Friday, March 17, 2006

29, GOING, GOING...


Today is the last day of my twenties. I’m not really sad to see them go, in fact I embrace thirty. Nice round number. It feels like something, where twenty nine felt a bit nothing-y. In fact if I’m totally honest most of my twenties have felt a bit nothing-y, apart from the enforced major life changes and heartbreak. Boo hoo.

I feel I may have to refer to my twenties as ‘the bleak years’ or ‘the limbo years’.
I’m intending that my thirties will be ‘the amazing years.’

Today I say ‘be-gone dastardly sniffles! I cannot entertain you and your throat infecting shivery ways right now. I am birthday girl, and you can’t stop me from wearing the extremely spring-like silk Rutzou dress tomorrow even if it's still snowing.’

Today, I also have much excitement, as Michel Thomas would say at the end of his 8 CD French beginners course, where he has spoken French thus far. Leading you to worry that in fact, he has just taught you to speak French the way he speaks English.

Anyway, much excitement I have. The reasons for this are threefold.

1. This evening my uncle is taking me to the London Palladium to see ‘Sinatra!’ Apparently there are big screens with unseen footage of Frank, by all accounts it’s a Franktravaganza. But it is extra special because he – my mother’s brother - took my mother to see Frank Sinatra at the Palladium for her thirtieth birthday. And that makes it a bit touching and lovely in a way that I can’t really articulate.

2. Tomorrow it’s. my. birthday. There will be brunch at Cecconi’s.
Birthday girl will try not to drink too much bubbly before noon.
The rest of the days’ plans are freestyle. There may be a little drinkie at Claridges bar, then who knows? There is mention of a party we are invited to, but lightweight over here knows that a nap will be appealing by the evening. I know I will end up at Selfridges at some point. Since it is practically my second home I could maybe go for a little snooze in the bed department.

3. Next week I am going to Paris to cat sit the lovely Loris.
C is joining me for the first day and a half.
C is the perfect travel companion.
We like the same things - by which I mean shops. We have much excitement of the Vanessa Bruno, the APC, the Christian Louboutin, the perfume, the beauty products.

Right now I am frantically ebaying sunglasses and bags so that when I go to Paris I can buy more sunglasses and bags. Why on earth I ever bought those enormous Chanel sunglasses in the first place is beyond me. They are only advisable if you are
A: Catherine Deneuve or B: Madonna.

4 comments:

charlotte said...

many happy returns for tomorrow! I turn thirty in august and I'm excited - I completely agree with you; it is something. I can't wait. have a fantastic time at cecconis - a friend of mine works around the corner and swears by the blood orange cocktails...

RD said...

Don't mean to seem old and wise, but having crossed that boundary a few years ago, I am. Let me say that it is indeed is better here on the other side. You know what you do, you know what you don't do, you know what you will try, and you know what you won't try. In other words, you become very boring. How to avoid this? Well you desperately start to try things you never tried before and that your old age and wisdom tells you you shouldn't be trying. Then you become one of those creepy older people who try to hang out with younger people, speak their language, and wear their clothes (hmmm- does blogging with a bunch of less-than-30s make me a creepy older type?)

It's exactly the age where you can drink your younger, less-than-30 friends under the table (and feel proud of it), but you know (though they don't -- too young to figure it out) that you manage it by actually drinking less than they do. (I suspect, but I'm not quite sure, that this ruse stops working when you're 40+. Let me get back to you on that in 5 years. But it does work famously at the moment).

Happy birthday from the greener side,

BB

Anonymous said...

Happy belated birthday.
You and I are exactly the same age, to the day. I love that, because you're smart, witty, eloquent, and well-traveled. That gives me hope for myself. I'll catch up eventually.

Claire said...

Thanks Ana, what a lovely comment!