The Ghosts of Birthdays Past

Photo by Manuel Bahamondez via Flickr

Tomorrow, I turn 29. I’m on the brink of my thirties. It’s very strange to think of myself as a soon-to-be 30 year-old. I can’t really milk the whole “young adult” thing anymore. I guess I’m… *looks around uncomfortably* an adult. It’s funny how I’ve marked that status for myself over the years: I wasn’t really an adult until I graduated college; and then when I had to pay my first rent in my first apartment; when I got my first car; when I landed my first full-time job; when I got engaged and then married; when I leased my first car; when I bought a house…

It’s like I’ve kept pushing back my own adulthood status with each major life event. But at 29… well, now I’m pushin’ it period.

Working in higher ed for the last 6 years, this is the first time in my life I’ve ever really felt the distance between my life experience and the those of my undergraduate students and even graduate colleagues. Try explaining the burden of having a mortgage to someone who’s biggest financial worry is about using all their meal plan points by the end of the semester; it’s the first time in my life that this age disconnect has ever felt so distinct.

It doesn’t sit well with me because I like to think “I’m with it, I’m hip… taka taka taka!” But the fact of the matter is, most of my students have no frame of reference for that previous sentence. College freshmen this year were born in 1992. Austin Powers didn’t come out until 1997. I was a freshman in high school. They were five.

This is the first time in my life I genuinely feel old.

So I refuse to end my pre-birthday post on a such a downer. I thought it would be fun to do a little retrospective of all my birthdays in my twenties. Because once I turned 20, of course I was an adult, so I got to party hardy. So here goes:

2002: Jazz Hands
When I turned 20, Larry and I headed to Philly for a night of good eats and even more delicious music at Ortlieb’s Jazzhaus. It was a narrow, tiny little place where we literally sat within two feet of the stage, the jazz jumpin’ and the food divine. We felt so grown up.

2003: Under the Boardwalk
When I turned 21 I did what any self-respecting Southern New Jerseyan does: I headed to Atlantic City for the weekend to gamble and drink the night away. I didn’t win big and the drinks were pretty watered down, but the buffet the next morning at the casino was the stuff of dreams.

2004: A Blah Birthday
I turned 22 just days after graduating from college yet had to take a couple of classes at my local community college to finalize some credits. I had spent all day in class and had a terrible summer cold on top of it. Larry took me out to dinner with a friend of ours. My nose was so stuffy I couldn’t taste anything. I think I was in bed by 10pm.

2005: 23 Skiddoo
My first birthday in our first apartment together. Larry baked me a scrumptious (looking) hazelnut chocolate cake. When we ate it that evening, I made a comment about how it was really sweet that he made me a cake… but that the cake itself wasn’t very sweet at all. Larry double-checked the recipe and saw that it had no sugar… it was a diabetic recipe!

2006: The Worst Way to Celebrate a 24th Birthday
We went to Friday’s and rented Hostel. My birthday was a little overshadowed by getting engaged the previous month but I mean, Hostel? Really? Why did I think this was an okay way to celebrate?!

2007: Happy 25th: Here’s an Air Conditioner
We moved to Massachusetts the day before my birthday in 2007. The drive was long and tedious. Moving in all of our stuff, with Larry’s dad’s help, was just as long and tedious. The next morning we headed to Home Depot and bought our first window AC unit. Oh, and Larry bought me a peace plant. That I never watered. And then it died. And then we moved out of that place six weeks later.

2008: A Ghostly 26th 
I have always wanted to stay in a haunted hotel. Larry booked us a lovely room at a haunted inn in Concord. The most haunted room was already booked, so we had the room across the hall. We had a lovely stay except I didn’t get any sleep. I was so excited about possibly having a ghostly experience that I stayed up all night looking and listening for things to happen… and nothing did. Still, it was a lovely weekend just the same.

2009: Guns. Massage. Meat on Swords. And Earrings.
I turned 27 with a literal bang. I went to the shooting range with Larry and another friend and fired my first gun. I had a nice spa day massage. We capped it all off by heading to a Brazilian BBQ with a huge group of friends. Dee-lish!

2010: I’m Melting, I’m Melting
We went to the Melting Pot last year. I was particularly excited because I love fondue. My birthday was unseasonably hot last year and the Melting Pot we went to didn’t have their AC turned on yet. So there we were, sitting at essentially an open stove top in a restaurant with no AC on the hottest day of the year so far. That said, it was still delicious and worth the heat.

2011: The Fruits of the Sea
I disovered on our anniversary this year that I like love oysters. This year we’re headed to B&G Oysters, a Barbara Lynch joint right in the heart of downtown Boston. My goal is to consume nothing but oysters and champagne. I’m also getting a saltwater fishing rod. Now that we live literally less than a mile from the ocean, we don’t need fishing licenses to fish in saltwater. And Larry assures me there’s one other surprise related to our sea-faring theme, so I can’t wait to find out tomorrow! And, my interview about our infertility journey should air tomorrow night at 11pm on WBZTV Boston. It’s going to be a fabulous night indeed!

So there you have it, my Ghosts of Birthdays past. What’s been your favorite birthday? How did you celebrate? What did you get? Dish, people, dish!