We all turn 30

Within a thirty day period, I'll have celebrated three of my close friends turning 30. Mine is coming up this March, and I have to say that these "trial runs" have made me look forward to mine, rather than feeling like this is an ending.

I was especially impressed with my friend Mali this weekend during her birthday celebration. She usually hates turning older, so much so that I've teased about being like Joey on that episode when all the friends turn 30. Stop bumming me out before mine! (Click here to see the birthday meltdown I'm talking about. Sooo funny!)

This weekend, though, she embraced her age and we partied like it was... uhhh... 1981 by going to see an 80's cover band. Yes, this was my third time checking them out. I can't say no to hair crimping, Madonna, and "Love is a Battlefield", while Mali was the Empress of all things 80's with her Member's Only jacket, beta tape tucked into her denim purse, and Garbage Pal Kids stickers.

I was still in happy birthday mode today while shopping for a good friend whose birthday is next Friday. Thirty wasn't scary anymore! If my friends were happy and calm, mine would be a piece of (bday) cake come March! Yay for embracing a new decade!

But then, I browsed the card aisle...

and I came across the world's most depressing 30th birthday card.

Nope, it didn't contain any tasteless jokes about sagging, or wrinkles, or being a grandma. There was no humor at all. Instead, it read like a card about loss.

Don't believe me? Check out the front:

This was the inside:

Confused, I checked to see if I was under the right heading. I mean, I must be looking at a birthday/sympathy hybrid card, right?

Or perhaps I was in the section for senior citizen birthdays, ages 80 and up??

Nope... as proved by this heading:

"Life doesn't always make sense, and days like this are not always happy ones" is referring to turning 30? Are you effing kidding me?? What a complete Debbie Downer!

Needless to say, I did not purchase this one for my friend.

Anyhoo, since this card rattled me a bit, it got me thinking about my looming birthday. I meant to come up with a "30 before 30" list to work on when I turned 29, but I'm kind of glad I slacked and didn't do that. One of the reasons Mali said she felt pretty content about turning older was that she came up with a "30 things while 30" list, that includes such "grip it and rip it" goals as: "get a tattoo" and "go sky diving". So I'm going to create one too once I hit the bit 3-0. I love the idea of starting an adventure once I hit this new decade, rather than bringing one to a close.

It should be a beginning, not an ending.

So suck it, Hallmark.