Dad Joke: "Why is thirty the dirtiest birthday?" Me: *groan* "WHY?" Dad: "Because it's XXX."

I turned thirty, you guys, and it's not so bad so far. It's been like, less than a week, now, and the only signs of incipient ageing is that last night I bunked a fun party to stay at home under a quilt and read on my couch. But there was wine, and company, and it was all very cozy and sociable. My thirtieth birthday party was so much fun, I think my birthdays get better each year, this time, I had a fancy pants party, with a Mad Men dress theme, for which I had an actual dress MADE. I drew it, and took the fabric to a boutique close to my house, and they made it into what I imagined. I wish I could sew. I imagine, like cooking, it would be awesome to see something you're thinking about turned into an actual THING, that is functional and pretty.

Everyone dressed according to theme as well, but since I decided to get drunk and replaced a camera around my neck with a bottle of wine in my arms, there are very few photos, and even those, taken by other friends are things I haven't seen yet. Good Things, as mentioned in the previous post, are currently happening in Delhi, and so most of the last week has been spent in lazy happiness. Also, got some very nice presents, including a Kindle I had hinted wildly at, and is now my new boyfriend. With all the travelling I've been doing, the biggest pain in the ass has been packing books--I read fast, so I usually pack about four books for each week long journey, some to read on the way, some to read while I'm there, and one "emergency" book, in case everything else finishes. This is LIGHT! and FITS IN MY BAG! and so easy to read on. I took it for a spin yesterday to Khan Market, and was that girl who drinks her cappucino with her book. (Tina Fey's Bossypants, in case you're interested) and I had a lovely time. I'm hoping this will mean I read more, well, already, I think I read more than a lot of people I know, simply because I have the time, but I'm not as dedicated as I used to be pre-streaming TV. As a result, I missed most of the "best books of 2011" list, and now I'm committing myself to reading EVERYTHING, a wild catch up, before the year ends and there's a whole new list.

Besides that, I only have one more week of spending my evenings in front of my heater, because on Christmas Day, I whisk off to Sri Lanka for the rest of the year. A week is not long enough to turn into a beach bum, but I plan to try. I'm going with people from all over the country, friends from Bombay, friend from Calcutta, friend from Delhi, and we'll be converging on Unawatuna beach, where I will sit back in my deck chair, with my Bloody Mary and become a coconut. So not looking forward to coming back to January's bitter charms, but a new thing I'm trying this year is not antipating ahead of what my present day is. Live in the moment, eM! (Which, this weekend, is a bunch of parties, so I'm not doing too badly.)


But, here we are, my darlings, in December, and likely, since I'm currently writing several other things, my last post of the year. A good year, unlike 2010, and I hope the lucky streak continues through 2012. (Isn't the world supposed to end next year? I hope not, it's just gotten interesting!) Have a marvelous New Year, and I'll see you all on the other side.

And, because my "About Me" can no longer read "twenty something" (DEEP SIGH) I've updated it, for the first time in years. We women of a certain age can no longer casually toss references in about the decade we belong to. It'll be our little secret.