happy 31st to me

Monday, June 30, 2003

Hi there.

(Pardon me while I be dramatic and strike a pose. What I won't do in an attempt to get a flattering pose on the digital.)

So, you know what today is?

Well, besides Monday. It is also the last day of my birthday month. Sad, sad. I know. I like to celebrate all month long.

I was getting ready to go to bed tonight after updating the cycling team's Web site. Then I realized I really needed to post my pics from last week before I forget how to caption them.

So. Yeah. It's been a very, very busy birthday week. Weeks.

Firstly, I made the mistake of telling my buddies at work how much I adore my day. So they decorated my cube to high heaven. Which I suppose isn't a huge deal. EXCEPT that nobody in my company decorates cubes for birthdays. Let alone for obscure ones like 31. Still, there were streamers and confetti. A "Happy Birthday" tiara complete with lei and pin. Some very obnoxious pink "worm" balloons. It was embarrassing. It was a hoot. And I loved every second of it. Especially the seconds that included the Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast.

That evening (because I wasn't self-indulgent enough during the day), I got even more of my buddies together for happy hour and tapas at the new swank spot in MPLS, Solera. We sat in the groovy lounge, drank groovy drinks and ate teenie-tiny pretentious portions of goat cheese dotted with quince jam.

It was such an awesome evening. What was so superior is that almost everyone I invited showed up. We had a literal revolving door of friends appear who all make me feel so blessed and lucky and, I don't know, undeserving. How did I get so damn lucky? How did we carve out such a groovy nitch in this town I abhorred for so long?

My neighbor Kristen also got me the grooviest Chinese take-out silk purse that will make all you cats very, very jealous.

At the end of the evening, a few of us headed to Sebastian Joes for ice cream. Cinnamon Floats to cap off your birthday: something I truly recommend.

That weekend, the birthday festivities continued. My parents came in to town to both drop off a dresser that my stepdad had crafted for James and I for Christmas. And to also do handy-dandy stuff around the house. Yep. Some people ask their parents for cash on their birthday. I ask for faucet installation.

The bathroom faucet has been driving me crazy. It is ugly. It is rusting. And when my stepdad came to town last fall to fix stuff around the house, he installed a new kitchen faucet for us and it made *such* a difference.

They arrived on Saturday morning. I kept my mother and sister busy at the mall while the boys worked on the house.

Not only did I get the new bathroom faucet, but I purchased a new lighting fixture AND ceiling fan. I figured since my stepdad was here....

I guess the ceiling fan was the bitch. My stepdad is a contractor and it drove even him crazy. He said he can only imagine how many ceiling fans are sitting, half constructed, in basements across the country. I guess it was *that* hard to construct. I treated him to many glasses of brandy and cabernet afterwards.

So thankful.

See here for yourself his handiwork:

The new ceiling fan in the bedroom is keeping us ever-so-cool. I'm so glad we don't need to turn on the central air now each time the temperature peeks above 70.

Another view of the "tricky" ceiling fan. Side note: shopping for ceiling fans sucks! I got such a headache from staring UP at Home Depot and Menards. I truly wanted to kill someone after the two hours of that.

This is the new, custom-made dresser. It is fabulous. I even picked out the hardware (which cost me over $50 - lordy I have expensive taste). The minimalist, Asian style goes awesome in our bedroom. (And note my groovy new handbag on top -- thank you nice neighbor friend!)

Sorry. I just got fancy with myself in the mirrors on the dresser doors. Mirror project anyone?

My new, cute faucet. I'm a sucker for those hot/cold handles.

And while he was at it, I had him install this light fixture. It is not glamorous (we were on a budget after the faucet, fan and hardware), but it is a true improvement from the shit that was up there before.

This has nothing to do with my birthday or house improvements, but Tryna wanted to say hi. By the way, do you know how hard it is to take a picture of such a black dog? I had to contrast the hell out of this image in Photoshop.

Sienna was jealous. She wants to say hi, too. (She is, after all, the good dog.)

So, that is it.

Other than birthday month, my life has been busy with cycling and Triathlon training. Less than two weeks to go. Tonight I went out for a short run and I realized how much cycling impedes my other workouts. I haven't been running nearly as much as usual because of all my rides. My cardiovascular fitness has to adjust and each first mile of a run has my body quivering, saying, "what is this you want me to do again?"

It's okay, though. I'm really getting into cycling and I enjoy the group aspect of it. Just Saturday morning, my neighbor and I went out for 30 miles before I headed down to volunteer at the state championship road race (I was the BEST corner marshall ever!). There is something so beautiful about a morning on a bike.

Of course, the same can be said for a morning out running on the trail, too.

It's just hard to fit it all in. Especially with the swimming for the Tri. If only I didn't have to work full time because, honestly, I need more hours in the day to train! I miss my Yoga! I miss my weight training! But what can you do besides win the lottery or marry rich?

It will settle out after the Tri. I just have such much mental prep work going on in addition to busting my ass to get my workouts in. I'm sure I won't be such a Nazi once Danskin has passed.

Of course, the weekend of Danskin is also the weekend the lottery for the Twin Cities Marathon's 10-miler opens up. If I get in a spot in that...

It's all about goals and priorities, you know. And right now my priority is being active while the weather is nice.

Being 31 is really cool. When I was a kid, that age seemed so old. And now that I'm there, now that I am a bona fide THIRTYSOMETHING, I'm more active than I ever was -- even as a kid.

Happy Monday night everyone.

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