30th Birthday - Part One: Home

November 5th came and went; hoorah hoorah, I'm still around to tell the tale!

I didn't spontaneously combust or vaporize into a crumbly-version of my former self at the stroke of midnight. But, I DID turn 30 and I now have the pictures to prove it! ;0

Starting with a self-portrait of the artist as a middle-aged lady, this first series of photos is from our apartment, both the night before and the morning of the Big Day.

Celebrations started early on Friday evening, when a good number of us from my MAVIS (MA in Visual Anthropology) program went out for drinks at the local pub right after our last class. Another friend, Noemie (from Lille, France), was turning 25 on November 8th, so she and I "co-hosted" the bash!

No pictures from the pub, but highlights included birthday Kinder eggs (scrumptious hollow chocolate eggs, complete with a toy surprise in the center) and tequila shots with no lemon or salt to help ease the pain!

Upon returning home that night, I was greeted with a delicious spread of wine, cheese, crackers and fruit by Mr. John Wells, boyfriend extraordinaire (I think I'm allowed to say that once every other post, right?) . The food was mouth-wateringly sublime and I think we finished the entire plate in 20 minutes flat. A few minutes later, I felt very very s..l..e..e..p..y.. and was off dreaming by 10pm!

My passing out early enabled John to sneakily decorate the living room for the next morning's BIRTHDAY BREAKFAST. He had a lot planned for the day, so we needed tons of protein, which arrived in the form of a very yummy omelette. What a cook, what a guy!