Life at Thirtysomething

Why 2010 was my Best. Year. Ever.

by Courtney on January 1, 2011

I started Life At Thirtysomething in February 2010 because I felt like it was just going to be a big year for me. First and foremost, I was turning the dirty thirty, so I felt that was reason enough for me to create a space online where I could whine about getting old. In addition to turning 30, I wanted to blog about events, vacations, and my general perspective on life that I of course thought would be wildly funny – at least in my own mind. And you know what, 2010 didn’t turn out to just be a big year for me, it turned into my favorite year ever! So I thought it would be appropriate to do a little rundown of what makes the last 365 days my best year to-date.

You may recall, I was making a big deal about turning 30, or more specifically, leaving my 20s at the beginning of the year. I felt like this monumental birthday meant I had to grow up and act my age – whatever that means. Was life going to get boring now? Well, no. In fact, quite the opposite – it got way more fun! I ended up having a month long b-day celebration that started with my husband surprising me and flying me to Palm Springs to see one of my fave singers, Adam Lambert, perform live in concert! Then, my girlfriends and I took a 30th b-day trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for 4 days of fun in the sun. Too bad it actually was more like fun in the rain, but either way, we had a blast. And to round out the month-long celebration, the husb and I drove down to Hermosa Beach near L.A. to stay with friends and had a fun weekend bar hoping in Hollywood. This was def the way you want to start out your 30s!

Then in April, after 3 months of training, my friend Melissa and I completed a 65 mile bike marathon. Believe me, this felt like such a huge accomplishment. When originally considering this feat, I couldn’t imagine being on my bike for 5 to 6 hours straight. But through this journey, I realized that with a little hard work and dedication, anything is possible if you set your mind to it. That’s a really powerful realization and I’m SO glad we stuck with it and met the challenge head on. My majorly sore ass and numb feet as a result of the event were just casualties of war.

I enjoyed the summer laying by the pool at our new gym, taking another super fun trip to Hermosa Beach over 4th of July weekend (where I earned the Top 3 Hangover of all time), and going to yet another Adam Lambert concert.

Starting in August, I began training for a November half marathon with my husband Jeff and my friend Melissa. Actually, this was Melissa getting back at me for making her do the bike marathon with me, so I had no choice but to do this with her. And so I wasn’t the only one in my house suffering the relentless training schedule, I forced Jeff to do it with us too! This was yet another major feat for me because I kind of HATE running. And there I was, running and working out 6 days a week to prepare for this nightmare race. Luckily, on the day of the half, which was set in beautiful Paso Robles, California wine country, we enjoyed 70 degree weather and blue skies. Amazingly, I felt great throughout the race and ended up running the whole time with the exception of walking through water stops and the occasional hill because THERE WAS SO MANY FREAKING HILLS! (Oops, sorry for the shouty caps.) My time came in at 2 hours and 19 minutes – 4 minutes ahead of Jeff, I should add!

Then over Thanksgiving Jeff and I met his brother and wife in New Orleans for a few days of fun, followed by a day in Baton Rouge stalking Twilight stars filming Breaking Dawn, and ending the week lounging in Gulf Shores, Alabama for turkey day. It was at this time that I found out that I was pregnant. As you’ve seen in my blog “Nursing a hangover with a positive EPT test (oops!),” this was quite the surprise! It took me a few weeks to adjust to the news and move into the excitement phase, but I’m definitely there now and am so appreciative to be able to have this experience.

So as I look back at the last year of turning 30, taking fun vacations, concerts, athletic challenges, and becoming preggers, I can officially say that 2010 has been my favorite year ever. If you would’ve told me that life really begins at 30 I would’ve scoffed at you and thought that’s only what people in their 30s say to make themselves feel better! But it’s so true, at least for me. And yes, saying this does make me feel better!

Looking ahead, *raising my Shirley Temple in the air* here’s to a fabulous 2011 with even more fun times, character building challenges, and happy blessings. I can already think of one big blessing that will be arriving in July of 2011, so I can’t imagine this next year being any less memorable!

Happy New Year to you all and hoping that 2011 proves to be your best.year.ever!

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Spread your “baby news” before FACEBOOK DOES!!!!

by Courtney on December 19, 2010

I’ve been itching to blog about my new little “sitch” for weeks now, but because I’ve barely told anyone I’m preggers, I can’t! How lame would it be for my friends to find out I’m going to be a baby mama through a blog post!? At this point, I’m 10 weeks along and have already had my first ultrasound, so I can officially tell peeps my big news. But I live in Cali and that news sharing equals a lot of phone calls! I get overwhelmed by the idea of sitting on the phone for hours calling my friends in Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Vegas, Florida, etc. that I just don’t call anyone!

Then I thought; well, I’m going to be home for Christmas in less than two weeks, so I can just hold out and tell some of my besties in person! Even better! As soon as I stepped out of my ultrasound appointment I called my mom to tell her everything went well and I had what looked like an extra terrestrial in my uterus. I then gave her the green light to officially tell people I’m pregnant (she’d already unofficially told everyone). And within 5 minutes of leaving the doctor’s office I got a text message from my girlfriend in Indiana saying: “ARE YOU PREGNANT????”

SHIT! How does she know already???

I wrote back, “What? Why?”  She writes back: “Your brother posted ‘I’m gonna be an uncle on Facebook.’”

FACEBOOK! You bastard! Modern technology just doesn’t jive with keeping secrets these days! So then I immediately call my brother and tell him to DELETE THAT POST until I’ve had a chance to tell everyone. He proceeds to berate me for not hurrying up and telling everyone. I’m like; “SHAUN, I JUST LEFT THE ULTRASOUND APPOINTMENT TWO MINUTES AGO!” Then I have to call my friend and tell her my big news SECOND HAND over the phone. Damn it.

But it didn’t stop there. The next day I get a Facebook wall post from my aunt saying; “I hear congratulations are in order, I’m so happy for you and Jeff!!” Then, two minutes later another aunt adds the comment; “I guess we’re going to be making another blanket!” And then two minutes after that my other aunt writes: “I HAVE TO HEAR ABOUT THIS ON FACEBOOK!!”

FACEBOOK – YOU’RE TELLING EVERYONE MY NEWS! Facebook is like the telephone game on steroids. So I disabled wall posts from friends until I’ve had the chance to get my news out.

Now, getting the news out… this has proven to be a challenge. But not a challenge in which I’ve actually done anything to try to conquer. It’s just been a secret I’ve been keeping for so long that it almost feels weird telling people. Like, this has been my little personal bonding time with my own news; getting used to the idea…accepting it…and ultimately embracing it. Telling people will be like letting people into my little world of vulnerability. I feel differently now. I see myself differently. And now people are going to have to get used to seeing me this new way too. I don’t know how to explain it; it’s just an odd feeling of interpersonal growth that I’ve done quietly behind closed doors unbeknownst to anyone else. So I guess I’ve been a little too slow getting the news out, and it’s time to expose the new me – and my big news!

So here goes…..Hey world, I’m PREGNANT! I know right? So weird!

And now that I’m talking about it….I’m not gonna be able to shut up about it! Herein lies the new purpose of my Life At Thirtysomething blog: it’s going to be the pregnancy diaries of THIS soon to be baby mama! I do hope you join me for the ride!

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Happy b-day, America! Let’s binge drink!

by Courtney on July 9, 2010

Hiya! I know I’ve been on a bloggy hiatus from this blog address since mid-June, but I promise I haven’t forgotten aboutcha. I’ve just been thinking of a game plan for blogging on Life at Thirtysomething, as it’s my secondary blog behind Pop Culture Junkie. And I’ve decided that I’m not going to give myself a hemorrhoid trying to squeeze out a blog that just isn’t there. I’m just gonna let it flow. If I have a topic, I’ll blog…and if I don’t, well, *crickets*. 

SOOO, I thought I’d update you on my latest trip to SoCal… 

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This past weekend, my husband and I went down to Hermosa Beach near LA to hang with our friends over the 4th of July holiday. We had a great time, but now, I need another vacation. There’s nothing more exhausting than binge drinking all day and all night. It can really wipe you out when you’re 30(+).  But when in Rome, you do as the Romans do. And while celebrating our nation’s b-day in SoCal, we drink like we breathe – nonstop. 

On Saturday, we did a “crib crawl” where we hopped around from house party to house party, socializing and you know, drinking. I even enjoyed a little bit of college nostalgia when I was peer pressured into doing a beer bong! I mean, why waste time being sober? My friend reasoned with me, this will just get us to the ultimate goal faster.  Ok, well, like I’m really going to look like a puss here – gimme that nasty germy thing and let’s get the party started.  Fuck watery eyes and beer running down my chin – there’s nothing to be ashamed of here. Everybody’s doin’ it.  

After a long day of boozing, we slid into comfy seats in an IMAX theater and watched “Eclipse” and swooned like it was for our health. Well, the guys didn’t, they slept with their mouths WIDE open in the seats next to us, but my girlfriend Ashley and I def cried happy tears during the chaste but oh-so-sexy love scenes. 

The next morning, Ashley and I went out to the beach to support our signif others who were in the process of completing the “Iron Man” competition. But really, all we were doing was standing there watching the guys pound the required minimum of six beers at the end of the event, in which they both admitted to half-assing the actual competition.  But oh no – there will be no half-assing the beer chugging portion of the event! Geez. It doesn’t matter how old they get, guys can always channel their inner meat head. 

Later in the day we had a BBQ and I realized that I should never pour my own margaritas. I tend to over-serve myself. I mean, it was fun, from what I can recall… except for when I sort of had a freak out moment when I woke up at 3am on the couch and found my foot standing in a puddle of someone else’ upchuck. YUM-MAY! Apparently I was running around the room in hysterics shouting, “I can’t believe this, I’m almost 31, I’m almost 31” – like this shouldn’t be happening to me because I’m almost a mature age of “31”. The problem with this rant is that I’m not almost 31. I’m barely 30 and a half, please. Drinking can make you say crazy things. 

It goes without saying that for the next two days I had a wicked hangover. But despite this, I had a blast. 

Now, I should be clear that this is NOT my normal lifestyle. This is a slice of life I like to dip in and out of on rare occasion. It’s the SoCal life. Well, in all fairness, it’s the 4th of July SoCal life. If there was a theme song for the weekend, it would’ve been Katy Perry’s new gem “California Gurls”. Like the song, this place is light, fun, and definitely not how life really is. And I can’t wait to go back! But next time, I’ll definitely be putting a little less “ta-kill-ya” in my margs, like,  for realz.


MusicPlaylist
Music Playlist at MixPod.com

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Blogging during my blogging *hiatus*

by Courtney on June 14, 2010

Did you miss me?

I thought I’d check in during my blogging hiatus and let you know what I’ve been up to. Yes, I know blogging during my “blogging hiatus” sort of defeats the purpose, but it’s what I want. . .

So, I just watched the season 3 premiere of “True Blood” and it was ok. I mean, I was kind of confused the whole time, like I had no idea what was going on.

I’m re-reading “Twilight Saga: Eclipse” before the movie comes out in two weeks so that I can be really annoying and point out every single detail of the movie that doesn’t match the book.

I re-joined Weight Watchers because guuuurl, my pants are TIGHT. I’m a pro at WW. The first time I did it I was super motivated because I had a wedding dress to fit into 9 months down the road. But now I do it because another day in this fat suit is going to make me wanna jump. Ok, I’m not really fat. But I’m really hating on these rolls around my waistline that I’ve recently acquired. I blame my chunkiness on turning 30. My metabolism hit a brick wall. See how easy it is to not take responsibility?

I just dropped a small fortune at the GAP because they were having a big sale and if you used your GAP card, you’d get an additional 25% off. Let’s hope I don’t lose too much weight or else these ill-fitting purchases will really piss me off.

I rode 22 miles on my bike this past Saturday with my cycling group. After one hour and 45 minutes in 85 degree weather, I was so ready to get off that mutherfucker. How I ever did a 5-hour 65 mile bike marathon back in April, I’ll never know.

You can blame my bloggy hiatus on my recent 10-day trip back home to Indiana. I was on the go so freaking much that I never had time to sit down and veg in front of the computer. On the one hand, I was itching to blog as soon as the opportunity presented itself. But on the other, I kind of welcomed the break. Blogging can be such a therapeutic way to purge and cleanse, but it can also drive you mad and make you feel incompetent and uninteresting if your blogs suck enough to not elicit a single comment from readers.

I’m also driving myself crazy contemplating a blog name change. I don’t really like “Life at Thirysomething” anymore. I named the blog before turning 30, when I thought it was going to be this big deal. Now that I’m 30, I know that it ‘aint no thang and so the blog title no longer fits my focus. Problem is; I can’t think of anything cool that’s not already snatched up by some other douche blogger.  I’d ask for readers to post new blog name ideas in the comments section, but I have this terrible fear of blogging rejection in the form of “0” comments when I ask the question, therefore, I won’t ask. But if you want to offer a suggestion despite me not asking for your opinion, go ahead. I won’t stop you.

Part of the reason I thought about taking a blogging hiatus is that I think I need to focus on things such as getting more sleep, spending more time in the gym, cleaning my house, and spending time with my husband. You see, all these things suffer when you have a blog. They almost die when you have TWO BLOGS! So I thought perhaps I’d step away for a bit, work on being a little less selfish with my time, and then after a month hiatus or so, I can come back with fresh new topics!! I can already see this going down the path of my Lent sacrifices. I give up a bad habit for 40 days and then indulge in said habit with 10 times the fervor when the sacrifice time table is up! But I’ll try not to let blogging re-take over my life again like Diet Pepsi did.

This blog feels more like an email…

Alright, I’m going to get back to my blogging hiatus. I just wanted to say “hi” and give you a bunch of really random bullshit so that you didn’t totally forget about me.

I will be back.  Hasta luego!

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I wish I was an anonymous blogger

by Courtney on April 26, 2010

Sometimes, I wish I was an anonymous blogger. I want a license to spew unapologetically on my blog. I want to be the most immature person on earth when I feel like it – and the most refined advice giver you’ve ever met as well.  In essence, I want to go filter free.

But, you see…I can’t. Why you ask? Well for one, my mother-in-law reads my blog (Hi Patty!). Really though, I’m not as concerned with her as I am about oh, I don’t know…MY BOSS! In fact, I’m not convinced that he hasn’t Googled me at some point, which is a bit unsettling. And then there’s my dad. My poor dad cannot adjust to the fact that I’m now a 30-year old woman who just so happens to cuss like a sailor. In the times that he does read my blog, his first comment is always something about me being a “potty mouth”. (Dad, really?). And then he’ll say he liked everything else about the blog post.

Why not just go anonymous?

One problem with anonymity: I’m an attention monger. I think intrinsically, bloggers are attention seekers. They like to bitch about what they hate and wax poetic about what they love – and they think the world should care (or at least they hope). I for one, fall very much into this category. I’ve always been kind of an attention whore. I’ve been like this all my life. My older brother is the biggest attention hoe-bag on the planet and my husband runs a close second. You must be thinking; how do you get a word in edgewise? Well, I blog. I get to say whatever I want here! Er…at least I try to.

And lately, I’ve been having some oh-so-funny experiences that I’d LOVE to blog about. It’d be a freakin’ riot to write about these little adventures! But damn it, I’m too big of a puss about whose going to read it! GAH!

Anonymous bloggers have more fun

I follow a handful of bloggers who have chosen to conceal their identity and clearly, they have A LOT more fun saying what’s on their mind – unfiltered style. You’ve got the thirtysomething chicks over at “Twitarded” who have their fingers on the pulse of what goes on deep into the psyche of Twilight obsessed woman everywhere. I doubt you’ll find a couple of cruder beyotches in the blogosphere, but hell, I love ‘em! They feed my immature, nasty imagination. Recently, “Latchkey Wife” joined the girls of “Twitarded” to triple the shock value. And ‘course, reading their blogs not only makes me “LOL”, but it gives me a major case of the jealousies (noun meaning: the feeling you get when you read something and you’re all, “shit why didn’t I write that?” Noun courtesy of Jamie Varon).

Anonymity isn’t just for the likes of Twitards that write endlessly about jumping Robert Pattinson’s bones or pooping in his trailer. I’ve read Mommy blogs in which even they don’t want you to know who they are. Why? Because they too have a strong affinity for four letter words that start with EFF.

Damn, you're in a pickle girl...

So what do I do? Throw caution to the wind and just blog away, free-style? Well, not sure about that either. I’ve read about bloggers getting the big heave-ho from work after blogging about co-workers, for example. But cool enough, this particular blogger got the last laugh because she’s now a profesh blogger who makes loads of $$$ off her F-bombs. Once again: jealous.

Ok, how about I change things up on Life at Thirtysomething? What if I get a new, cheekier name? Any suggestions? Whoever has the coolest one wins! (Don’t ask what). The easiest thing I could do is remove my picture and any mention of my name. But then, can I still post my blogs on Facebook – where everyone knows it’s me? Of course we run into the little problem of being an attention monger who loves your praise in the form of comments and pats on the back in person. Oh lord. Some people stress about their jobs, or world wars. I stress about my blogs. Tomate-O, tomat-O.

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30 going on 13: the real me EXPOSED!

by Courtney on April 21, 2010

This is a direct quote from my husband. Swear.

This will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, but I’m like, a major pop culture junkie. I love me some suuuuurrrrreeeaallll life like you wouldn’t believe. It’s true. I follow entertainment blogs on a regular basis and get daily e-newsletters from People Magazine and Us Weekly. I mean, it’s important that I know the breaking headlines. (What? There was a big volcano eruption? Where?). I watch “American Idol” and “Dancing with the Stars” with fervor and I see a new movie almost weekly.

The most notable of my pop culture obsessions has to be the “Twilight” series of books and movies. Ok… and as long as I’m being honest, I also have a freakish obsession with Adam Lambert. THERE. I SAID IT! The cat’s outa the bag. You know me. You really, really know me now. Are we still friends?

Well, up until now, I’ve saved my fan girl ramblings on the likes of Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner for my other blog, Pop Culture Junkie. I guess I thought Life at Thirtysomething was going to be about my OTHER interests. You know; the ones where I don’t have to hold my breath and pause for reaction when I hit the send button. But lately, I’ve been gettin’ tired of two bloggy blogs. It’s too time consuming to be two people – the 30-year old, and the 13-year old. Truth is; in many ways, I AM 30 going on 13. It’s my form of escapism form normal, everyday life. And so, if I’m going to write a blog about my life and the shiznet I care about, pop culture is going to weigh heavy on the menu of topics.

Spastic fan girl

What? You mean you haven't told them about us?

So there you have it, I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to start blogging about pop culture here. I should warn you; I’m not as classy and mature as you perceive me to be now. I know, I know:  surprise, surprise. But sometimes I’m just a spastic fan girl about my celeb love. Sometimes I want to gush about how freaking GORGE Robert Pattinson is… like in a way that a married girl shouldn’t. I want to delve into why at times he just looks OK in pictures, and other times he’s so HAWT, it’s stupid.

And I won’t even mention my life-size cardboard cutout of RPattz. No, it’s too soon. I’ll save that for a later post when I’m sure you’ve accepted the real me.

To my mature audience who couldn’t give a lick about pop culture, don’t be skerd. I’m still going to blog about life stuff, like how my dog’s giant balls are meeting their maker any day now, or how I plan to run naked in San Francisco’s Bay to Breakers annual 12k race. Ok, I’m not really going to run naked. I’m going to wear a bag over my head, you know, so no one knows it’s me.

So ya, I’m just going to infuse all of me in this blog now – not just my better half.

…And guys, I think you’re really going to love me! xoxo

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Torn between two loves

by Courtney on April 19, 2010

Right now I feel torn. I feel spread too thin, exhausted, and apathetic. It’s not about work. It’s not about friends or family. It’s about………wait for it.………blogging. And I’m being serious!

I’ve been experiencing writer’s block lately. And it’s SO frustrating because I don’t have time to have writer’s block! This nasty little problem has been sneaking up on me ever since I started this second blog, Life at Thirtysomething (LAT). I was so blissfully happy blogging away on Pop Culture Junkie (PCJ) – my first REAL hobby since childhood – that having a second blog on “life” sounded two times as wonderful! I thought; instead of living vicariously through other people’s lives (solely), I could start living MINE to the fullest – and blog about it. Excellent idea, right? Well…in actuality, having two blogs is starting to feel more like work than a hobby. And I’m feeling torn over which blog to spend more time on – my first child, or my brand new baby. Mama feels torn!

Try not to snicker too much out there real moms, but this is as far as my experience with motherhood has taken me. It’s what I imagine it must be like when you have one kid and you add to your brood. You instinctively want to spend as much time as possible with your new baby; helping her to grow and learn new things – all while showing her off to the world. But you can’t forget about your first baby! After all, if you ignore her – you’ll stunt her growth! Though she may crawl, she needs to learn how to walk on her own, and in order to do that – she needs your help. I’ve left PCJ to crawl too long while I show off LAT. And now, PCJ is regressing. And I feel guilty about it.

Why did I do this to myself?

Somewhere along the line I started feeling like my own internal musings on life would make a good blog. I mean, I crack my ass up all the time in my head – so why not share with others? I also saw this blog as a great way to be held accountable for the things I say I’m going to do. Because how stupes would I look if I say I’m going to do something, people read about it, and then I puss out?

So far, I’ve really enjoyed blogging on Life at Thirtysomething. I’ve had a nice response from it and I feel like there will be more and more things to blog about as I continue to take on new adventures and eventually have a real kid. I mean, can you imagine those preggo blogs? Like; “Help! I have stretch marks, hemorrhoids, AND I’m losing my hair!!” Or, “If my husband takes another drink of that goddamn beer while I drink milk I’m gonna SCREAM!” Those will be fun!

But for now, I’m just getting worn out with two blogs, a full-time job, a husband, dog, and a house to maintain! Something’s gotta give! I’m still trying to figure out what that is. Maybe Jeff can go live……JUST KIDDING! I don’t know. I may combine the two blogs someday. We’ll see. That would be a lot of work. And there we are again – WORK! Ugh!

What happened to my happy, fulfilling, make me feel young hobby? Help! I need advice! Being the mama that does it all is hard work. There’s that word again! AHHHHH!

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