Tuesday, February 26, 2008

39 and Holding...

It's 11pm and I have one more hour of being in my thirties... I attended the Temple today and when I got into the dressing room, the lockers in my area were numbers 39-44. I hesitated, then reached for the key to 39 thinking, why not symbolically claim my youth for one more day. But the key held fast and wouldn't budge. I yanked harder and the metal door rattled but stayed shut. I sighed as I easily opened #40 and thought, "I guess that door is closed to me forever!"

How will I celebrate? My dear friend Lindy is throwing me a party that is making my wedding look like a PTA meeting. I can't even stand how beautiful the invitations are and these aren't even the "nice ones" Lindy wanted originally but made me hyperventilate just thinking about. Despite the fact that my family masqueraded as upper middle class living in a gated community, I have some mighty strong white trash roots. I honestly have several cousins who work in the "circus industry" (can you say "carnie?") and half my furniture was snatched from the jaws of the garbage truck. So while I like "fancy" stuff (like glitter hot glue gunned onto flip flops), "formal" makes me really nervous. Other friends have offered to help with food. Some of which were summarily dismissed when Lindy deemed their fare sub par. I really feel like I'll be Cinderella going to the ball on Saturday. So to maintain some balance and keep myself from being even more self aggrandizing about this milestone, I am making sure my actual birthday is low key. The highlight of the day will be going to McDonald's with a few girlfriends. Nothing says 40 like a Big Mac.


So here's a picture I've wanted to share of Denise & I at Dave B.'s 40th birthday party. Yes, it was 80's theme. I am so old that now my teen years are being recycled by tacky stores like Claire's. We had to work so hard to come by gloves like these, cutting off the fingers, sewing on lace, pegging our 501's by hand. And now you can look like Bananarama just by walking into the mall...wereas I had to walk uphill both ways to a thrift store to look this tacky back in '84...

6 comments:

Kerry said...

Happy 40th Birthday Hedy! Your party sounds great--hope you have a blast :-)

Rachel said...

Holy crap, if I was a mean friend I'd call you right now (1 am your time) and be the first to wish you happy birthday. I think i will actually. I wish I was coming to adorn you with tacky old lady gifts now that you're OLD. Have an extra piece of lindy cake for me and also an extra cherry pie at the McD's. Love you Mama!

ms said...

Happy Birthday - it sounds like you have quite the bash planned for you!

Andrea said...

Happy Birthday Heather! Just remember, 40 is the new 30....

Stefawn Von Gordon said...

(You look all dressed up and ready to see A Flock of Seagulls at Magic Mountain) I can't wait to hear all about your big soiree. Call the cops during your party... Nothing says 40th birthday like cops in riot gear, circling helicopters, and a bunch of winded 40 year olds running.

p.s. Remember what my mom called our thrift shop treasures? "Dead people's clothes"

Stefawn Von Gordon said...

Oh, and you were right about the Big Mac... I had one in honor of you on your b-day, and I didn't feel a day over 40 (though I'm pretty sure I gained 40 pounds)