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the dirty thirty is rapidly approaching


i've been trying to decide what to do to celebrate my 30th birthday. i'm at a pretty amazing point in my life -- my parents and my brother, great friends, an awesome job. although i try to do small things throughout the year to be kind to others, i felt like maybe this should be a month of giving. thanks to pinterest and some googling i found other people (mostly stay at home moms) who celebrated their 30th birthdays with what they were terming "30 random acts of kindness".

 here's the thing -- once you sit down, make a list of things to do for others, and then execute these actions and watch people's reactions, these are no longer *random*. i also found that people were doing things that were often done out of pity or condescension (i.e. i gave a bag of toiletries that cost $5 to a homeless guy bc it was better than giving him $5 for drugs/booze -- that is verbatim what this chick said). part of altruism and philanthropy is giving without expecting anything in return. give purely to give. make some one else's day better. let someone who may go unappreciated know that they are noticed and their contribution is recognized and appreciated. really, what it amounts to is doing normal every day things that shouldn't be considered the exception, but should be the rule. 

 soooo, i set out to create my list of thirty *not so random* acts of kindness. doing one a day is probably too difficult with work, so i am planning on doing several a day here and there until i successfully leave my twenties and embrace the big three-oh. but like jay-z said, "thirty is the new twenty." ;) 

 ::my tentative list of thirty intentional acts of kindness::

 1. buy a gift from a randomly chosen person's public amazon wishlist
2. click for a cause - pick three websites where every time i click their donate button it will provide food, services, shelter, etc based on the charity -- do this every day. i'm using "click to give" and am supporting ending violence against women and two animal shelters.
3. donate a dollar every time a cashier asks at check out "would you like to donate a dollar to ____"
4. food/clothing drive for local shelter -- in progress
5. leave dollar bills in the toy bins at the local dollar store for kids to pick out a toy
6. make dinner for a friend
7. bake goodies for my amazing neighbors who have been so kind to me since i moved in actually ended up picking oranges from my trees and gave them a bag full
8. go through my house and find clothing to donate -- three bags of clothing off to salvation army in holly hill
9. leave quarters in candy machines in my city
10. leave a present for my mailman
11. a thank you to the hardworking nurses at the hospital
12. donuts for the firefighters near my house
13. leave a generous tip for a server even though this person did not impress me
14. create a 'date night' for a couple i know -- then babysit for them, too
15. tape quarters to the air machine at a gas station
16. leave stamps at the post office
17. write happy messages in chalk on my front sidewalk  rain washed it away immediately though! florida winter...
18. write a complimentary note about a hardworking employee to that person's boss -- wrote a note about a great Publix employee at my local store. He is the best!
19. tape a bag of microwavable popcorn to a local redbox -- people looked at me like i was nuts. 
20. return other shoppers' carts for them once they unload their groceries
21-23. bringing donuts to deserving recipients to be named later! 
24. give freebie coupons to shoppers in line behind me
25. appreciative post it notes
26. small get together with friends
27-29. pick items from a local teacher's classroom wishlist and purchase those items --  i found an elementary list from our old neighborhood and picked mrs. donnelly's class (lol) and got her three requested items. shipped them directly to her school. 
30. send flowers to an amazing friend for no good reason other than their awesomeness -- i think she loved them :) they were delivered to her work and she is awesome

 thoughts?? i welcome all input! 

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