Life in Beta

I’ve been trying to write a post about my birthday, but I can’t seem to muster up anything coherent. Suffice to say, it was good. Simple, quiet, and happy.

My friend Mike came to visit. We celebrated with wine and desserts (crème brûlée and pecan cheesecake) at September’s Café. (Their wine menu? Amazing.)

We also played around at Sam Ash for a while. Boy was in his element there…

(Excuse the sound, obviously the video camera wasn’t hooked in to the electronics…)

I love it when friends and family from back home come to visit. It gives me an excuse to do all the Nashville touristy things all over again, even though I’ve lived here for three years. Opryland, the Ryman, Tootsies, etc. etc.

We’re also doing a bunch of things that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but never had the opportunity: We’re going to the Frist and exploring some of the local art galleries. We’re going to have breakfast at The Pancake Pantry. I think it’s going to be fun.

Basically I’m stretching out the birthday celebrations another week or so. Wahoo!

I’m 28 today. Twenty-freakin’-eight.

I feel like I’m still about 17. Where did the time go?

I haven’t had my first gray hair pop up yet. Then again, Benjamin at Tangles keeps my hair dyed so masterfully that I’m not sure I’d know if I had any. (Seriously, that man works wonders.)

In the last year I have managed to develop my first wrinkles though — two of them, right between my eyebrows. I distinctly remember the first time, about a month ago, that I touched my face and felt the lines and realized that they remained creased no matter how I contorted my face. Crap. Of course I’d get scowl lines instead of laugh lines. Bring on the Oil of Olay!

(There’s a strong possibility I may be hallucinating these “wrinkles”, but I’m taking preventative measures.)

Despite all that and despite the fact that 28 is frighteningly close to 30 (we won’t talk about that), I’m pretty excited about this birthday overall.

First off, though this will sound superstitious and stupid, I find that even-numbered birthdays (which are also even-numbered years, in my case) always go better than odd-numbered birthdays. I’m going to run with this theory and declare this an awesome year.

Also, I’ve decided that the age of 28 makes you sound like you know something. (What? I don’t know. But something.) That is, in your late-20′s you seem old enough to be an adult and be at least somewhat an authority on life, yet you’re still young enough to be stupid and have fun on the weekends. I like that.

(As an aside: When I was a kid I believed I would “know it all” by the age of 30. I think I’m waaay behind on that. Maybe I’ll shoot for about 80…)

How am I celebrating? Quietly, with my dog and cat and dear friend, Mike, who drove down all the way from Pennsylvania today. I made a roast in the crockpot and I think maybe we’ll go out for dessert and drinks (’cause let’s face it — baking your own birthday cake sucks). I like quiet birthdays anyway.

Rumor has it, though, that the knit shop girls have more planned for us February-birthday-girls on Saturday. Which means a heluva good time! Those gals are crazy and I love every one of them like family.

Anyway, before I go off on a mushy-tangent… Yes, I am 28 today. And it is going to be a good year.

I’ve gotten some of the coolest birthday cards in the mail this week. My friends know me way too well! It’s also lovely to know I have friends who take time to pick cards that really suit me to a “T”.

I got this fantastic card from Erica, which describes our friendship perfectly. I thought I’d share it with you all because most of you could appreciate this, I think…

No matter what the time of day,
we always have so much to say –
we talk, we twitter, text and gab,
we chit, we chat,  we blog, we blab.

We tell it straight, we tell it true,
you email me, I IM you,
on our cells or at the mall,
or writing on each other’s wall…

From “Hi – hello” to news that’s global
face to face, online and mobile,
up to date, and in the loop,
we know what’s what, we scoop the scoop…

There isn’t much that we don’t share,
because we can, because we care,
our next topic to discuss?
this world needs more real friends like us!

I thought weather in Erie was crazy. (And it is.)

When I looked at my shoes by the front door on Sunday afternoon, I had to laugh. (And snap this photo.)

Everything from fleece-lined boots to flip-flops. And I’ve worn them all in the last week.

The weather over the weekend was gorgeous. When I went out with my friends Saturday night, I wore a t-shirt, jeans, and flip-flops.

Sunday was even warmer; I think the news said that it got up to 65 degrees. Unfortunately I spent most of the day in the house wrapping up the last bits of cleaning and packing. But it was so sunny and beautiful that I wound up wearing a comfortable jersey-knit sleeveless sundress while I worked.

… Sundresses and flip-flops in February!? I love it. Too bad the forecast shows the temperature dropping again over the next several days. I guess you have to take what you can get this time of year.