Letting It All Hang Out

Today I am extremely excited to have my friend Kir from The Kir Corner here. She is a wonderful writer and her comments are always so sweet. If you don’t know Kir yet, I recommend you read  her post My Comments Are Like Cupcakes. If you are a blogger, you will definitely relate to the post.

I am so happy that Jessica asked me to spend some time here to help her celebrate her Birthday. I could gush all day about all the things I love about her, but she already knows (because I tell her all the time) and really, who wants to hear me do that?

Instead I promised her that I would honor her 30^th birthday by telling the story of my own and sharing all the *ahem* “interesting” details of that day.

Unlike my amazing friend Jessica, who is turning 30 as a popular blogger, a smart businesswoman (and college graduate), a wonderful wife and a smart, funny, sexy mom I was none of these things on the cusp of my 3^rd decade on this earth.

I had actually *finally* graduated from college only a year and a half before. I was nursing a broken heart while I settled into a new apartment I couldn’t afford, commuting to a job I hated at the time (um, I’m still there and I love it now) and dating a host of men that could have been the poster boys for the word “non committal”. To add insult to this hot mess was the fact that my three best friends at the time were all 5 years younger than me (remember I’d just graduated from college at 28 with 23 yr olds?) and were all engaged and planning weddings.

I was lonely, jealous and thinking that I was never going to get my own ‘happy ending’.

So when a friend of mine who was also an old high school classmate offered to take me to see the bands LIVE (his obsession at the time) on my birthday I accepted thinking that I would at least have a date with a guy I knew and see a decent concert plus it was better than having dinner and cake with my family or even worse, alone.

We drove to New York State to a small college campus on February 6^th. I remember it being cold and dreary, as that time of year can be. We warmed ourselves with cocktails once we got there and stood in line waiting to get in. Once inside the gymnasium I realized that there were no chairs set up…my friend looked at me and winked. “General Admission!” he yelled over the crowd of people, most of them at least 5 years younger than us and obviously there to have a very good time if you know what I mean.

In the second it took me to register what that meant he grabbed my hand and we rushed the stage. I can’t tell you the JOY I felt at pushing, pulling and elbowing my way to that wooden platform, but when I realized that I was standing in the front row I resolved to enjoy myself and commemorate this birthday no matter what.

The concert was loud and the fans were feisty, the band was awesome live and I rocked and rolled for 3 hours, screaming the words to their songs at the top of my lungs. I accepted cups of amber liquid from my friend and smiled until my face hurt, feeling more like 23 than 30. So when the lead singer, in an attempt to rile up the crowd, asked for the “Girls in the room” to “toss their bras on stage” I almost didn’t think about the ramifications, instead I hiked up my sweater and unsnapped, pulling the lacy black material out and twirling it above my head.

My friend stared at me with his mouth open, “what are you doing?”

“Enjoying myself!”

“Why?”

Why indeed? I know that even though I didn’t have a spotless image I was still considered a “good girl” by most people and I just done a “naughty thing”.

But I answered in the moment…”Because I can!” and giggled as I threw it up on stage and watched the singer gather mine and many many others high above his own head.

I felt free and fun, womanly and yes even a little embarrassed. It was the beginning of another decade that would see me fall in love, get married, fight infertility and welcome my sons to the world.

Which made it one of my best birthdays ever.

**********************************************************************

Thank you Jessica, for inviting me over today! I hope your 30^th birthday and  year are just as special as you are and all the memories you make are happy ones. Xo Kir.

I don’t know about you, but I think this post makes me love Kir even more. Be sure to check out her blog The Kir Corner  and follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

Related Posts:

• A New Decade
• Vacation Makes Turning 30 Bearable Right?
• To The Menace Of Northwest Reno
• Daddy’s In Charge
• Pregnancy, Dateline, and Turning 30