Happy Birthday to Me

It finally happened. Happy Birthday to me. I'm now the big 3-0. I can't believe it. I think I'm going to be in denial for a few weeks. I tried looking online for an image of my favorite cake, Strawberry Shortcake, but I couldn't find one without the cartoon character on it. So, I had to settle on a window full of cupcakes from Magnolia's bakery. Not the same.

Shabbat was very quiet. I ended up eating home for both meals, and I did a lot of resting today. Tonight, I met up with one of Oren's friends, and he took me on an hour and a half walk from my apartment through the Namal so I could see all of the bars and restaurants and shopping areas, and then back to my apartment. I was hoping for a cafe, maybe a quick bite to eat, but was happy to at least be getting the exercise. Fortunately, I wore the good walking shoes. It was pretty short though, since he had to get to Jerusalem to visit a friend whose father is in critical condition in the hospital, so we parted ways at my corner.

I got in and reset all the clocks back, buying myself another hour of being 29. Then I called Jeff and asked him to hang out, and to bring some food, but it was 1:00 am and things were already closed. So, no dinner for me tonight, but Jeff came buy and he brought me some nice presents! I got 2 CD's and a cactus for my apartment. Sweet.

I also got a few phone calls. Oren called and sang me the Happy Birthday song as he headed off to a date. I hadn't told him it was my birthday, so I was surprised to hear from him. Then, I got a text from Ari from Lord knows where.

And that's it. Now it's 1:30 am Israel time and I've just been thinking about my 20's.

They were really pretty amazing.

Some great things happened:

Family: my sisters both got married, and gave birth to three incredible kids. B"H, my parents are healthy and continue to be supportive forces in my life. The Dude continues to be amazing. My Grandmother has been and will always be my number one fan, and has certainly been my confidant over the years, Cousin Neil, well, words can't describe how great he has been. I've been fortunate to have him as my cousin, and it has been great hanging out since my days on the Lower East Side and then again on the Upper West. Meir, who is and always will be my favorite client and a great friends. Fortunately, the family list goes on so I'm going to leave it at that...

Career - I worked at three different places and then started my own consulting company so, I feel really accomplished. I made some amazing colleagues over the years, met some great reporters/producers who have become good friends, and had the pleasure of representing incredible clients who are brand names.

Friends - I have some really, really great friends in my life. Many of whom I met in my 20's, others I've known far before but our friendship continues to grow over the years. I won't name names, but know if we are friends, that I am talking about you.

Love Life - What can I say? I have fallen in love in my 20's, not once, but twice. Sadly, they both didn't work out quite like I had hoped for, but I learnt a lot and I don't regret anything that happened with us.

Unfortunately, a lot of sad things also happened in my 20's. Particularly, the loss of both of my Grandfather's, my Aunt Irene, my Great Aunt Ray, and Peter Seligman. A number of my close friends also lost parents and siblings during my 20's, and that was really hard as well.

So, no more thinking about what once was - it's time to only thing about what will be!!! I'm looking forward to my 30's being full of good health, happiness, success and fulfillment! And, if I win a Pulizer too, that would be just the icing on the cake!

I probably won't have time to blog tomorrow before Yom Kippur starts. So, I wish everyone a very easy and meaningful fast and a Gmar Chatimah Tovah!