A list of 40 new things to try and explore in 2018 // Blanche & Thirteenth

There’s something about the beginning of this year that has really jolted me into a refreshed and motivated frame of mind.  Some of it stems from the holidays coming to an end, and feeling my mind and time free up, but I attribute most of it to being completely mobile again.  I spent the last six weeks of 2017 in a full-leg brace and crutches, with a serious case of feeling like a bump-on-a-log.  Now that my body is nearly back to normal, I find my mind skipping from one thought to the next of things that I need to do, want to do, and am curious to try.  ‘Oh, a weaving class! I’ve always wanted to do that.’  ‘I miss bagels, I should really figure out how to make a gluten and egg free version.’ ‘I can’t believe I’ve lived in Seattle for a decade and have never visited Seward Park.  We need to go there.’  And on and on…

I love the prospect of trying new things, but oftentimes get caught up in deciding which to do first, and in garnering the commitment to make it happen.  So, while I’m still fresh in the new year (well, relatively – how is it mid-February already?!), and running off of a renewed zest for my ability to do things, I’m challenging myself to stick to this frame of mind with a list of 40 new things that I’d love to try within this year.

These are things that have both sat in my mind for a while, or that popped into my head while writing this.  I tried to keep them season-less, so that I don’t feel forced into doing certain ones because of where we are in the year, as well as varied in time commitment.  I’ll be keeping track of what I’ve done each month with a round-up here on the blog, as well as through #40forexploring.  I’d love some company, so feel free to join me with your own list!


1)  Take a weaving class.
2)  Choose one of the many craft ideas that I’ve pinned, and make it!
3)  Go to a public place, and spend time writing about what I see in that moment.
4)  Sew something from a pattern (it’s been since college!).
5)  Take a letterpress class.
6)  Make Kian a ‘lovey’ (I’m leaning towards a vintage-esque animal, with a blanket-like cape).
7)  Take a photography class (and finally figure out how to really use my camera).
8)  Make a floral arrangement that looks like this, with guidance from A Flower Recipe Book.
9)  Make a photo album (and actually have some printed photos in our home!).
10)  Do a light makeover (as in no demo work) of our main floor bathroom.
11)  Try faux-ligraphy.

Community / Exploring

12)  Organize a volunteer work-party.
13)  Go on a Sunday Public Sail with Seattle’s Center for Wooden Boats.
14)  Have a family day or weekend at the Washington coast.
15)  Do a random ‘drop-off’ of something (food, flowers, ?) for a friend/s.
16)  Visit Seward Park.
17)  Plan a progressive restaurant dinner date for Ricky and me.
18)  Have oysters on the half shell at Taylor Oyster Bar (we usually go here).
19)  Listen to the Compile Choir at St Mark’s Cathedral.
20)  Leave a random gift/message on a park bench, for whoever finds it.
21)  Visit the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island.


22)  Take a swim lesson to better my technique (or more so, have any amount of technique!).
23)  Bike part of the Burke Gilman (with some food stops, of course…).
24)  Try a new-to-me work-out activity (A class?  Stand up paddle boarding?).
25)  Make golden milk.


26)  Make homemade coconut yogurt (and stop buying $7 versions at the grocery store!).
27)  Learn to make a cappuccino at home.
28)  Host a dinner party with a menu from Renee Erickson’s A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus.
29)  Make a gluten and egg free bagel.
30)  Plant a never-before-grown vegetable or fruit in our garden.
31)  Make a vegan Eton Mess (one of my favorite, and most missed, desserts).
32)  Get confident cooking on the grill.
33)  Make filled chocolate candies.
34)  Re-grow green onions from trimmed roots (these are a staple in our kitchen).
35)  Make my own herbal tea blend.
36) Try a new recipe with a kitchen gadget that we hardly use.


37)  Find one new way to lessen the carbon footprint in our household, and implement it.
38)  Read a graphic novel.
39)  Learn 1-2 new ways to style my hair (so I’m not always throwing on a hat…).
40)  Choose an event or era in our history that I’m interested in, but know little about, and read a book about it.