Earlier this month was my 30th birthday. Yes, that’s right! 30! Remember when you were in your mid-teens and heard about people being 30 something years old? I do. I also remember what I thought of them. I considered these people old, not far away from retirement, basically past their sell-by date. These people have had it!
Now that I am on the third floor, I must admit though, being 30 really isn’t all that bad. People say (I was one of them) things calm down, slow down as you get older. The pace of life just slows as you’re looking to settle. Thankfully, that’s not the case.
My birthday fell on a Tuesday this year. Tuesday is probably the worst day to have your birthday as it’s difficult to celebrate properly on a work day. I decided to fly to Germany the weekend prior to the big day to celebrate with my family. It was nice seeing everybody. The weekend after, I celebrated with friends in London at the Vibe Bar in Brick Lane. On the day itself, we went out for a lovely lunch with my team at work. What followed that evening, I can only describe as being spoilt rotten by a special someone. A wonderful dinner followed by cocktails in several bars and the day off work the next day. So, after celebrating my birthday for an entire week the outlook was a few quiet weekends. That’s what you do as a thirty year old, right!
Well, the following week went like this …
Thursday, Work Summer Drinks at the The Red Dog @ Hoxton Square. It was a great venue and a fantastic party. Boozy it was to say the least but as you can see I was on my best behaviour. Some hilarious photos of colleagues (and myself) thanks to the Pixpod on site. I'll have you know that the next morning I also woke up with a "You've won the Eat-9-Extreme-Chilli-Hot-Wings-Challenge" certificate. It now proudly decorates my desk at work.
Friday, I went to a lovely house party in Angel. My new found friend Sarah is an incredible cook and she rustled up the most amazing dinner. The food was so good, almost 2 weeks later I still think about it. BTW, this is Sarah and me at the Vibe Bar on my birthday. Sarah, please open a restaurant because people who haven’t tasted your food, they’re missing something in life.
Saturday, Lovebox 2011 in Victoria Park. Now, I am not really a festivals goer. In my book you don’t get points for running around a muddy field for five days, getting smashed out of your head and feeling dirty in the process. But Victoria Park is only stone throw away from house and I only went for one day, on the Saturday. It was incredible! Upon arrival, it started to rain so I grabbed shelter in the Wah Wah 45 tent. After listening to several cool bands, the clouds had cleared. I moved on to the Bacardi Bar ...
... and finally settled in a good spot for the main event of the evening.
Opening acts included De La Soul who certainly got the party started. But the best was yet to come … Snoop Dogg performing Doggystyle! A life long dream. He played most of his classics and also some of his more recent releases. If that wasn’t enough, another highlight of the night was when Warren G performed Regulatooooors! Mount Up! Absolutely brilliant!
So have things really calmed down? Nope, not really!!! And I very much look forward to the next decade!!!
