♥ thirty, flirty and thriving.

the contents of karin's occupy 30 goodie bag.

this year, i and a number of my closest friends will turn 30.
while some of my dear friends feel that it is a sincere privilege to age,
others are treating it as a deadline of sorts.

when i asked my cousin, jaimee about how she felt when she turned 30 last year,
i inquired whether or not she felt a certain pressure to get her life in order,
or if she felt just the same. she answered that she didn't know how she
 should feel, and i have to say, i agree with her.

30 looks alot different these days than it did years ago.

when my mom was 30, she had already been married five years,
 had three kids & a house. most of my friends don't own anything more than
a car. they still rent or live at home with their parents, so they can save.
a few of them have children- but some see babies on the horizon without
even the steadiness of a relationship to make it happen any time soon.
 some have fulfilling careers, others are still in school, and some have ditched
their jobs and switched to something completely different.

while i am trying to shake the stigma of getting older (did you see tyra banks nick-
named one of her models 30never on ANTM?) and the expectations that go along
 with it--people like my friend, karin, are taking 30 by the horns
 and making something fun out of it.

in honor of her 30th birthday, karin started a blog with a list of thirty things
(simple and outlandish) that she would like to do this year. we met in college and
she was the editor of our college newspaper, the wheaton wire! as you might imagine,
 her writing is accessible & honest- and really funny. she is a unique individual,
with a terrific writing voice- i just had to share her with you.

here is a small passage by karin to get you better acquainted:

i've always wanted to write a blog. i should have written one while i was living
 in germany. but it seemed a bit "been there, done that." and after so many years 
i didn't have anything new to contribute ... or a reason for the blog.
 i wanted one that was more structured with a purpose of sorts. a goal-
 but also flexible enough that i could write about my life. 

so it seemed like fate that i would be turning 30 and moving back
 to the united states after seven years in germany. perfect combination of re-
entering the american life and giving the blog a direction with an end goal.

it's a bucket list of sorts; some of the things i had planned to do this year; 
some are things i always wanted to do, and some i came up with two days before
 the end of last year. the order is pretty arbitrary. right now i am looking forward
 to riding the cannonball at canobie lake park (no. 9). as child i was terrified of 
roller coasters, but now i love them. i'm probably most scared of ice skating (no.4)
 again. it's just so hard for me. i am paralyzed by fear. maybe it's because i 
sometimes have no sense of balance or my weak ankles, but i am absolutely terrified 
to skate or move once i have the skates on. i just stand there; gripping the
 side of the rink. i won't even join the congo line. 

but it's on the list, so it will get done. 
like everything else. it's part of becoming a grown-up. 
i'll be thinking that when i stuff 30 one dollar bills 
down a male stripper's thong (no. 8).