Today is the first day of the rest of my life. Or something.

So today I turn thirty. Yay thirty! Really, old age isn't so bad (though so far, it's only consisted of eating waffles and cleaning out my closet and taking a nice, long afternoon nap, which I can now completely justify). I was just saying this weekend that I'd never wish to be 20 or 22 or 25 again. (Maybe 28, but then again, 28 wasn't so special.) I know so much more and I've done so much more than I ever thought possible at those ages. Plus, I have a much better closetful of clothes.

But if we're keeping score, since my 25th birthday, I have:
-Quit my job in New York to travel around Europe
-Lived in Beijing for two years
-Embarked on international writing career
-Moved to Singapore (1.5 years and counting)
-Increased the number of countries I have visited from 7 to 23 (but I aim to get to get that up to 30 sometime soon)
-Learned to sew, ski, surf, take photographs, speak Mandarin (slightly), play blackjack and sneak into the Worker's Stadium in Beijing
-Adopted two very adorable kitties, who are both curled up on my lap as I type this
-Started this blog! And so much more.

I've got some very high hopes for the next five years.

My Birthday Week got kicked off last night with an extremely full screening of the film Seamless at Pitch Black, after which those cute Pitch Black kids surprised me with a delicious chocolate cake. Thanks again to everyone who came out for the film (and looked so very stylish doing it!).

And that image above? That's from Cremaster 3, the middle chapter of Matthew Barney's epic art-installation film series. Mike and I sat through all five parts of the Cremaster Cycle last week and though we don't have much to show for it (other than some of highly entertaining examples of wacky imagery), it was still pretty interesting. I'm not sure I knew who Matthew Barney even was when I was 25. So that's one more point for old age.

Also, turning 30 is a great reason to justify some cute new dresses from Topshop. Says me.