciate her ❤

2. Drink only water for a week. DONE— I dedicated a blogpost to it. Ever since this challenge, I drink enough water, almost no sodas and a minimum of coffee.

3. Buy good gadgets such as a new laptop & camera. DONE – I bought myself a new MacBook Pro.

4. Try out different hairdos. NO – I have to admit to my self that I am simply not good with hairdo’s. I tried curling. They last me like 0 minutes so I give up.

5. Visit a museum/expo. DONE – While uploading this I’ll be in Paris and I am planning on visiting the LV Foundation and/or the YSL museum.

6. Learn how to poach an egg.  NO – I have tried so many techniques and I still fail at each of these. Guess I’ll only eat them in a restaurant.

7. Going self-hosted. NO – However, I am currently brainstorming a domain name. It’s so hard!

8. Get rid of fake friends. DONE – I mentioned it briefly in my highlights of the year post. This was so necessary. I am planning on uploading a post in regard to this topic.

9. Buy a nice gift for myself – DONE. I think I can tick this one off with all that shopping recently.

10. Improve my French. DONE – I can’t judge myself whether I have improved but I have done my best at trying to regularly check Youtube videos to practise some conversations. My favourite channel for this is Comme une Française.

11. Try an açai bowl. NO – I haven’t come across a place nearby that serves these.

12. Bake macarons. NO – Sort of forgot about this one but I am probably going to eat them in Paris, does that count?

13. 24hrs without a phone. DONE – I dedicated a blogpost to this experiment. I still take some days off from my phone and internet. Lovely!

14. Visit woods/ some nice place in nature. NO – I am really bummed that I didn’t manage to do this. I hope that after Paris I can spend a day in nature.

15. Get another piercing/tattoo. NO – I haven’t even thought about it anymore but now that I read this again I think I perhaps should.

16. Forgive & forget. DONE – Part of growing up is letting people go and letting go of any possible grudges you have against them. I felt that it wasn’t worth being mad at someone I no longer talk to for example. It doesn’t help my self esteem to keep being angry and negative towards a person. I let them go and let the bad thoughts go as well. People might have been mean but I wish them the best.

17. Work on a good skin condition. DONE – I dedicated a post to my skincare routine in which I gave an update about my skin condition.

18. Make a list of 10 places I’ve always wanted to eat at and actually eat there. NO – I did make a list but then I didn’t pay attention to it afterwards.

19. Accept my body. DONE – Every body type is beautiful and every body is different. I have stopped comparing myself to other people. I am me. This is my body type. I will never be a VS model and that is ok.

20. Get a better and healthier lifestyle (sleeping and eating). DONE – I am eating better and make sure to eat fruits and vegetables and to drink enough water. The older I get, the more I find it important to pay attention to my nutrition. This doesn’t mean that I don’t snack or eat junk food. I love sweets and junk food but I make sure to get my daily dose of vitamins. I am working on my sleeping pattern as I think it will be a benefit to my health if I sleep more and better. I suffer from periodically insomnia and I worry and think a lot while in bed. I am working really hard on this and hope to see improvements soon.

21. Achieve a cool blog/Instagram milestone. DONE – On my blog I have reached 500+ followers which still seems so surreal. On Instagram I have 2000+ followers at the moment. What I am mostly thankful for, is all the love and positivity I receive on these platforms. I really has influenced me in a positive way.

22. Introduce 2 meatless days a week. DONE – Ok, sometimes it’s once a week and sometimes even 3. But let’s say that I, for sure, have one meatless day a week.

23. Host a giveaway. DONE – In December I hosted a giveaway to celebrate that I had reached 500 followers on my blog. I loved organising this! I am so grateful for all my loyal followers.

24. Read another Agatha Christie book. DONE – I visited a thrift store and came across these two Agatha Christie books for just €0,90 each (Original titles: They came to Bagdad & The Sittaford Mystery).

25. Book a trip. DONE – I am spending 4 days in Paris for my birthday at the moment. My favourite place in the world ❤

I managed to tick off 18 out of 25 goals. To be honest, I think I did quite well and ticked off more things then I expected to. What do you think of these 25 before 25 goals?

Keep an eye on the blog, Paris posts are coming up!

xxx Valerie

Advertentie