Thirty Days of Turning Thirty

If this is your first time stopping by, Welcome!  Enjoy this easy to follow guide to my Thirty Days of Turning Thirty (30dot30) celebration.  :-)

Day One: Ziplining

Day Two: Touring Old House, Road Trip to Old Stomping Grounds, & Visit from Old Friend

Day Three: The Pizza Place Pizza

Day Four: Celebrating the Four-Year Anniversary of Bringing Home my Hound Dog

Day Five: Massage

Day Six: Park Visit

Day Seven: Independence Day Celebrations

Day Eight: Watching my Favorite Movie Savannah Smiles

Day Nine: Phone Conversations with Out of State Friends

Day Ten: Skyping with my BFF

Day Eleven: My Birthday - Mexican Food, Clueless, and Nails

Day Twelve: Minor League Baseball Game

Day Thirteen: Toby Keith Concert

Day Fourteen: Macaroni & Cheese Recipe

Day Fifteen: The OC Night Reunion

Day Sixteen: Lunch with Work Friend

Day Seventeen: School Lunch

Day Eighteen: Comedy Show

Day Nineteen: People Watching at The Longbranch

Day Twenty: Flea Market Fun

Day Twenty-One: Photo Albums

Day Twenty-Two: Road Trip to the Beach

Day Twenty-Three: Putt Putt

Day Twenty-Four: Cartoons

Day Twenty-Five: Bookstore Visit, Sushi, and Silly Bandz

Day Twenty-Six: Another Movie Night - Empire Records

Day Twenty-Seven: Lunch with my Sister

Day Twenty-Eight: Video Games & Board Games

Day Twenty-Nine: Dinner at Home with Jim

Day Thirty: Date Night with Jim

Event: Dinner and a Movie with Jim

I can’t believe Day Thirty is here.  It seemed fitting to finish out the celebration with Jim as a small token of appreciation for his tolerance of contributions to 30dot30.  Thanks Jim!

I hope you’re sitting down as you read this: Tonight’s dinner did not involve Mexican cuisine or pizza!  It was, however, very tasty nonetheless.  We went to Daniel’s, a great little Italian restaurant not far from my house.  Jim went with dill salmon and  I had my usual cheese tortellini.

MMMmmm.

After dinner, we went to see Grown Ups.  As a fan of most of those guys, I figured we’d enjoy the movie.  Well, let’s just say it let us down.  There were certainly some funny parts, but a lot of it felt awkward.  However, it was not the worst movie I’ve ever seen and we got to see Norm MacDonald’s naked tush, so all was not wasted.

Plus, we hit up the photo booth before we left the theater.

And then we saw this van in the parking lot.

Check out the Eradicator on the roof!

Whew.  What a relief!  Now I can rest easy as I take the rest of this evening to appreciate the fun and success of 30dot30.  Thanks, USDZR!

Event: Cooking with Jim, then Rita’s for Dessert

Making dinner with Jim is not anything new.  In fact, it ordinarily happens at least four nights a week.  But with all of the celebrations and travels of the last month, we haven’t had many opportunities.  So, tonight we went for a quick treat: Nachos & Coronas.  We made a beef & bean chili that went wonderfully with the other toppings.

I imagine if this were on a menu, it would be called Colossal Nachos.  

Yum! (We shared that plate, for the record.  And didn’t eat it all.)

After dinner, Marshall Dillon and I burned off some energy by playing games. 

MD enjoys my impression of Jim dancing just about as much as he enjoys Jim’s dancing.  (Not at all, really.)

And then it was off to PetSmart and Rita’s!  Marshall gets treated like royalty by the owners of Rita’s.  They always come outside to see him and bring him a water dish.  Too bad all he really wanted was some custard.

Swirly Yum-tastic!

What a wonderfully low-key way to spend the evening.  Hard to believe tomorrow is Day THIRTY!!

Event: Playing Buzz and Clue

It is probably not surprising to hear that I am not a gamer.  I played my fair share of Mario Bros and Duck Hunt back in the day, but I haven’t gotten into video games since.  That is, until we found Buzz Quiz TV.  There are no race cars, no guns and no footballs—just a super cheesy game show host, crazy characters and fun trivia questions.

I challenged Jim, two of his brothers and two of their cousins to a few games today.

 Jonathan, Amy, Sean, me, Maddie, and Jim

Unfortunately, these folks didn’t quite understand the whole “let the birthday girl win” rule.  It took many attempts (and several second place finishes), but in the final game I was victorious!  Here is a shot of my avatar celebrating the win!  (She’s the one on the right.)

Isn’t it neat how you can choose avatars that so accurately match your own looks—right down to the body type?!?!

I’ve also recently discovered the game of Clue.  I never played it as a child, but I watched the movie a lot because it was part of Grandma’s collection.  I like the concept of the game and the sneakiness is pretty fun.  The boys seem to enjoy it too.

Apparently their life’s motto of “Trust No One” translates to board games.  They were hiding their notepads from the rest of us.  Jim used a similar approach.

I’m still working out my note-taking strategy.  Since Amy won today, I might try her technique next time.

The stripes are a good look!

And, Sean, you’re welcome for showing you all my cards at once.  When you make carefree moves like that one, you don’t need to worry about protective barricades!

Event: Lunch with Megan

Despite the fact that my sister lives about two-and-a-half hours away in Charlotte, we rarely see each other in NC.  We’re usually in the Burg when we get to hang out.  As I mentioned, we text frequently and talk on the phone a bit too.  While we are completely different in some ways, it’s sometimes eerie how in sync we are with one another.  (For instance, I’m confident she just sang Bye Bye Bye after reading that sentence.)

For my birthday, Megan surprised me with what appeared to be your typical photo book.  Imagine my delight when I discovered it was full of stories from many of my friends!  She had contacted some of the most important people in my life—including one friend I’ve known since pre-school!—and asked them to contribute to the book.  It was such a great surprise and a wonderfully thoughtful gift!

Today we split the distance between us and met for lunch in Greensboro.  We went for exotic (heh heh) and decided on the Olive Garden—because when you’re there, you’re family.  Megan appreciates pizza almost as much as I do, so we decided to try theirs.  It was pretty tasty.

After lunch we strolled around the mall and chatted while trying to avoid eye contact with all the lotion and hair straightener pushers at the kiosks.  (Not an easy task.  Trust me.)

It was a lot of fun to spend the afternoon with my sis and catch up.  She always impresses me with her drive and courage.  When I get big, I want to be like her.

Event: Watching Empire Records

I have to be honest: I didn’t fall in love with Empire Records the first time I watched it in high school.  It wasn’t until college when I “borrowed” my sister’s copy that I got hooked.  I didn’t return hers until I bought the DVD for myself.  

Even though it was filmed back when Ethan Embry was still Ethan Randall and Renee Zellweger still had meat on her bones, I think this movie is just as fantastic today.  Between it and Clueless, I have to say 1995 was a great year for quotable movies!  

My sister has said that Liv Tyler reminds her of me in this movie.  I really hope Megan isn’t referring to this scene.

I’m bringing Rex his lunch!

As it does every single time I watch it, this movie made me think of my sister.  (Who knows where thoughts come from.  They just appear.  Hmm mmm.)  Along with snippets of cheers from our pee-wee cheerleading days, we often text each other Empire Records quotes.  

If you haven’t seen this movie, I think you should—if for no other reason than to create your own random text game like the one Megan and I love so dearly.  Because really, what’s with today-today?  

Damn the man.  Save the Empire. 

Event: Afternoon at Barnes & Noble and Asian Night with Friends

I first fell in love with Barnes & Noble during my internship at Meredith College.  I would often go there to study or work on projects.  Now that I’m out of school, I have come to appreciate its offerings beyond a quiet space to work: it’s another good opportunity to people-watch. 

After doing a bit of work, I strolled around the store, looking for additional titles to add to my to-read list.  (I feel it’s important to point out that I am by no means well-read and prefer a mindless chick lit comedy to a nonfiction bestseller or classic literature any day.)  As I sat down to read a few pages from Samantha Bee’s new book, I had to smile when I heard a kid confidently state, “Yeh, they call it the Nook because it rhymes with book.”  See?  There’s always something entertaining going on around us.  Don’t miss it!

As a last minute bonus, my friend Susie invited me over to her house this evening for some sushi and other Asian treats.  I’ve not had a lot of sushi (I’m not a fan of seafood nor food-borne illnesses), but I really enjoyed tonight’s feast.  These ladies can cook!

That’s me with Farzi, Grace, Rueiya, and Susie.

After stuffing myself with ooshi (as Farzi accidentally called it), noodles, rice, and banana leaf-wrapped dessert, Susie surprised me with a birthday cake from the Asian market!  YUM!  Of course I had to find room for a slice of this puppy.

Afterward, Susie’s son Hollan gave me a crash-course on Silly Bandz bracelets and I think I’m ready to get into the trading biz.  His collection is massive (and sorted by color—my kind of kid!!), so he donated some to get me started.

I’ll trade my hamburger for your leprechaun.  
(For those of you who aren’t in the know, the leprechaun is pretty tough to come by.)  

Event: Watching The Little Mermaid & The Flintstones

The Little Mermaid is my favorite Disney movie ever.  I saw it at the theater several times, owned the VHS tape, wore out the cassette of the soundtrack, flipped my hair a la Ariel in the pool, and had the poster on my wall & sheets on my bed.  Years later when I started babysitting, I tried to work this movie into the viewing rotation amid Barney & Friends episodes as much as possible.  If acknowledging that this movie was released twenty-one years ago doesn’t make me feel old, the fact that the oldest of the kids I babysat just graduated high school surely will.

It had been many, many years since I’ve watched The Little Mermaid, so I was a little surprised at how many lines I remembered.  I love how much Ariel’s hair flows throughout the movie and the songs are fantastic!  I have to say, though, ol’ Ursula and her collection of poor unfortunate souls are a little unnerving.

Even before I admired Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian, I loved Fred and Barney.  I remember waiting for 3:35 to roll around to see what was going on in Bedrock on The Flinstones on TBS.  I also remember being disappointed when the show cut to commercial before Fred yelled “Wilma!” after the credits rolled.

For Christmas this year, Jim got me the complete series (six seasons) on DVD.  Tonight I enjoyed the Bonus Features from Season One.

It was fun to see how the looks of the characters changed from the original pilot when they were the Flagstones.  Another thing I learned was that before The Flintstones advertised their own products (vitamins & cereal), they were in ads for Alka-Seltzer and One-A-Day vitamins.  

Marshall Dillon was not nearly as impressed as I was with tonight’s plans.  Perhaps my off-key sing-a-longs are to blame?

Up on the shore they work all day
Out in the sun they slave away
While we devotin’
Full time to floatin’
Under the sea

Flinstones.  Meet the Flinstones.
They’re the modern stone-age family.

Yabba Dabba Do!

Event: Playing Putt Putt

Being at the beach was the perfect opportunity to play a little miniature golf.  Jim and I used to play pretty regularly.  I’m not really a competitive person, but it is fun to beat Jim … when it happens.  His cousins agree with me.  We loaded up four vehicles with cousins and hit the greens.  About a third of those in attendance were on the same mission: Operation Beat Jim.  

Here are two such golfers, Melissa & Jen.  (Side note, I want to thank these two for not completely mocking me when I couldn’t figure out how they ended up on the other side of that fence.  Doors sure can be confusing.)

We ended up with several groups, but thankfully Jim was in mine so I could witness his impressive skills.  This was just one of three times he used this particular technique.

The girls and I had big plans and compared strategies for a win ahead of time.  Personally, my favorite approach was Jen’s casual use of a do-over.  ”MULLIGAN!!”  

I wasn’t really on top of my game.  I blame the humidity and being full from the delicious dinner earlier in the evening.  It must have affected Jim as well, because he only beat me by one stroke.   

Congrats on the victory, Jim.  Amy, Madeline, Jen & Melissa, with that detailed distraction plan we discussed, we’ll get him next time!

Event: Road Trip to Topsail Island to Join Jim’s Family at the Beach

Every year, Jim’s family gathers at Topsail Island for a week of fun in the sun.  They’re kind enough to extend an invitation to me, but let’s be honest, with four houses and forty-odd people, I’m not sure they’d notice an uninvited guest.  

I drove over this afternoon and took advantage of the solo time in the car by belting out some fun tunes along the way.  A little MC Hammer and Alanis Morissette made the trip fly by.  

It was a great day for a stroll on the beach.  Plus, Jim discovered the joys of making sand balls.  (While there are conflicting stories, I hear that Nanako stole this idea from Jim before he even had it.)

The family alternates hosts for dinner each night and I’m not sure I could have picked a better evening to be here.  Jim’s Aunt Nancy prepared a Mexican spread that was as delicious as it was impressive!  She said she planned it for my birthday.  I choose to believe her.

Before heading back to enjoy some beverages and fellowship on the deck, we gathered outside for some group photos.  Here is a portion of the family waiting for their turn to pose.  Yes, I said a portion.

I love their beach week tradition and am grateful to be included.  I mean, it’s not every week I get an opportunity to hang out with forty ODD people at the beach.  

Good times.