(Iconic: Bridgett Bardot and Jane Birken)
Tah-dah, a list I made for the "About Me" section of my facebook from when I was a freshmen:
i plan on owning a small bookstore in san francisco.
while wearing a Dior ball gown, Manolo Blahnik heels and a Chanel quilted purse over my shoulder.
while running along the beach in cut off jeans with my big golden retriever named Penny Lane.
and living in a crappy little apartment in the city, right above a really great thai food restaurant.
and driving an eco-friendly bus fueled by potato oil around Carbondale, Colorado.
while becoming a Pulitzer Prize winning author.
and falling in love and spending a whole summer with him visiting baseball parks across the country, camping, tossing pancakes really high and looking up at the stars.
and raising the world's most beautiful children.
and joining the peace corps...seeing the AIDs epidemic end in Africa.
and perfecting the art of cherry pie making and knitting in a house with hard wood floors and fresh flowers, but never driving an SUV or getting the requisite mom short and bobbed haircut.
while dancing at music festivals until i'm 64 and listening to only really good music until i'm deaf.
...all while attempting to become a better person every day.
Have things changed?
Well, my golden retriever will now be named Pete or Jane Eyre. So that's different.
I'm probably not, more like never, going to join the Peace Corps. But I am interested in foreign policy and its effect on developing countries.
There are a lot of things I'd like to spend a lot of money on. A Dior ballgown isn't one of them.
I still really want to write a novel, own a bookstore, raise beautiful kids and spend a summer visiting baseball parks and eating hotdogs...
Maybe it isn't important to get the exact details right (no one has that much control over their destinies or lack of change/growth), but the thoughts behind them: Have a fun, meaningful, interesting life. Pursue what makes you happy. Keep it personal. Give back. Don't lose yourself. Or get bogged down in the day-to-day.
What I'd add today:
Pursue my political passion in DC to figure out if this is a world which I can handle. Or even want to handle.
Live in a foreign country.
Travel with Meg and Casey.
Move to California with Kori.
Move to France with Jenna.
Be proficient in another language.
See: Machu Pichu, Spain, Turkey, Greece, Brazil, Vietnam, South Africa, India, Egypt, Australia, Morocco, Thailand, Bali, Ireland, Norway...all of it.
Milk a cow.
See Bruce Springsteen and Sufjan Stevens in concert.
Restore old chandeliers as "mom hobby."
But, according to the MASH Casey did on me, this will be my life:
Husband: Jackson from Hannah Montana (aka MY ARCH NEMESIS!)
Met: Linkin Park Concert
Career: Sweet & Sassy
Husband's Career: Environmental Law
Salary: Infinity Plus One
Live: Italy
# of Kids: 2
Kids Names: Puss (short for Pussimuss) and Critter
# of Pets: 6,756,234
...awesome.
