A Decadent Dirty Thirty

By the time I turned 30, I had already long accepted it.  For nearly a year, any time someone asked me my age, I told them I was 30, though I was actually 29.  I didn’t do it on purpose; 30 just came out naturally.

I figured it was because I was in grad school.  I was going to turn 30 prior to graduating, so my life was not going to change as I passed the threshold between my twenties and my thirties.  So I guess I had subconsciously accepted that I was already 30.

Thirty is supposedly a major milestone in our lives.  It marks the transition from our twenties.  The twenties are a point in our lives when we are still trying to figure ourselves out.  A point where we are testing careers, seeing if relationships will lead to families, and starting settle into where we fit in the pecking order of the world around us.

Thirty marks a maturity point where much of that – I suppose – is figured out.  I thought much of my figuring out would take place upon graduating from grad school.  Well . . . its 5 years later and a television is really the only thing I own (its my first television and I am damn proud of it).

To me, our generation seems to be more pragmatic, if not paranoid, about making concrete life decisions.  My Bubbe (grandmother to you non-Yiddish speakers) was consider to have married late, when she married at 27 and had her first child at 28.  My Mom followed suit at 25 and 27 respectively.

My generation does not seem be as quick to wed and replicate.  There are several reasons why this may be.  Our parents generation’s high divorce rate?  More than a decade of an unstable economy resulting in financial confusion and instability?  I can’t be sure of the factors.

But most of my friends are over 30 and the majority are either not married or waited until they turned 30 to get married.  It could be the circles I run in – I know the friends I keep are by no means a representative sample of the average American.  Nonetheless, from what I can tell, my generation is marrying and settling down latter in our lives.

We celebrated my girlfriend Shannon’s 30th a few weeks ago.  Thirty was a big deal for her.  She did feel she was crossing the great divide between youth and adulthood.  Shannon was hoping to celebrate this milestone with her friends at an elegant dinner – a dinner that would indicate a level of maturity and sophistication.

Of course, my brothers Corey and Joel, thought a trip to the Gorge for The Dead, Allman Brothers, and Doobies concert, where we could camp in the parking lot and partake in whatever activities avail themselves at such an event, would be a better way to mark the transition to adulthood.  Shannon didn’t agree.  For some reason she believed regressing back to what she did at 18 was not an ideal way to spend her 30th.

Outwardly, I decided to play dumb.  I was aloof to her emotions and wants for her birthday, pretending to merely plan a normal dinner out for just the two of us at restaurant we occasionally frequent.

A word of advice for people considering such a surprise for a person they cohabitate with; be prepared to experience a week of misery as your partner builds anxiety, disappointment, and quite possibly hate towards you for being such a shitty, asshole boyfriend.  And trust me, these emotions build as the big day nears.

Besides a few leaks (Casey & Briana) I was able to pull off the surprise.  A week of misery was worth witnessing the joy Shannon felt when she saw her friends, brother, and sister waiting for her seated and drinking around a table in a private dinning area at Crush.

Shannon was ushered into adulthood with a private menu entitled ShayJay’s Dirty Thirty Decadent Feast created by Chef Jason Wilson featuring a four-course meal with wine pairings.

It was a gluttonous meal from the start.  The first dish was Stealhead caviar laid over a type of crème fraîche.

Followed by a choice of Maine Lobster Gnocchi

or Potato, Leek, Lovage Soup with Shigoku Oyster

The third course was a choice of Glazed Painted Beef Short Ribs

or Hawaiian Sea Bass & Brown Butter Jus complete with sweetbreads

A delectable meal was rounded off with a White Mousse with Lemon Ginger Cake

Any delusions we may have had of finally achieving adulthood with this meal would fade away as the evening wore on.  After a shot or two at the Hideout to cheers Shannon as she crossed the chasm from her twenties to thirties, we headed to Studio 207 for late night Rock Band.

Like a bunch of drunken teenagers rockin out on plastic instruments connected to the Wii, we launched into our alcohol soak after hour session with raucous duet of “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Shannon and Linda (of 80:20 fame).  A few notes played and a room full of 30-something teenagers started screaming at the top of their lungs the lyrics to everyone’s favorite Journey song.

Pounding Rainier and jamming on plastic instruments connected to my video game system; I can’t think of a better way to celebrate my thirties.  My parents and their parents don’t know what they missed.  Adulthood can wait.