30

Joe managed to keep his birthday plans a secret until the very last minute.  My 30th birthday was a cold, rainy Monday, a perfect day for sleeping in and sending my favorite guy out for bagel sandwiches and coffee.  I hung out in my pajamas and opened presents.  My cousin Windy sent me four place settings from my Grandma's china, which was so sweet and special.  My grandma and I shared a birthday and so I always think of her every year on December 23rd and miss her.  Receiving pieces from her china and being able to share the collection with my cousin was an unexpected and amazing gift.  My friend Sheridan sent me a mug and t-shirt from our high school with a card reminding me that we'll always be 16 in our hearts, and my friend Sara sent me the most adorable frilly apron and pot-holder set.  Those two gifts from those near and dear girls cracked me up.  Sheridan tries her best to keep me young and Sara reminds me that all I really want is to be in a rocking chair on a porch drinking sweet tea.  I need them both more than they know. 

I had decided weeks ago that I wanted to wait to get a much needed hair trimming on my birthday because then I could get a blow-out and have pretty blown-out hair for whatever Joe had planned.  My usual salon isn't open on Mondays though, and so I called another place and was told they aren't open on Mondays either.  I asked if they knew any place that was because I really wanted to do it that day since it was my birthday and all.  The lady put me on hold, got back on the phone, and said she would come in to open the salon and do my hair for the big day.  Um, that was amazing.  Nanette, Salon Arje, I love you.  While I was in the chair, sipping a glass of wine, my cousin Laura called and paid for the whole shebang.  That was a wonderful gift.  I felt so loved and taken care of and special the whole day.  I may have teared up a little when Nanette told me. 

When I got home, Joe told me to go ahead and do my make-up but I would have time to change clothes when we got to our destination.  I followed instructions and finished packing and then Joe's dad arrived to drive us to the train station.  One of my presents from my mom was the umbrella I've had my eye on forever, which was absolutely perfect given the rain and an evening spent walking in NYC.

When we got to the city, we walked to Times Square and checked in to The Time hotel, got dressed super fast because Joe said we were running late, and then I was led at breakneck speed through a ridiculously large crowd of tourists while teetering in new high heels to get to the main event just in time.

I was completely surprised because traditionally Broadway is closed on Mondays, but since they would be closed for Christmas that week, the shows just happened to be open.  I had considered that Joe might take me to a Broadway show because I love them so, but ruled it out thinking they would be closed.  I also had ruled it out because musicals are decidedly not Joe's thing.  I was so touched that he had planned this beautiful evening for me based on what he knew I would love to do the most.  We found our seats and Joe treated me to a Mufasa margarita and Sour Patch Kids.

After the amazing show, we walked to dinner at a beautiful restaurant and enjoyed delicious house-made pasta and clinked glasses of Prosecco.

After dinner, we walked arm in arm back to the hotel and bought some hot, candied cashews to munch on for dessert.  It was a beautiful, perfect, wonderful day.  This year has been so remarkable in so many ways and when I think of where we were not so long ago, looking for jobs, not sure where we were going to live or when we'd be able to afford a wedding, and so unsure about how and when everything would work out, my whole birthday I was just so filled with gratitude and awe and love for my sweet husband and our life together.  This marriage thing is pretty okay. 

 

The next day, we took our time waking up and then headed back to Grand Central, making sure we made a few stops to see the tree and get some goodies on the way back.

I'm excited for my 30s.  Twenties are way overrated, even though so much happened during that decade that it makes my head spin.  I earned my college degree and my law degree.  I got married.  I had so many wonderful experiences which have led to where I am now.  There were so many firsts too.  First heartbreak, first experience dealing with the death of someone I loved deeply, first real career job, first time I lived on my own, first time I lived with a boyfriend, first new car, first credit card, first time I paid bills on my own, and so on and so forth.  There's so much to figure out in your 20s, so many unknowns.  I moved at least seven times in the last decade, I had countless temporary jobs, I had to ask my parents to help me out with money over and over again.  All that work to figure out who you are and where you're going and feeling lost most of the time and unsure if anything you're doing is going to work out like you hoped and just hoping to stick the blind landing at the end of it all.  It's exhausting.  But I guess that's the part people get nostalgic about.  The limitless possibilities and the no strings attached and the late nights.  Maybe I'll be nostalgic about it one day, but that day is not today. 

 

I'm thrilled to be putting all that behind me.  I'm so happy to be on the other side of all that fear and anxiety and wide openness to be where I am now, where life is a bit more settled.  I can't wait for all that my thirties will bring - a home of our own and a family.  This moment now is exactly where I've always wanted to be.