Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Outrageous 40th Birthday Wish # 1: PEACE


I went to an extremely elegant and highly original 40th birthday party over the weekend, but I'm waiting to share it with you until I know it's okay with the birthday person.

In the meantime, thought I'd add a new franchise to My Fabulous 40th Birthday: Outrageous 40th Birthday Wishes.

Outrageous 40th Birthday Wish #1: PEACE. Not world peace, although it would be nice. I'm thinking of peace in my own household - two children getting along all day long, with happy smiles, helpful gestures, kind words, gentle play. No tattling, no surreptitious pinching, no whining, no crying, no pouting, no sulking, no complaining, no "it's not fair," no "how come she gets to...." PEACE...just for one whole waking day.

I know. It's outrageous.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

40th Birthday: Back to School


I recently met a great lady on a plane trip, who I am adding to my collection of "people I met on the plane and kept in touch with." We've seen each other once since our initial meeting and it was like seeing an old friend.

She's hard-charging, high-powered, but also really creative and seemingly as into celebrations as I am. She was kind enough to share a great real 40th birthday party with me...now I just have to bug her for the pictures!

Here it is...a Surprise 40th Birthday party for one of her female relatives. The ruse was she and her husband were going to dinner, so she was not all frumped out - she was looking pretty and ready for a night out on the town...when lo and behold, the doorbell rings.

It's her Dad. Dressed in a Bus Driver's uniform. And behind him is a School Bus. Filled with people hanging out of the windows with masks of her own face. They put down the masks and yell, surprise! It's all of her friends and family!

She hops on the bus with her husband, and with her dad at the wheel, off they go! From what I recall, there were a couple of stops along the way including a drive-in-movie-theater that I think they got kicked out of. The final destination was a great local bar, where everyone had a good old time!

How fun. I was thinking it would be a great 40th Birthday surprise for a teacher or someone headed back to school for a degree.

Thought I'd share it with you!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Old Enough to Know Better

What time is it? 12:20 a.m.

What time do I have to get up? 5:30 a.m.

Why do I do this to myself? What happened to being in bed no later than 10? I watched an Ellen DeGeneres HBO special that had me crying laughing, got all packed up for my trip tomorrow (that gets points for being productive), surfed the Internet.

Go to bed!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Electric Sliding into 40...on a Monday Night



Last night, we did the unthinkable for people our age: we went out partying on a Monday.

My friend M. was turning 40 and he rented out a downtown lounge, BLVD, for the occasion. "It might be Monday, but we gonna party," said the invitation.

Down we went to Bowery and Spring, worried a bit that my husband's straight-from-work suit might not be cool enough for the scene. No need for concern, as most guests at a 40th birthday party aren't really hipsters - turns out most of them are coming straight from work too.

It was a great time! The drinks were flowing, I saw friends from college that I hadn't seen in ages, we talked about exes and babies and missing teeth (the kids, not ours)and whether we'd rather go to Italy or Paris for our own 40th birthdays. Above all, we couldn't stop complimenting each other: we all agreed we looked better than ever (and that's what's really important.)

M. was in party-mode, having a great time but a bit dazed by all the walks of his life coming together in one room: grammar school, high school, college, graduate school, LA, Brooklyn, family, friends.

His trusty DJ (who played at his wedding too - yes, this is the second post that includes a loyal DJ) got everyone out on the dance floor -- Jay-Z's Empire State of Mind, Stevie Wonder tunes, and my favorite to watch, The Electric Slide. I so wish I could join in with the gang, moving in union, effortlessly. Unfortunately, choreography has landed in the same part of my brain as rules to games, how to do Excel spreadsheets, and reading music. I can't retain it.

It didn't matter. I was happy as could be watching M. and his beautiful wife electric sliding their (I should say "his" or I'll hear it from the Mrs.) way into 40.

Happy Birthday!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

No BiFocals...Yet


Over the past few months my eyes have really been bothering me. I've had a really hard time re-focusing between near and far vision. After looking at my Blackberry for a few minutes, when I looked up, I couldn't see across the street. It made for a disoriented, fuzzy feeling, along with very tired eyes at the end of the day.

I went to the eye doctor at LensCrafters yesterday (I'm a fan of their OneSight Foundation which collects old eyeglasses and distributes them to needy people around the world)and after a full examination, the doctor said...

"Well, you're 39..." It turns out that your muscles get increasingly tired out as you get older and have a harder time switching from near to far vision. But it wasn't time for bi-focals yet. Instead, she gave me a weaker prescription.

The focusing problem seemed better immediately and the weaker prescription hasn't affected the quality of my long-distance vision.

This is a bit of a practical post, but thought it might be helpful for anyone experiencing the same symptoms. Summary: ask your doctor about taking down your prescription.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

40 Winks

Getting back in the swing of things this week after Christmas break has been tough. I have not been getting my 40 winks and as a result, I'm looking every bit the almost-40 year-old.

Why the low-winkage, you may ask? Last night it was late-night cupcake baking for both girls' birthday celebrations at school today. One required 18 cupcakes, the other 22, equaling a grand total of 40 cupcakes. Coincidence?




Also contributing to the dark circles...teaching our 4 year-old to sleep without a pull-up. Last night she made it until about 2 a.m. before seeking refuge from her wet bed...2,3 - that's my worst time to be woken up. I rarely sleep well for the rest of the night.

So now I have the dark circles, a pimple, hair in need of highlights, and I wore camel (color, not hair) today. I don't know if I should ever wear camel - I don't think it does much to perk me up.

Speaking of 40 winks, I'm also trying to break my winking habit. I started winking at the kids over break and now it's hard to stop. I'm worried I'll inappropriately wink at a client in an important meeting.

Maybe a little sleep will solve it all.