The 12-month goodbye

"I am so sorry sis, HAPPY FREAKIN BIRTHDAY TO YOU.......ha ha
no really Happy Birthday. I know I am a few days late, but hey better be late then never.
I hope you had a wonderful birthday. My nigga almost burned down my apartment, but at least if I know you had a good birthday, that is what counts..lol. Anyway tell Snookie I said hi (that is your boyfriend by the way) I forget what his name is, so I will just call him Snookie. Well sis I love you very much, and I have been drinking this liquor called New Amsterdam in remembrance of you. It is some high quality gin. Well, holla at me when you can. Love you"

- E-Mail excerpt from my younger sister Cristal

I turned 29 last Tuesday. For years and years, 29 was the answer that my dad always gave whenever we asked his age. It wasn't until I found his birth certificate while snooping around in my parent's bedroom that I figured out how old he really was (more like 49). I was like 10 or 11 years old at the time.

Anyway, now I'm 29 and I don't have any plans on "staying" 29 forever. A lot of good shit happened in my 20s, but (far more often than I would prefer) the bad shit tended to overshadow it. So overall, I'm ready to say goodbye to my 20s and on Friday, I threw a pre-party for my 30th birthday party.

It was kind of an experiment to see what throwing a party in my not-so-new apartment would be like. I really went back and forth about the whole thing, since the apartment doesn't have a very party-friendly layout. We have 2 bedrooms and a kitchen and a somewhat small, squarish foyer (and a bathroom, but it would be kind of awkward to use as standing space for guests). At first, I considered throwing the party at the bar where I celebrated my 27th birthday. However, they were booked until July and I know sometimes I tend to celebrate my birthday late, I sort of just wanted to get the party out of the way.

For the entire week before the party, I was a little concerned that I had invited too many people (especially, after Zilv found out that she had to work the day after & wouldn't be able to attend). However, thanks to Friday's less than stellar weather and a couple of guests getting sick and having to cancel, there was even enough room to play a couple of rounds of beer pong. Yes, the table was a bit shorter than "regulation size" and some of the cups were filled with rum or white wine, but I think I now need to make beer pong happen again at my 30th, because that shit was fun.

I wish I had pictures, but I returned Frosty's digital camera recently...

Still, it was a good send off for the last decade. And, I got green shoes (I have decided that they need to be like a size bigger...but that doesn't even matter really).

So, next year...30...the party is definitely not going to be at my apartment. I do not want to deal with the clean up. The WWII bunker is my goal, but I'll settle for the smaller bar where I celebrated my 27th.

But no worries, I got like at least a 12 month head start to make these decisions .