How To Be 30
31 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
This is the last birthday theme week post, and not so coincidentally, it’s my birthday. 
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When I started college, I had a timeline—a list, if you will, of how I figured my future would play out:
- Meet Mr. Right my Sophomore year.
- Date Mr. Right my Junior year.
- Accept Mr. Right’s wedding proposal my Senior year.
- Graduate in May.
- Get married in July.
- Get a job and move to Dallas.
A little context on why I thought this would be my future: I figured dating a couple of years would be a decent amount of time to know if he was Mr. Right. July is one of my all-time favorite months. Why not have my wedding anniversary in that month, then? And, as for moving to Dallas…it was really the only big town in Texas I’d ever spent much time in. Plus, I figured it was big enough to have plenty of job opportunities, it was one plane ride back to home, and my big hair would fit right in.
But here’s what really happened:
- Study in Grenoble, France my Junior year.
- Enroll in graduate school my Senior year.
- Graduate from grad school.
- Accept a job as a technical writer.
- Move to Austin.
When I went to France, it was what I considered the “hardest, best decision” I’d ever made. It was difficult to be so far from home, but I knew I was supposed to be there. When I went to graduate school, it was what I considered the “hardest, best decision” I’d ever made. The theory and projects were extremely challenging, but I knew I was supposed to be there. When I moved to Austin, it was what I considered the “hardest, best decision” I’d ever made. It was hard to be so far from home, around the trees, the traffic, and the rain (none of which I had ever experienced before), but I knew I was supposed to be here.
I’m a single girl, living in a fun city, working at a great company, surrounded by awesome friends. My life isn’t perfect, but I know I’m on the right track. And here’s what turning 30 has taught me: life can be so much more amazing than anything you can write on a list.
My deepest thanks to my family, friends, and coworkers for making this such a special birthday. Because of all their well wishes, I’m pumped to enter a new decade, and I’ve decided to forgo a “future list.” Instead, I’ve decided to do two things: be myself and be happy. You can check it out here: The 30 Diaries.
Birthday Theme Week: Growing Up Is Hard to Do
30 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
In 2001, I married the love of my life, Paul. I never dreamed I’d marry so young. In many ways, I was still a kid even though I was 21.
About a year later, we moved to Texas, a HUGE shift in culture, climate, EVERYTHING. I was beyond thrilled to be leaving the old stomping grounds behind, setting off on this new adventure in the grand metropolis of Lubbock. I’ll never forget a couple days after we moved in, after all the family who had come with us to help had left us, alone, in Lubbock. That morning, I woke up and panicked. I suddenly freaked out. We had moved to this flat, dry, dusty piece of earth so that I could pursue grad school, but Paul didn’t have a job yet. I wasn’t even sure how to get to the supermarket. We were alone, truly. So, we did the sensible thing. We packed up and hitched a ride with someone going towards Knoxville, Tennessee (where my parents were living at the time) and crashed with Momma and Daddy for several days, spending most of our time in the pool and eating Momma’s yummy cooking. I can’t remember how we got back to Lubbock (a mere 24-hour drive from Knoxville), but eventually we did. And, we were alone again, but I know I felt better about it.
Then, in the hot July of 2002 grad school started, and I met someone. That someone would become my best friend, my link to West Texas, and the person I’d spend a lot of time in the next 7.5 years growing up with. We’ve learned together that growing up is hard to do. From relationship craziness to child-rearing uh-ohs, from first-”real” job jitters to financial mistakes, we’ve seen each other come into this adulthood thing. Sometimes together, sometimes solo, we’ve learned that growing up is hard to do.
We didn’t know each other until our early 20s and we’ve spent most of our 20s together, hunkering down for grad school projects that we haven’t started that are due in 30 hours, scrambling to put together samples for our first bridal show, her holding my right leg while I birthed my children, dancing in sprinklers like no one was watching, dreaming up about 4.23 million ideas a year. We know so much about each other’s past, and we’ve even spent significant amounts of time in one another’s hometown, that we feel like we’ve known each other all our lives. Sometimes I have to remind myself, “No, she wasn’t at your 6th grade sleepover…” This past November, I turned 30, and tomorrow she turns 30.
Whitney, happy birthday. You’re truly a blessing in my life and my kids’ lives. I couldn’t imagine doing this adult stuff without you. xoxo
Don’t Bust the Birthday Budget
29 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
It’s birthday theme week at WGL. YAY!
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While birthday parties are a great way to let someone know you love them, you don’t have to rob a bank to host one. Here are some tried and true methods I’ve used to cut costs and planning time without cutting the fun:
- Use Evite for invitations. It’s a free site, so you eliminate the cost of invitations and postage. It also eliminates a trip to the post office, thus saving you time.
- If you’re serving something and you want to control the portions, consider serving it in a cupcake liner. Cupcake liners are inexpensive and come in a variety of colors, so they look great on the plate, plus you get to decide portions before the party starts. My mom always served ice cream in cupcake liners–it cut down on the amount she needed to buy, plus she dipped the cream before the party, and then put the individual servings back in the freezer until the event. Having the ice cream already dished up saved her a lot of serving time during the party.
- Have a make-your-own buffet. Sometimes buying pre-made, elaborate desserts can get pricey, so consider creating a make-your-own dessert bar. Bake vanilla cupcakes and let guests choose between the birthday guy or girl’s favorite toppings.
- Buy your decorations at your local dollar store. Most chains carry a wide selection of paper plates, napkins, and silverware. Plus, they are the world’s best place to buy inexpensive mylar balloons.
- Use plastic tablecloths on the tables or countertops where you are serving food. You can buy these for a dollar, you can usually find them in whatever color you need to match your event, and after the party is over, you can pick them up and throw them away, taking all the crumbs with them.
- Instead of buying an expensive guest book, you can use notecards for each guest to write their names, their address or email, and even a short birthday wish. You can present these tied with a ribbon or in a small photo book to the guest of honor.
- Invent your own birthday games. Having a quiz about the year your guest was born or a quiz about them is free and easy to create.
- Instead of renting an expensive place to hold your party, have it at your favorite park.
- Gift idea: Give the birthday honoree a coupon redeemable for something you can help them with. Maybe you’re a great painter, organizer, or babysitter…giving a gift of time is a great gift for someone. And, it is less time-consuming than shopping!
- Gift idea: Create a mixed CD of songs you have listened to together or that you know are special to the recipient.
Birthday Week: Coping Skills, aka Thanksgiving Day, 1979
28 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
Birthday Week continues at Wild Geese Labs.
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I’m not sure how long my mother was in labor with me, but it just so happens that the final push from her or pull from the doctor’s forceps brought me into the world in the wee morning hours of Thanksgiving Day, 1979. Ever since then, I’ve had the honor and the horror of having a “holiday birthday.”
Thanksgiving shifts a little each year, so sometimes my birthday falls on the grand turkey eating event, and other times it falls just before or just after. At most, there’s a week between my day and the day when folks gather for probably the biggest meal they’ll eat all year. Either way, if your birthday falls within a week of ANY major holiday, you’re close enough to consider yourself a “holiday baby”–especially in terms of having to deal with the vortex of most major US holidays. (Given the rate of retail, I’ll probably change that rule to a month soon. Seriously folks, Easter items on the shelves ALREADY?)
Sometimes having a holiday birthday is fun. It’s a neat tidbit about yourself to bring up in those awkward icebreaker moments at parties, on first days of class, and at times when you don’t want to reveal other neat tidbits about yourself. Sometimes, though, having a birthday that falls on a holiday, especially Thanksgiving, can be a real drag. I mean who really feels like eating cake and ice cream after a dinner of turkey, mac n cheese, green beans, sweet potato pie, rolls, and pecan pie? And, who wants birthday cake the day before such a meal is to occur? For that matter, who wants a birthday cake and ice cream anywhere NEAR such a meal? But, I digress.
Birthdays are special because they give a person the chance to have a day that’s about numero uno, about the moment he/she entered the world. But, if that day falls on a holiday, that special moment gets clouded with planning and anticipation for the other big event occurring on the same day. It’s a tough place to be in. So, through the years, all 30 of mine, I’ve learned to deal. As a result, I have some tips for coping with a holiday birthday. Because my experience rests with Thanksgiving, some of these tips are very Thanksgiving-specific. But, with some creativity, you can adapt them for your situation, too.
- Offer to take all the leftovers home as a consolation prize.
- Remind people, often, that today is also YOUR birthday.
- Give out party favors with your name on them.
- Declare that because it’s YOUR birthday, you get to pick what’s on the menu.
- Suggest that someone sing “Happy Birthday.”
- Don’t whine too much, but do offer your take on how a holiday birthday can be hard on a person.
- Be sure to ask all attendees when their birthday is so that you can say, “Mine is today!”
- Remind people that on such a day of thankfulness, they should be most thankful for you.
We Partied Like Rock Stars
27 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
Tonight I went to the first bash held in my honor for an upcoming milestone birthday I’ll be celebrating in a few days. Here’s the lowdown on what it was like to party like a rock star on a Wednesday evening:
- I was greeted at the hosts’ home with a mylar cupcake balloon tied to the mailbox, announcing to everyone this is where the party was at.
- Once inside, we sat down to one of my favorite dinners: hot dogs, chips, and lemonade.
- After putting away two hot dogs, we had cupcakes the size of my head. Seriously, Costco cupcakes come in one size: extra grande. I had part of a vanilla and part of a chocolate cupcake.
- After eating my weight in sugar (it’s a b’day bash, so I figured the splurge was totally appropriate, right?), I played some serious mylar balloon fighting with one of the hosts. I think we were supposed to be posing as Transformers, pitted against each other. All I know is that my host is fast. And that I nearly popped a lung. And that I am really getting old.
- After dying a few hundred fake Megatron deaths, we gathered together for a serious game of Hi Ho Cherry-o. Did you know the new version isn’t all cherries? Now you can be oranges, apples, blueberries, or cherries.
- After a short intermission, where one host took a dip in her bathtub, we convened for more party fun. This time, the hosts turned off the lights, turned on the disco ball, and busted out the glow sticks. We made bracelets and tires and jump ropes and ran around in circles in the living room until I fell back on the couch, certain I’d worked off the cupcake.
- To close the party, my hosts presented me with a treasure chest: a small purple chest, filled with special goodies.
This goes in my birthday party hall of fame. Why? Because my hosts are two of the most precious people on the planet: Amanda’s young kids, Dalton and Lily. Dalton planned the party, from the decorations, to what was on the menu, to the games we would play. During the planning, Amanda asked him if he’d like to make my cupcakes or buy them. He said, “Let me think about it. I’ll get back to you.” So a few days later, he told her, “I want to get the ones from Costco.” To think that someone so young would care so much about me is the best present I’ve ever gotten.
Thanks, Dalton and Lily, for making this an extra special birthday. And thanks, Amanda, for letting them throw such a rockin’ bash at your place.
–Whitney
Birthday Week: How I Know He Loves Me
26 Jan 2010 1 Comment
Wild Geese Labs is having its first ever theme week. Starting with yesterday’s post about mystery fun, we’re hosting 7 days straight of birthday-themed content. As usual at WGL, anything goes.
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I’ve never doubted that my husband Paul loves me. But, if I ever did, I would think about all the wonderful things he’s done for me. A few that come to mind:
- Went to Taco Bell in PJs post 11:00 p.m. to get his 8.5-month pregnant wife a Nachos Bell Grande.
- Frequently digs me out of mathematical disasters involving stick people.
- Eats bites of foods he’d rather not (broccoli, asparagus) to be a good example to our children.
- Doesn’t complain once in three years of hauling stuff and waiting in lines at bridal shows.
- Opens all the clamshell packaging, twisties, and assorted other hardware enclosing our kids’ new toys.
- Puts together all those toys, and their furniture, and my toys and my furniture.
- Single-handedly, with the children at home with him, baked me a cake for my most recent birthday. Oh yeah, here she is:
Photo by Amanda
Yes, those are lizard tattoos in the background. And, yes, I am 30. And, yes, this cake wins the absolute-best-birthday-cake-ever award. I’m one lucky gal.
Friday, February 13, 1998
25 Jan 2010 2 Comments
Put on your party hats…this week on WGL we’re talking birthdays, birthdays, birthdays!
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I’m not especially superstitious, but I’ve always liked the aura around Friday the 13th. I turned 18 in late January of 1998, and we waited until Friday, February 13th, to have my very fitting party, a murder mystery party that I co-wrote with my mom. We titled the party, “Another Murder at the Bates Motel.” Thanks to all the hard work of my parents and my friends, it was one of the most amazing parties I’ve ever had. So much so, I’ve decided to celebrate it all over again by posting all the party details on this Friday the 13th.
The Invites—I used puzzle invites to write out the party details and then scrambled all of the pieces in the envelope so each guest had to put the puzzle together to know about the party. Because this was a murder mystery party, my mom and I enclosed a “missing persons” information sheet that told the introductory story of the murder and gave a picture of the woman. “She was last seen driving around town in her 1982 maroon Buick Oldsmobile.”
The Food—We had mostly normal party food—think veggies and dip and chips and dip, but the cake was something of a sight. It was a strawberry sheet cake with white icing. Right down the middle, my mom had put a giant faux butcher knife. With blood red icing dripping out of either sight…well, it was pretty murderous.
The Beverage—My mom floated plastic eyeballs in Hawaiian punch.
The Photos—We took a large silhouette (think life size) of Norman Bates dressed up as a woman, wielding a giant knife, and painted it in black on a white sheet. We took the white sheet and stretched it tight across two thin boards and nailed it down. We cut out the head of the silhouette, and each guest took a turn standing behind it for some hilariously gruesome photos.
The Decorations—My dad spent weeks making a “No Vacancy – Bates Motel” sign. He used red and blue Christmas lights to spell out all the letters and attached them to a black board. Nothing says murder mystery party like this sign in your front yard.
Once inside, guests each received a Bates Motel room key, with a number on it that assigned them a specific role to play in the murder mystery. We also recreated the crime scene in my parents’ garage. Using the 1982 maroon Buick, courtesy of my grandma, we placed the lady and the clues of her last moments in typical caution tape fashion. A few weeks before my party, a local store was going out of business, so I bought one of their half mannequins to play the role of “dead lady.” She didn’t cost much, seeing as how she was only waist up, but she made an excellent, too-real-not-to-take-another-look prop.
The Game—We had each person’s role in the crime written out on different sheets of paper. As they drew a room key, they received their role. We took turns letting everyone read their information until we solved the crime. I’ve slept since then, so I don’t remember the exact details, but I do remember my friend Jay ended up “winning.” My mom gave him the faux butcher knife as the prize. I do remember my mom and I spent a lot of time writing the story. It was great, great fun, but it was also insanely crazy to keep up with all the plots and storylines. We’d bought a murder mystery kit and had used it for a previous party, so I know we used that as our guide. If I had it to do all over again, I’d call Deputy Police Chief Brenda Lee Johnson and ask for her advice.
The Gift—I got a lot of great gifts that year, but the one that stands out in my mind is the scrapbook Deborah and Melanie made for me. As a surprise to me, they had all of my friends write a birthday message to me, and they took pictures of all of my friends and compiled them together. What an awesome gift!
The I Can’t Believe This Is Happening Surprise—Because I co-wrote the story with my mom, I wasn’t really able to play the game. But, my mom is the Queen of Surprises, and she pulled a good one on me at this party. Here, I thought I knew everything about the crime scene, the game, the decor…a few minutes into the party, the doorbell rang and my mom made me answer it. She’d asked a real detective from our home town to come in and fingerprint the guests!!! Believe me, I was super surprised. I’m also really glad that’s the only time a detective has ever been on my doorstep, asking for me!
All in all, my 18th birthday party was very fun and very different…just the way I like it! Thanks again to my parents for all the work they put into it, my brother, Caleb, for playing along, and all of my friends who came to the party and contributed to the scrapbook.
