31 Awesome Things in 31 Days: Thing #1—Start This Thing Up Again with Ice Cream Cake

We're so bad at kick-starting our 31 Things that I didn't even take a picture of my cake like I did last year. But here is evidence of David's excellent present-wrapping skills that put my own crappy attempts to shame.

Last year I turned 30, which is apparently a big deal. I admit I was a little nervous to leave my 20s—those rip-roaring years of sowing both wild oats and tame ones, bouncing around from Tokyo to the Sonoran Desert to Southeastern Idaho and finally into the big happy arms of my David (who promptly waltzed me off into the British Isles for more adventuring before digging some shallow roots in West Texas). To turn 30—well, it seemed like ending not just a chapter, but a whole miniseries.

Since David and I were both 30 years old for one month before David turned 31, we decided to celebrate our thirtyness by doing 30 Awesome Things in 30 Days. It was such a lovely way to start a new decade of life that we decided to reprise last year's experiment and accomplish 31 Things in 31 Days this year (there are technically 35 days or so in-between Dave's birthday and my own, so we could keep this running for a while).

We weren't so good at documenting today—we didn't take any good pictures of the really good stuff—but we're hoping to get back into the swing of Things in the next few days.

In any case, today we kickstarted 31 Things by celebrating my 31st birthday. It looked like this:

• 9:00: Eat homemade cinnamon rolls
• 10:00–12:00: Work while Hollie sleeps
• 12:00: Family walk
• 12:30: Lunch
• 1:00–4:30: Hang out at the DMV and get Emily a Texas driver's license on the day that her Idaho license expires.
• 5:30: Dinner at the Manna with a few close friends
• 7:00: Ice cream cake & present opening

It was a great birthday, in spite of spending almost four hours at the DMV (which involved a quick trip over to another government building to get a hard copy of our car registration renewal receipt, because apparently a printed online copy of said receipt doesn't cut it). I'm not going to lie, though—the DMV was grim. The only water fountain was covered in a black garbage bag and super-duct-taped over with large signs warning against even approaching the water fountain. I'm pretty sure someone must have peed in it and no one knows how to clean it now. Furthermore, the "take-a-ticket" format of waiting in line was completely botched. The numbers were all out of order. My number was 309. 308 was called at around 3:00 and I got excited. Around 20 other numbers as various as 069 and 753 were called between 308 and 309—I didn't end up getting called back until nearly 4:15. Hollie's nap was supposed to begin between 2:30 and 3:00. It was rough.

Perhaps this is why taking pictures today was difficult. We were a little exhausted, not to mention it is finals week here. 

I did manage to snag a picture of Hollie just before heading to dinner. The three of us were each equally as frazzled, starving, and semi-dolled-up as Hollie is in this picture.

David had arranged for three of my closest friends to meet us at Manna Bread & Wine, a place we had never been to. It's the kind of place that doesn't even own high chairs. It's the kind of place we still took our 18-month-old daughter to, and she was perfectly lovely (surprisingly, especially considering her late car nap). The restaurant was tucked away inside a small, artsy shopping center with a grassy sitting area and decorative fountain (complete with a bridge) that we all found very charming, especially Hollie (who loves water fountains).

We ate well, we chatted and laughed, and Hollie didn't really start to make a fuss until after the check had come.

We returned home, friends in tow, and ate a small strawberry Marble Slab ice cream cake while I opened up the presents that David had wrapped up the night before. We mosied about, and one friend stayed late to play some games with Dave and me. 

My ridiculously large amount of loot. My mom sent me a KitchenAid Blender because our old blender can barely cough up a simple smoothie these days, and my friend Jo got me some excellent summer-y maternity clothes, including incredibly comfortable stretchy pants that are not in this photo because I was already wearing them. My friend Mel also got me a Harry Potter Time-Turner—you know, for getting through my reading list before taking my qualifying exams this July! Davie got me an ice cream maker, a copy of Moonrise Kingdom, a Chieko Okazaki book (a marvelous Japanese Mormon sister who is delightfully progressive, blunt, feminist, and loving, and I love her), and a new set of my favorite pens (Pilot G-2, size .05). Per tradition, David also wrapped up some library books for my birthday (every year he "gifts me an author" via the library). He and Hollie picked out some books from the Miss Nelson series, which we had been reminiscing about earlier this week. You know the ones? The teacher "leaves" and a mean "substitute" takes over, but it is really the teacher in disguise? I can't wait to revisit these books!

It was a lovely way to turn 31. I am more Texan now, and I have an ID to prove it. 

So.

Turning 31: Accomplished.

Acing the DMV: Accomplished.

Dining well with lovely people: Accomplished.

Thing #1: Accomplished.

Oh yeah, and Hollie is 18 months now. One of these 31 Things will focus more on her so we can brag about her cuteness. In the meantime, this picture will have to suffice.