It's Time for a Restart.
Project 30 for 30
In October of 2025, I turned thirty. A youthful number, but a meaningful one. It marked the close of a long season—four intense years, two master’s degrees, and the life measured by semesters and studio deadlines at the University of Michigan. School was finished. A career in architecture lay ahead. The structure I’d known for years dissolved overnight.
With that freedom came a strange duality. Relief, yes—but also the feeling of being behind in life. Thirty arrived with comparisons attached: peers years into their professions, buying homes, building families. I was just stepping onto a new starting line.
Somewhere during the four years as a master's student, I’d lost my rhythm. Long nights at the desk had edged out movement. Days blurred together, sedentary and inward. The habits that once grounded me slipped quietly to the margins. I felt disconnected—from my body, my hobbies, myself.
I needed a reset.
So I made a list. Not resolutions, but intentions. A way back to the things that had been waiting patiently while I finished becoming an individual with a master’s in architecture and urban design.
At the top of the 30 for 30 list: run 30 miles on the day I turned 30. Not for pace or proof—just to mark the moment with effort and intention.
Second: start Draft Horse Studio.
~Mt. Baldhead Challenge 10K+
Journal Entry from 10.28.2025 ~ Marking First formation of the 30 for 30 list
Officially 30.
Am I really 30? I don’t feel it. I don’t look it either—unless you count the grey hairs. Same baby face as 25-year-old Lo, just a little more out of shape this time around. But how many 30-year-olds can say they ran 30 miles for 30 years on their birthday?
It was hardest at mile 26. Not where I expected it. I thought the pain would show up early—around mile 15—settle in, and stay. Instead, it waited. That’s the funny thing about believing in yourself: knowing the hard will come, but trusting that you’ll meet it when it does.
The reason I ran 30 miles was simple. To prove to myself that I can do hard things. A mantra for my thirties. Not as a finish line, but as a beginning.
I created a Project 30 list—small, intentional acts meant to disrupt old habits and return me to what feels most like me. A way to mark the milestone, but also to say: you’re just getting started.
So here we are. These are the things I aim to check off.
Startline of Mt. Baldhead
30 for 30
Run 30 miles on my birthday
Create a side hustle, Draft Horse - architectural prints and sketches
Break 3 hrs in the marathon
Create & build a blog
Become a healthy + strong version of myself by getting back into competitive running.
Become the MI runner of the year
Try a new race
Read a book bi-monthly in my sisertly bookclub
Cook new recipes + more meal prep!!
Reconnect with people from my past.
Earn career certifications as an architect: LEED and WELL
Journal + write more!
Find a routine for Enzo, my dog (walk/jogging)
Do a 90-day morning routine
Do a 90-day night routine
Rebuild my closet wardrobe - young professional
Hair routine/care / workable styles
Run with a run group again! Bandits!!
Manage budget to decrease student loans
See a dermatologist
Try a new fitness class
Rework/organize areas of home which do not function
Do a research project
Try to learn to sew
Restore a second-hand furniture piece
Travel somewhere new (Nov Scotia this summer!)
Do a training journal
Re-learn piano
Plan a fun series of date nights
Write a book
Graduation photos for Masters Degrees: Architecture + Urband Design.
