33...was the year to be.

Tomorrow is my 34th birthday.  I'll be spending the weekend up in Maine, in one of my favorite spots in all the world, with some of my absolute favorite people.  We've got plans for fresh lobster and birthday cake and champagne.  I am anticipating laughter, joy, and cheer...which is just about the best way I can think to welcome in my 34th trip around the sun.

A few weeks ago a friend of mine from high school was in town, visiting from Los Angeles.  We emailed back and forth a bit before his arrival, coordinating schedules and the like.  At one point I commented that if someone had stopped me in the hallway of our high school during our senior year and told my 17 year old self that one day I'd be meeting up with him in Boston in my early thirties, I likely would have laughed out loud.

He replied: "My 17 year old self would have been like, Wait, you can continue to LIVE past 30? LAME."

And now, look at that.  Here I am, right in the heart of my thirties -- and have found myself deeply, madly in love with this decade.  This morning, as I cut through the park near my apartment on the way to work, I looked up at the trees, soaking in the sunlight shining through their green leaves.  "Today is the last day of my life that I will walk to work as a 33 year old," I thought to myself.  "My last morning of my entire existence at this age."  But 34 comes tomorrow.  33 still gets her last day to shine.  And I would be remiss if I didn't take one last reflective look back at what unfolded as one of the most stellar and wonderful years of my life.

I started my year in a state of semi-shock, simply because 32 had gone so darn fast.  Upon reflection, two of the very best decisions I have made on a personal note as of late have been thus - 2013 has been the year of the (my) heart.  And 33 was the year I vowed to stop wasting time, to quit putting things off, to instead do it now. Two promotions later, with an amazing trip to Australia under my belt and an forthcoming trip to Morocco later this fall, more weekend get-aways than I can count, quality time spent with my family and my sweet, hilarious friends, I'd say I stretched 33 for all it had to give me...and then some.  This year, man.  Wow.  Life is all about the peaks and the valleys; sometimes you're the bug, sometimes you're the windshield sort of moments.  And yet I truly do not recall a year in which I have laughed as hard as I have, have had so many reasons to share so much joy and love, and simply just be simply and quietly content.  I've done my best to soak it all up and savor every moment that I can, to relish the little details and the smallest joys.  Oh, 33.  You have made me so very happy. You truly were the year to be.

I read an article earlier this year that said statistically, 33 was the very best age.  It was the year most people cited as being the happiest, the most content in all of their lives.  Which, is good news if you read said article when you are - or not yet - 33.  Not so great should you soon be bidding 33 adieu.  (Don't tell me it's all down hill from here??)

Because it's not.  It can't be.  There's still too much to take in, to experience, to live. There are sunsets to catch and movies to see and events to witness.  There are trips to take and hands to hold, friends to laugh with, family members to visit, new people to meet, sights and sounds to explore, mysteries to discover. There is something new around each and every corner I find - the trick is that we just have to be diligent enough not to miss it.

As is my long standing tradition, I bought myself a present for my 34th birthday, without worrying once about how practical it was...or whether or not I actually "needed" it.  (It's a purse.  I need another bag like I need a whole in the head.  But oh she is a looker!)  Truth be told I ordered it a month ago, simply because I had already been coveting it for half the year anyway and when it finally went on sale I knew I had to jump.  (I may not let myself linger on a birthday treats' practicality but I'll be damned if I'm going to let the opportunity to save 20% + free shipping pass me by.)  She is, without question, one of the most stunning bags you have ever seen...though she hasn't made too much of a debut yet. After all, a birthday gift can only be used once it's your birthday, right?  Come tomorrow I get to take her out of all of her wrappings and shipping boxes, sling her over my arm, and conquer the next year of my life.

34 - let's go for MORE.