While in Arkansas with my side of the family, I had a celebration with my dad's side (where 8 of us have July and August birthdays so I think 12 1/2% of the celebration was for me). We also celebrated with my mom's side at my brother's house and he arranged a beautiful (and yummy) special cake just for me while we also celebrated my sister-in-law, Vanessa's and my brother Tim's birthdays as well. Fayetteville people take note that Rick's Cakes are fabulous. And my new Kindle from my mom and dad has already gotten a good workout - I love it! I have such a great family - thanks all for helping my long stay in Arkansas go smoothly and with lots of fun this summer.
My next birthday adventure was a trip to Jackson Hole with twelve of my closest friends and what an amazing, amazing weekend we had - hiking, spa trip, amazing scenery, delicious food and more talking than you can imagine (I was up until almost 3 a.m. both nights and we *still* didn't get in all the conversations I needed). We went out to eat Friday night (Rendezvous Cafe - yummy!), hiked on Saturday morning after the boat ride across Jenny Lake, hit the spa at Shooting Star in Teton Village on Saturday afternoon and had Will the Chef from Trio come to the house to cook for us Saturday night so we could chat to our heart's content. Appetizers overlooking the running river near the house and a bingo game to test how well everyone had gotten to know each other (the friends came from all walks of life and a couple came only knowing me - brave women!) were fun starts to the evening. A beautiful birthday cake and lots of laughter and tears over dinner when we talked a lot about how we met and about old friendships and about turning 40. I had sent the book "Half the Sky" to all the attendees and we also had some thoughtful conversations about life, poverty, the unfairness of life and responsibility of those of us more fortunate. I am blessed to have such smart, accomplished, thoughtful, generous, amazing friends. Sunday was spent with sending folks off to the airport, checking out downtown Jackson and lunch before we all headed home. Many thanks to all these dear, dear friends for all they did to make this such a special weekend!
And it's barely over yet. I happen to be in Charlotte for my actual birthday and Jake offered to sponsor a night of yummy appetizers and wine from Vivace (a fun Italian place in town). It was a wonderful time to catch up with many friends from our time in Charlotte. Thanks, Jake! I managed to not take a single, solitary picture (too busy gabbing, imagine that...) but Shelly did so maybe I'll add those if she emails me a few.
Whew... I think that's it. I'm officially 40 and since 40 is the new 30 it's not so bad after all. It is a time of introspection but I feel good about where I am and quite optimistic about where I am heading. To me, the 20s were about my professional life, the 30s were about getting married, starting a family and the young kid phase and the 40s will be about the next phase of my career (whenever and whatever that looks like), figuring out a way to have an impact on the world (however big or small that might look) and a whole new phase of parenthood with older kids with whom we can have so many adventures and who are more and more able to engage with us about their experiences, their character development and *their* place in this world. It's all good. Which leads me to this new song I've heard on the radio since I've been here (video below of Good Life by One Republic with lyrics about moving all over the world, wondering what there is to complain about and of course a good life). Hopefully it will always remind me of the busy, crazy, fun, adventurous, thought-provoking year and summer when I turned 40.
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| Yummy, yummy cake from Rick's Bakery in Fayetteville, AR |
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| My 12 1/2% celebration shared with 7 other family members (and yes, we did indeed sing Happy Birthday 8 times!) |
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| Most of the Jackson Hole crew before our hike |
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| Gorgeous waterfall on our hike - we were splashed from very far away and the roar was amazing |
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| Much of the crew on our hike |
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| Betsy and me - missing my special Bay Area friend already! |
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| Wildflowers |
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| Pre-dinner drinks, appetizers (and games!) on the terrace overlooking a gorgeous river from the back of the house |
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| My "boring" Bain friends (obviously not really but that was their claim after meeting a lot of my other really amazing friends) |
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| The business school crowd (Booth '97!) |
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| The *large* Charlotte contingent. Nibal, you were missed but Amy definitely held her own and wowed everyone with her energy and accomplishments! |
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| My college contingency (University of Arkansas '93!). Tiffani, you were also missed but I think the whole Jackson crew is ready to get on Stacy's Haiti mission bandwagon. |
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| Fairwell beautiful Jackson Hole.... |
Ok, I know this is completely cheesy - but here is my unofficial theme song for turning 40!
1 comment:
what a fun idea for a 40th birthday celebration. it sounds absolutely perfect. i'll have to remember that when mine comes around in a couple more years. did jake orchestrate the whole thing or did YOU?
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