Turning 30

This weekend I turned 30. Young, Hip, Happening, and 30! I used to think that anything over 25 sounded really old, but as my parents and grandparents have pushed up into the decades, my new standard for old is more like 85, and 30 is the new 20. What it all boils down to is this: 30 simply caught me in a good place. I'm working at a job I enjoy, I'm mothering a little girl who keeps me young, I'm running, my marriage is invigorating, and I love a lot of people. I definitely haven't achieved much success by worldly standards, but there will always be time for that in the coming decades of my life.

Once I decide I care about those things, of course.


I realized this year that the nice thing about Marcos and I having birthdays in the same week is that it becomes a week of celebrations that we can share without feeling too awkward about all of the attention being on ourselves. On Monday night the Hills made their annual Birthday dinner for us (we chose Kim's spaghetti as usual - life alteringly delicious!), on Tuesday night we had the dinner for Marcos that I already posted about, on Friday night we had our Brazil-connected friends over for Brazilian food and tres leches cake, and on Saturday we had an impromptu potluck picnic with friends at our neighborhood park because God's birthday gift to me that day was the most perfect weather of the year. It was beautiful outside.

And for lunch on my birthday we went to Maggiano's as a family. Chicken fontina, caprese salad, creme brulee... mmmm...


After lunch we cruised the pedestrian zone at the mall to stretch our legs after a big meal. We couldn't pass the Apple Store without squeezing in a message on the walls of free paper dedicated to the memory of Steve Jobs. His death this week made me feel a sense of loss I haven't felt for a celebrity since the death of Princess Di. Even though I'm not very buff in a technical sense, I know enough about his life to be completely in awe of the vision and genius this man brought to the world. The next time I find myself in an ice-breaker and have to name the three people I would most want to talk with over dinner, I think Steve Jobs will be on the short list.


And that wraps up our birthdays for the year. Whew! Next? Gigi's half birthday, and what being an 18 month old looks like in the Prieto casa.