Young House Love

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Three Zero

Today I turned 30. Woot.

John Birthday 3 X 10

My mom didn’t make me stand in front of an “I AM 30” banner (or fashion a crown for me) like she has in past years, but she and my dad did have us over for brunch on Sunday morning. It was actually a surprise that Sherry planned with them. I had known about the brunch (since my cousins, aunt, uncle, and little sister had traveled in from DC for the day), but was somehow oblivious to the fact that they might use the gathering to celebrate my thirtieth until a candle-filled plate of muffins was placed in front of me. Oh, but my mom did make me this:

Birthday Mom Spatula Gift

Never one to just slip money or gift cards into an envelope, my mom constructed this “flower” with a happy face spatula and paper leaf pockets that housed some gift cards to my favorite places. Oh, and the can “planter” was stuffed with new running socks (likely my dad’s contribution).

My sisters went in on this for me:

Birthday Bike Poster

It’s the Christine Berrie bicycle print that I’ve always loved over on 20×200. It’s the perfect addition to my bicycled-themed art obsession. Speaking of which, I did actually manage to secure a set of the Gap bicycle prints that I yearned for thanks to a helpful Gap manager (remember when I pined for them here)? We were truly shocked when they arrived at our PO Box. Lesson learned? If you ask enough times, a manager might take pity on you and actually send a sign your way (instead of tossing it into the dumpster). So be the squeaky wheel, folks. And hooray for recycling! (Get it? Bicycle? Cycling? See what I did there?).

We haven’t figured out where to hang my new bike collection yet, so pictures “in situation” will have to wait for another post when we pin down proper locations.

John Birthday 20x200 Print

But I do have “in situation” pictures of what Sherry gifted me. Any guesses?

Birthday Opening Robbie

Yup, it’s a white rhino. Specifically the large Robbie trophy that she bought me from Cardboad Safari. I know it’s probably one of the weirder sentences I’ve ever typed, but rhinos are kind of our thing. We even worked one into our blog header.

John Birthday Rhino Close

Sherry knows that I’ve always loved the larger Cardboard Safari creations (not that I don’t also love our little full-bodied Robbie, who makes frequent appearances in various places like our console table and our laundry room). Big Robbie is an especially fitting gift since I surprised Sherry with a ceramic rhino for V-day a while back (more on how that turned into a highly involved rhino scavenger hunt here). So apparently we like giving each other horned mammals. And they keep getting larger. Maybe we’ll end up with a life sized rhino in our kitchen someday a la the giant dog on Friends.

Oh but one word of warning for anyone else who’s eying a large trophy: be sure to consider how far they stick out from the wall when it comes to where you want to hang them (this guy comes out about 18 inches). We fortunately found this spot where no one’s gonna knock into him when they walk by or sit down (since you stand up in front of the chair and not on the chair). So while nobody puts Baby in a corner, we totally put Robbie in a corner. And we love him there.

John Birthday Rhino Far

Overall, the birthday celebrations were pretty low-key (just the way I like ’em). My family took me out to dinner last night and my mom is babysitting tonight so Sherry can have a date with her old man (aka me, in case that was too cryptic for you). Lately she has been calling me her silver fox because I’m sporting some gray hair in the front. But she swears up and down that it’s a compliment. Her rebuttal is usually “Hello? Anderson Cooper – I rest my case.”

Oh, and since I never got around to making a “to do before I’m 30” blog list (like Nicole), I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had actually made one on paper back in high school (as part of a prompt in my senior English class). Who knew keeping those old notebooks stored away would ever come in handy?

Johns15Before30List

Looks like I had gone back and updated it with “Completed” marks sometime around 2005. And sadly I haven’t checked off many more since then. No new countries (#4), bungee jumping (#6) nor movie roles (#7) for me. Though Sherry and I did visit Hollywood (#8) on our first vacation together in October 2005.

John Birthday Hollywood

And I sorta accomplished #9, if you count my run in with Kelly Clarkson at a client event in May of 2005.

John Birthday Kelly Clarkso

Neither Sherry nor I can remember if we still had our fish when we got Burger, so #10 is an unknown. I definitely haven’t learned how to play the bass guitar (#11)… or even the regular guitar (though I owned one for a short time in 2002). But I did work for the National Geographic Channel (#12) in the summer of 2001. It was far from glamorous, but certainly more satisfying than seeing #13 come true. Oh the lofty dreams of an 18 year old…

And although I had completed #15 by visiting Hawaii with a friend before Sherry and I even started dating, it was nice to earn some bonus points by going to Alaska on our honeymoon.

John Birthday Alaska

Speaking of which, I’m gonna earn a third check mark on #15 when Sherry and I continue the turning-30 celebration next year (Sherry hits the big 3-0 in March) by following through on our plans to vacation in Hawaii (which will also multitask as a vacation to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary). But more on that another time. A long post like this has made these old bones weary. Just kidding. To anyone wondering, 30 feels just like 29. But Clara’s even more fun this year because she’s walking and talking (and singing hilarious songs). This morning, for example she sang this:

“Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you said.”

Anyways, thanks to my family for a fun 30th. And to everyone who made my 20’s an exciting and eventful decade. Here’s hoping the 30’s are just as fun!

Comments

  3. Laura says

    Happy Birthday John! My husband told me you start to fall apart once you hit 30…. now I’m scared to tell him about my aches and pains a year later. It’s not true, it’s so not true (must keep repeating that). LOL.

    Enjoy the day! We’re like fine wine, we only get better with age!

    Reply

  4. Teresa says

    Happy 30th Birthday, John!

    So jealous that you got a copy of the Gap poster. I tried all I could and just got a bunch of No’s. Enjoy it, it’s an awesome piece!

    Reply

  5. mn says

    How funny… I bought my husband “Robbie” for his birthday too (the brown cardboard version, not the white one) and he … does not seem to like it. Robbie sits in the corner of our kitchen, unassembled. Glad someone likes Robbie!

    Reply

  6. Vanya says

    Happy birthday John! I also celebrate my birthday at 15.november.2011, but today I turned 29! Don’t worry You look younger :)))) I wish you all your wishes to come true, if not this year, you can try a new wish in the next 100 years!

    Reply

  11. Lauren Nicole says

    Happy Birthday to us! I was wondering why there was not a birthday post this morning as I remembered from last year that we share the day (although not year as I best you by two).

    Toddlers singing is the best! My daughter is 3 and I love how she makes up her own words and sings at the top of her lungs regardless. We should all be so carefree!

    Reply

  12. Heidi P. says

    hAAAApy birthday. ! :)
    My friend and I were talking the other day about how we’ll be 30 next year and she said she stopped getting older at 24 because that’s the year she got married and apparently time has stood still since then. :) haha
    Do you guys feel like you’re the same age as when you got married?
    I feel like having a kid has bumped me up a couple years since marriage ;).

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, we feel so grown up when we think about how we’re PARENTS (!) but when we’re up late at night watching a movie while Clara’s in bed I think we revert back into our early twenties. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  15. Elaine says

    Happy Birthday! And may I say that your mom is just the cutest… from the photos on the porch with birthday banner to the happy face spatula flower. Awesome, just awesome…

    Reply

  16. Andrea H Ross says

    Happy Birthday!
    I can let you know, Bungee Jumping is a thrill you need only once. Visiting other countries can be as awarding as it is terrifying/problematic.
    Having 2 pets (we have dogs) is beyond worth it :-)
    Sounds like a great celebration weekend for you and your family!

    Reply

  19. Michelle says

    Hey! It’s my birthday too… I’m 35 today! I’m still not sure how that happened. Heh. Anywho – Happy 30th!! I hope it’s a fun-filled day!

    P.S. Really enjoying the kitchen re-do. Looking forward to seeing it all come together!

    Reply

  21. Pat Daniel says

    Happy Birthday, enjoy your day. I turned “50” today, so we share a birthday. (No wonder I think you’re witty and funny). Enjoy !!!!

    Reply

  22. Petra says

    Happy Birthday! You can be three if you’d like to be. When my fiancee turned 31, the first thing I said, “Happy 13th Birthday.” I guess I like to make people feel young as much as possible.

    Reply

  24. Jessica says

    Happy Birthday!
    I’m a year into my thirties, and so far, they’ve been fairly awesome and definitely interesting. Here’s hoping yours are great, too!

    Reply

  26. RLB says

    I loved this personal post. Happy birthday John. BTW, I’ve been meaning to ask, and I’m sure I read it sometime, but here goes: Did you go to UVA? You’re always wearing the hat, even back on your honeymoon. I graduated from there in ’93.

    Reply

  27. Han says

    Merry birthday!

    Reading this I suddenly realised what your house is missing! a fish tank!
    it would be awesome in the new kitchen/dining room gap!

    Just think how many tiny white ceramic rhinos you could fit in there! :)

    Reply

  29. leila says

    Happy Bday John! :)

    On another note, I tried to find on the website what’s the model of your kitchen table you got at Target but I could not find it. Do you know the model? Also the console table.. its not available anymore, right?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      So sorry, we don’t know the model of those. I think the console was called Manhattan or something. We just looked for things with clean lines and straight legs so that might help when you’re searching through lots of pics.

      xo,
      s

  30. Robin says

    Happy Birthday, John, to a great guy, a wonderful husband and father and son — your readers see evidence of this every single day.

    Also, I burst out laughing at Clara’s song lyrics. They do get to be an awful lot of fun, don’t they?

    Reply

  31. Heidi says

    Happy Birthday, John! And you can sleep well tonight knowing that your wife likens your hair to Anderson Cooper. He is one fine gray-head ;) I’ve definitely never said “gray-head” before…

    Reply

  32. sarahannerw says

    Happy Birthday! Today is my birthday too! No big celebrations here, because we just moved in to our new house this past weekend! Can’t wait to get started on projects of our own (rather than living vicariously through you two!). If you have a lot of hits to your “painting wood paneling” posts, that will be me!

    Reply

  34. Margaret says

    I tell my husband the same thing re: his grey hair. I’m always looking for more of it! Is that disturbing? But hello, Roger Sterling, super silver fox!

    Reply

  36. Christina says

    Happy Birthday!! I wish I had a list, I’ll be 30 in January so maybe a 40 before 40 list!? Reading yours made me think of a few things I have thought of before, like #14…I ALWAYS wanted to do that and actually get on. Probably a good thing I didn’t or wouldn’t be where I am today!

    Reply

  37. Kate says

    Such good timing for this post! I am turning 30 in just under 2 weeks and still trying to decide how I feel about it. I went back and listed a major accomplishment I hit every year in my twenties and started to feel really good about it, but I may decide next week that it’s actually impending doom and decide to stay 29 for the forseeable future. My other measure is I need to have visited as many states as my age.

    Reply

  38. Sarah says

    Happy Birthday John.
    You guys should totally complete #4 and come to Sydney. Although jetlag + Clara would not be a fun mix. Still there are some pretty fabulous houses you could crash round Sydney’s northern beaches.

    Reply

  39. Katie says

    Very happy birthday to you!

    And can we say “parallel lives?!” My husband turned 30 yesterday, Nov. 14, and I have been calling HIM the silver fox because HE is sporting some gray hairs around his temples! I totally think it’s attractive. And I used Anderson Cooper and Richard Gere as examples of why gray hair is not a bad thing. ;)

    Best of luck crossing more items off your list!

    Reply

  40. Katherine says

    Happy birthday! A Hawaii vacation sounds like the perfect (late) bday present, but rhino heads and bicycle prints are pretty good, too. :)

    Reply

  42. Jenn R. says

    I think my original message might have gone into your spam.

    Happy Birthday, John! By the way, I remember seeing both Burger and the little fish tank on your wall at your wedding, so I think you can cross off #10. :)

    Reply

  43. Guenevera says

    Happy Birthday! There’s a yard emporium that I pass to and from work everyday that has what I assume to be full-size bronze velociraptors for sale (along with all the gazebos you could ever want). You might try checking places like that to see if they have rhinos…=)

    Reply

  45. Laura says

    Happy birthday! It’s my birthday too…not too many people share our birthdate.
    Great present also. My big gift was a new raspberry colored cuisinart hand mixer!!

    Reply

  48. Caitlin says

    They’re filming that Lincoln movie in Church Hill with Daniel Day Lewis and I’m pretty sure they’re still casting extras (all you have to do is grow a beard….). Happy Birthday!

    Reply

  50. Lisa in Seattle says

    Happy birthday, ya pup! Hmm, I just did the math, and apparently your mom and dad had a *lovely* Valentine’s Day 30 years ago. I’ll bet they didn’t bring that up at your birthday party, though. Nice haul of loot with a good balance between practical and fun. All in all, a most satisfactory day, I hope!

    Reply

    • erika m says

      I cannot believe how many repeat birthdays there are here! I was thinking the same thing about Valentines Day(39 weeks)…though the vision is one thats hard to shake…so ummm…Happy Birthday!

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