The Big 3-0!

A dear friend of mine celebrated her 29th birthday at the end of December.  She is the last one of our group to embark on this final year of her 20's.  I like to refer to 29 as 'The Farewell Tour' to our 20's.  We can make a bucket list of things to squeeze in before we get "too old" or perhaps we just say so long to the naiveté that exists in most 20-somethings.  Like most farewell tours, there is a bit of nostalgia in the beginning but then a sprint towards the finish line once it is in plain sight.

The approach of this new decade in the year ahead was brought up at dinner just the other night and the most recent member of the 2-9 club let out a highly audible moan -- "But I don't want to say good bye to my 20's yet!"  We all laughed and agreed that the past 9+ years have been filled with great adventure, carefree romance, and ambitious career planning.  But then, the topic turned to why many of us are ready to embrace our 30's.  Comments were made, around the table, identifying the welcome changes in life that we associated with a coming of age -- noting that 30 is still extremely young and vivacious (we are not getting a senior citizen discount anytime soon!).

Below is an anecdotal list of the comments that I hope you find to be relate-able  evocative, or just plain entertaining.

You know you are approaching 30 when....

1.      You eat more vegetables than carbs and ask questions like "Is this organic?".

2.      You want to read books. For pleasure.

3.      The books that you buy were often written before 1970.  And the author is a name   other than Candace Bushnell.

4.      You prefer a night in with Netflix over a night out at a nightclub.

5.      You have more black in your wardrobe.  Appropriate for mourning the death of your metabolism.

6.      You make dinner reservations for 6:30. On a Friday night.

7.      You attend more baby showers than bachelorette parties.

8.      You run into a friend of an "ex boyfriend" while out at a bar.  And then you have to ask "Which ex boyfriend?"

9.      You have fewer friends. But they are all of great depth and authenticity.

10.   You desire to see the world and life beyond the one in which you exist on a daily basis.