30 years of Jen

I turned 30 on Friday. 30 doesn't feel that much different than 29. Some people say that it is the new 21. If it really was the new 21 I would have had a margarita machine and a bouncy castle...

The festivities began on Thursday. My co-workers decorated my office with a ton of balloons. Then they cookied my car when I was in a meeting.

Those would be lemon-cream filled sandwich cookies plastered all over my car (no, they didn't hurt the paint). This was how I started my long weekend (I had scheduled myself to be off through Tuesday)

After work I went to the container store (my car was still covered in cookies and only a few were lost in transit). I picked up shelves so I could finish my pantry project. The shelving project required a drill bit I didn't have so I tabled installation until Friday.

I slept in on Friday morning (till about 10ish). I had a chocolate-chocolate chip cookie for breakfast (I was meeting my parents for lunch at noon so I didn't eat a "real breakfast"). I removed most of the cookies from my car and then I headed off to meet my parents for lunch at Hyde Park Bar and Grill.

After lunch I headed out to FirstSamples. I needed to return a key and talk to Shauna about the future of Level IV. There is still one cookie stuck to the top of my car (this cookie was still on my car when I took it to be washed on Monday afternoon).


I went to Home Depot on the way home from the studio. I had to get the giant drill bit in order to install my new shelves. I bought a nifty new set of drill bits and headed home to my lemon-scented garage.

Shelf installation went pretty quick. I was done in 20 minutes or so. All of my food is one space now. I no longer use a giant rubbermaid tub for food storage. Elfa is expensive, but it rocks.

I went to Trudy's for dinner (and my free Mexmart). I was shocked that my party of 10 was seated in 45 minutes and not the hour and 30 minutes we were quoted. After dinner I finished the night off at the Alamo Drafthouse (Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Animation Festival). The festival has seen better days but it is pretty hard to compete against YouTube.

Saturday was spent cleaning my house and loafing. I did some prep work for the dinner party I was hosting on Sunday. I went back to the container store (they are having a sale). I went to World Market (they have a great wine selection and the prices are pretty good). I went to the grocery store (which I hate) because I needed some key ingredients for dinner. Before retiring to the couch for the evening I made the chocolate mousse and biscotti. I ended up watching Life Aquatic with the commentary on (and falling asleep because I was worn out).

Sunday I was up early. I went to Costco (I drove by on Saturday and it was a zoo). I washed my hair and began the baking marathon (ok, not like my Christmas baking marathon). Portobella Brie cups for the appetizer. I made pasta with artichoke hearts, spinach and feta for the main course. Chocolate mousse with whipped cream (from scratch and spiked with Bailey's) for dessert.

I had 7 of my closest friends around one table. This has NEVER happened before. I can rarely arrange time with just two of them. Most of them I have known since college. Some have been roommates. We ate and drank and talked from 7 until around 10 ish. Keely and Megan ended up staying until 2am (It was nice. The last time we did something like that was after I broke up with the first boy. This time all of us were resting firmly on the plateau without issues).

Monday I slept in until around 10:30. Mom came over to drop off some things. I went to the post office and ran a few errands. I got my car washed. They did a pretty crappy job. There is still some lemon frosting here and there. I spent a big chunk of my evening organizing my sewing room and pondering if I could skip another day of work. Maybe I could become a professional organizer. Maybe work at the container store?

So that would be my 30th birthday weekend.