40 Things
My first annual Birthday Project started the day I turned 40 (March 12, 2012). I spent the year trying 40 Things I've never done before.
- Have a 40 Mile Adventure. 3/12/12
- Eat at Thomas Keller's famous restaurant. 3/12/12
- Try a macaroon. 3/12/12
- Visit the Grapecrusher Statue. 3/12/12
- Eat at an Afghan restaurant. 3/12/12
- Make homemade tortillas. 3/14/12
- Try a Shamrock Shake. 3/15/12
- Try spirelli. 3/15/12
- Make cottage cheese. 3/18/12
- Make ricotta cheese. 3/18/12
- Try an Egg Cream. 3/21/12
- Cook from a mystery basket. 3/24/12
- Eat at the Oak Cafe. 3/30/12
- Try cacao nibs. 3/30/12
- Make risotto. 3/31/12
- Poach an egg and make hollandaise sauce. 4/2/12
- Visit the Conservatory of Flowers. 4/3/12
- Go to the San Francisco Flower Mart. 4/3/12
- Flambe something. 4/13/12
- Try a craft I've never heard of. 4/25/12
- Try glasswork. 4/26/12
- Be a Mythbusters volunteer. 5/2/12
- Do a Planet Walk. 5/13/12
- Try absinthe. 5/27/12
- Make squeaky cheese. 6/23/12
- Take a Jewelry 101 class. 7/24/12
- Try Miracle Berries. 8/9/12
- Make popovers. 8/22/12
- Have a Cupcake Wars competition. Part 1 Part 2 9/9/12
- Go to a drive-in movie. 11/3/12
- Make fortune cookies. 11/5/12
- Tackle the World's Largest Maze. 11/17/12
- Eat the top 10 Jewish foods. 12/5/12
- Try chess pie. 12/6/12
- Library Roulette. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 1/19/13 Junior Edition Part 2 Part 3
- See the Harlem Globetrotters live. 1/21/13
- Try lapidary. 2/2/13
- Do metal stamping. 2/26/13
- Teach a Scrapbook 101 class. 3/3/13
- Hide a geocache. 3/5/13
Project 41
My second annual Birthday Project, called Project 41, started on March 12, 2013. Each month, I treated a different friend to the Baskin-Robbins Flavor-of-the-Month.
Discover 42
During my year of being 42, I learned as much about the number 42 as I could. I read books and watched movies with 42 in the title, researched 42-related trivia, and learned more about our 42nd state. I gave myself some 42-themed challenges.
43 New-to-Me
To celebrate 43, I tried 43 new-to-me foods over the course of the year. In every case, I tried the food with at least one friend or family member.
40-4-Steve
My birthday project for age 44, called 40-4-Steve, started on January 26, 2016, Steve's 40th birthday. Instead of "forty-four", it's "forty for" Steve.
- Surprise Party 1/25/16
- Eat at Bottega 1/26/16
- Visit the Charles Schulz Museum 2/13/16
- Make gnocchi. 2/14/16
- Make caramel sauce. 2/14/16
- Visit the Walt Disney Museum. 3/12/16
- Take ice skating lessons. 3/17/16
- Cook from a grilling mystery basket. 4/3/16
- Experience the San Francisco Movie Sites Tour. 5/1/16
- Visit the SoMa StrEat Food Park. 5/1/16
- Eat at the Claremont. 5/28/16
- Ride a Segway. 5/29/16
- Visit the House Rabbit Society headquarters. 6/18/16
- Tour Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historic Park. 6/18/16
- Go to the LLNL Discovery Center. 6/24/16
- Eat at the Crown Grill 7/15/16
- Eat at Dave's Giant Burger. 7/29/16
- Visit the UC Berkeley Botanical Garden. 7/30/16
- Try Ethiopian food. 7/30/16
- Eat at Gunrock Pub. 8/3/16
- Go to the Pacific Pinball Museum. 8/7/16
- Watch 'Gone with the Wind.' 8/13/16
- Enter homebrew in a competition 8/24/16
- Visit the US Biking Hall of Fame. 8/31/16
- Go to Musee Mecanique. 9/3/16
- Read the Newbery, Caldecott and Hugo winners from 1976. 9/4/16
- Start Wood Badge Training 9/9/16
- See a new-to-you musical. 9/25/16
- Get 40 donations to the Food Bank 9/30/16
- Visit the Pez Museum 10/22/16
- Try Brazilian rodizio 10/22/16
- Add a family vacation to a business trip 11/2/16
- Eat at Morimoto 11/11/16
- Visit the Computer History Museum 11/19/16
- Learn to make Mom's lemon cake 12/28/16
- Walk across the Carquinez bridge 12/31/16
- Try Nepalese food 12/31/16
- Eat ropa vieja 1/8/17
- Ride a horse 1/16/17
