270: I’ll start with la tarte alsacienne

My birthday. His birthday. Les Faux Bourgeois. (iPhone 4 - September 27th)

 

2011: Photos every single day here and at AndreaWoo.com

269: Happy Australian birthday, my darling.

Not my finest wrapping job. (iPhone 4 - September 26th)

His birthday in T-minus one hour.

Tomorrow night is a joint birthday dinner for just the two of us, as I was in Japan for the big 3-0.  Still wishing I had something to celebrate entering into adulthood.  Wondering if it is cheesy to host one’s own 30th + one month birthday party….

Another day, another photo. Andrea Woo too.

268: When the flowers die, your birthday is over

A nice surprise after returning from Japan. Alas, flowers do not last. (iPhone 4 - September 25th)

This photo throwdown with Andrea Woo just never ends.

251: Domo Arigato

Leaving on a jet plane. (iPhone 4 - Sept. 8)

Tomorrow I leave for Japan. I’m there for 10 days. I’ve never been to Asia before.

I can’t tell if I’m excited or nervous right now, I figure the two are canceling each other out, leaving me in a slightly catatonic state. I also move two days after returning, so there’s no room for relaxation.

I’m sure Japan will be an adventure, and one I’ll remember fondly for years.  I’m sure I’ll feel the ground move, just a little (or maybe a lot). I’m sure I will eat a lot and I won’t exactly know what they are.

I turn 30 in Kyoto.

I didn’t finish everything I said I would by 30, but in many respects, I’m in a great place. I can’t wait to see where I’ll be, or where I’ll be going, at 31.

The photo throwdown with Andrea Woo returns September 20th. But I can assure you, pictures will be taken every day I’m gone.

30 things before I’m 30

It was recently my 28th birthday.  It has finally hit me that 30 is just around the corner.  While I have no idea where my career is going, I know it is headed in the right direction. But for once I don’t have a plan.  I just want my options to be open.  That’s not to say there aren’t things I am striving for, things I hope to accomplish and things that are so youthful that they should probably be done before I hit the big 3-0.

And that’s why I have a list.  I made the list this weekend.  I’m sure that 30 minutes of thinking of random stuff hasn’t captured the full essence of who I am and what I want, but it is a start.  I have 30 things to do before I’m 30.

(And I reserve the right to add, change, edit them, but if I want to put something on, I have to take something off…)

In alphabetical order:

(Edit: February 2010, starting to cross things off.)

(Edit: I’m now 30. How did I do?)

Bake my mom’s cheese scones
Brew my own beer, cider or wine
Cross an ocean
Develop my own photographs
Display my photos in a public setting
Do something worth recognition at work
Fall in love
Film a short and likely pointless movie
Find the right perfume
Finish writing the book
Get a facial
Get an iPhone
Go Hang-gliding (crossed out because I bought tickets to go and then someone died doing it at the same place)
Go canoeing or kayaking
Go for Dim Sum, again.
Host a theme party
Keep a plant alive for two years
Keep my weight under 160lbs, but enjoy eating junk food if I feel like it
Learn to play squash
Nap on a beach outside of Canada
Own a Betsey Johnson dress
Plan an awesome 30th birthday party
Read 10 books
Ride a crazy roller coaster
Save $5000
See someone compete in the Olympics
Spend a night sleeping outside
Start a new blog
Stay in bed all day
Visit my brother’s new house
Write my will

28!

I am in no condition to write a blog post. But write I will.

I’m just so happy. Sometimes you need reminders that friends are out there. From the text messages, to the phone calls to the facebook posts, I am blessed.

It was a great day, start to finish. It’s funny, I am sure I could think of ways it which it could’ve been better – okay, like not getting an estimate of over $800 dollars to fix my car – but all in all, I got to see or hear from the people I love most in this world. Thank you friends.

Now I need to compile a list of 28 things I want to do this year.

1. Go to sleep so that my 3am wakeup call does not destroy me.

Things get worse before they get better

New Westminster, September 2009

In one week I’ll be jetting off to Toronto and New York. Outside of going to Portland in May, I haven’t really been anywhere since Edmonton last October. Even that Portland trip was just 5 days, not even enough to use any of my work-allocated vacation days.

Summer slipping away

My birthday tends to mark the end of summer. The official end is a few days later, but the last of the good weather usually happens around my day of birth.

(It’s the big 2-8 this year.)

“You look happy.”

Is this the face of a happy person?

I had a birthday lunch with a friend today.  (His, not mine.) We went to Denny’s where you get a free meal with the purchase of two drinks and an entree.  For the price of an orange juice, I bought him lunch. (His idea, not mine.)

We’ve been friends for a couple years now with pretty significant ups and downs, culminating in the reason I never see him for more than a brief lunch… a baby.  (His, not mine!) The child has been a blessing in disguise – The drama which surrounded our lives when we were close is now over and he’s just a doting dad. While our friendship will never be what it was, maybe that’s a good thing.

As we sat there over his breakfast slam and my giant burger (which prompted many “that’s what she said jokes” as I tried to stuff it in my mouth), he looked at me and said, “You look happy.”