As K, one of my greatest
friends reminded me, this year, my 30th brought me excitement or
anxiety – depending on where I was in life. It brought me anxiety because I had my “timelines” or rather
“deadlines” that by 30 I should be like this and that. Excitement because at the end of the
day, my “by 30” list was completed even before that and more.
Turning 30, where I am now
is quite bittersweet.
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| Hubby and I on my birthday! |
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| My 30th eco escape, The Ark at Matugama |
One, I never thought I’d
celebrate it away from my family and life long friends. But I did say that I wanted to get
married by 30. I (surprisingly)
did by 28. And celebrated my 30th
year with my man – the calming presence in my life, he who has made me happiest
I’ve ever been in my life. My
husband. Of course my mom woke me
up with a call. Just like home!
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| Me and my big fat belly with hubby and mates from work who came down to La Lanka |
Two, I never thought I’d
celebrate it pregnant! I wanted to
get married by 30 so I could get pregnant around that time. They say the chances of getting
pregnant go downhill from there. I
got pregnant at 29. I will give
birth at 30. Why didn’t I think it
would be a possibility? Silly
me! It is an awesome birthday gift
I swear.
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| The invite designed by hubby |
Three, I never thought I’d
celebrate it with a party, more so in Sri Lanka and around new friends. I take it as a symbolic act of
sorts. Instead of feeling homesick
and looking back on my birthday, I embraced that which is home (place and
people) now. But hubby brought
both together – with a lovingly crafted scrapbook of birthday wishes from
family and friends from the Philippines and beyond. It was as if I celebrated it with family and friends after
all!
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| The scrapbook cover |
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| With lovely notes from friends |
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| Family |
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| And of course hubby |
K asked me how does it
feel to be thirty? I said, when I
turned thirty, it’s like “ok lang.”
It just felt weird when I had to say I’m thirty to the nurse in the hospital
(I had to get checked for extreme mosquito bites from our birthday
eco-escape). Imagine, for 10 years
I’ve been saying “twenty-something,” now I start with a different number
altogether. It has arrived.
Notes:
Hubby brought me to The Ark at Matugama for a chillax birthday eco-retreat. Check it out at www.thearksrilanka.com.
Awesome Thai food was served during my birthday by Dao Sihanam, a Thai chef based in Sri Lanka. Contact her at +94722165593 or +94779603760.
