The Dirrty Thirty

I turned 30 on Sunday. 3-0. And I was really excited for this birthday. No freaking out, and no crisis needed averted. I am really really REALLY happy with where my life is and where it is going. And I was even happier about where I was going to be spending this milestone birthday. NYC!

My wonderful, amazing friends helped me to plan a fantastic weekend to celebrate my birthday. It was absolutely PERFECT and I would not have changed a moment (except maybe Rob Thomas could have made an appearance in there somewhere...like at Starbucks. Or a bar. Or anywhere).

Karen, Gail, and I left on Friday, and flew out of the brand new terminal at SFO. The flights were easy and filled with Royal Wedding coverage, SATC reruns, and inflight cocktails.Although our cabbie was steroetypical NYC with his lack of deoderant and crazy Nascar manuevers, we made it to our Midtown hotel just in time for another ddrink with the fabulous Kelly, who had made the trek on THE CHINA BUS from her home. Afterward, our stomaches sent us in search of nourishment which we found in the form of pizza, cookies, and prosecco. We also discovered that you can buy perfume that is the scent of a funerla home and dirt. Not together. But those are the actual names of the fragrances.

On Saturday we ate delicous pizza from Patsy's Pizza.

Then we ventured into the park to cross off one of my NYC bucket list items: rowing boats around the lake in Central Park. Kelly, the rockstar rower, easily navigated us around. Other tourists were not so adept and let's just say that my sweater smelled like dirty lake water for the rest of the day. It was a gorgeous day, with the sun shining and the smell of blossoms lingering all over the park, which we got to enjoy after our trip around the lake.

One of the highlights from the entire weekend was that I got to have my first blogger meetup! My blogging bestie Made a trip into the City and met up with us in the park. It was amzing to finally meet her, especially since I feel like I have known her for well over 2 years. Together, we all went to Dylan's Candy Store, where I purchased some treats for Isaac, and one deliciously chocolate one for myself. All homes should have a chocolate fountain as a standard kitchen fixture, don't you think?  

After that, we headed into Serendipity to cross another item off my list: The marvelous frozen hot chocolate, which I split with Gail.

To work off our sugar intake, we headed back to the park for a carriage ride.

For dinner we met up with my cousin Bethany and her boyfriend for a fabulous Italian dinner. Afterward, we headed to a piano bar called The Rum House for birthday drinks in Times Square. The beverages were awesome. The crazy Canadian man there for a stag party who kept volunteering to remove his pants was not, prompting us to leave after two drinks. We meandered around the square for a bit and ate street vendor hot dogs. I know the stigma they carry, but seriously...oh so very good.

Sunday morning, we awoke bright and early for some serious Canal Street shopping, which we indulged ourselves in for a few hours until we had to return for lunch and to dress for the theatre. We got all dolled up for "The Lion King" which was absolutely amazing. There is no way to accurately describe the show.

Afterward, we headed to the Plaza hotel for pre-dinner cocktails (another list item). We all partook in the delicious specialty drink, the "Bradshaw" inspired by the SATC star. Although it was a $22 cocktail, it was worth every single penny. Talk about mixed perfection!

We walked back up the park to our dinner reservation at TBar Steakhouse, where we had a wonderful dinner. Afterward we headed back to Serendipity for a celebratory dessert...or three.

Monday morning, after a small yet still startling accidently detour through Harlem, we got breakfast at Alice's Teacup, which fit Karen to a T! Wonderful food, yet again. Is it possible to get bad food in New York?!

Our last stop on this incredible trip was to the New York Public Library, where we saw where the SATC wedding never took place, and the original toys that inspired the "Winnie the Pooh" stories. The library was beautiful.

The trip home was spent sleeping and updating ourselves on the new wordly happenings as we were in our own little NYC birthday bubble for theweekend. I could not have asked for a better birthday. I missed my baby boo and my husband of course, but I needed to get away. I needed a breather and a chance to refresh and recharge, which is exactly what I got to do. I was happy to be home with my husband and little Boo.

Although I am not exactly where I pictured myself to be when I thought about my life at 30, I am someplace better. My friends and family all over the country made my birthday so special and created so many memories for me to carry into this next stage of my life. I am so blessed with beautiful and loving people in my life.