You may have noticed a lack of posts this week, and I have a good excuse…I was celebrating someone special…ME! Monday was my birthday, so I took the day off from blogging. And now, time has elapsed, marking my 5th day as a 30 year old. (That’s a little hard to type without my fingers wanting to freeze on me, saying “no, it’s not true!”) But hey, the good thing about turning 30 is that you are not turning 40. And when you think about it, 30 is just three perfect 10’s.

Not going to lie though, this birthday scared me. I LOVED my twenties and did not want to leave them. (Heck, let’s be real, I think I will still pretend I am still in them.) I know everyone says age is just a number, which is true. I don’t actually feel any more like an adult than I did before.  Which was hit and miss anyway! But I feel like this decade implies that I should be. As George William Curtis said, “Age is a matter of feeling, not of years.” And really the number doesn’t bother me so much (well, a little), but it’s more the fact that the timeline I had in my head has not been met.

As a teen you envision 30 as old, and I had always thought I would be married with 2.5 kids and living in a house with a white picket fence at this point. But, that is not the path that was intended for me. When that gets me down, I just remind myself of all I have done in my 20’s, and realize had my life played out as I envisioned, I would have missed out on a lot of great experiences. So, I am grateful of where I am, and thankful for all the joy, excitement and adventure the last decade brought. Now, here is hoping the next decade is equally as wonderful, and who knows, hopefully some of those milestone moments will make an appearance as I start down this next path. And staying on that bright side of 30, I remind myself that birthdays are good for you…statistics show that people who have the most live the longest. 😉

In honor of this big birthday, I thought I would share with you 30 things I love. My Top 30 if you will!

1. My Family

2. My Friends

3. My Kind of Town…Chicago

4. Michigan State

5. The Mitten

(aka Michigan – my home state)

6. Travel

7. All Things Fashion

8. My Man – Justin Timberlake

(A girl can dream right?!)

9. Interior Decorating

10. The Beach

11. Frozen Yogurt

12. Italy

13. Biking

14. Los Angeles

15. Chocolate

16. Key West

17. Celine Dion

You don’t even want to know how many times I have seen her in concert. It all started when I saw her as an opening act. True fan girl ever since!

18. HGTV 

19. Popcorn

20. Giant Inflatable Pool Floats

21. Koi

(West Hollywood is my pick. The BEST food ever.)

22. Dirty Martinis

23. Anything Tropical (Decor, Vacation, Drinks)

24. SnoCones (Kid at heart, what can I say.)

25. Las Vegas

26. My Job

27. Palm Print

Anything and everything. I have loved it for as long as I can remember.

28. Anything That Makes Me Laugh

29. The Kiddos In My Life

30. Myself

I think in my 30th year, it’s okay to say this. And something I am proud of! It’s not just about vanity, but loving myself for all I have done over the last three perfect 10’s (decades, that is).

Stay tuned next week for a recap of my birthday festivities. A weekend on Mackinac Island in Michigan, a family picnic and dinner at The Max.

Signed with Style,