charlesbreland.com

First off, let me start by saying it took virtually no effort turning 30. I woke up just like any other day, except just a little bit older and even as far as that goes…..that still makes it just like every other day. Friday was pre-Birthday, but that didn’t stop me from getting my first birthday present……a check for $33.27. apparently people of my advanced age drive better than people who are only 29 and state farm is willing to compensate me for that. That evening I had my first ever Eclipse De Luna experience. It inspired me to open up a business in an obscure location and still magically watch it flourish. The rain could not could not dampen our evening as the group headed out to Lava. As I walked home (around 1:30AM) it occurred to me that I was 30….actually sorta a weird Feeling.

Anyway, I got up at 7:30 and headed out to my tennis match. I obviously had overestimated the temperature as shorts and a tshirt were no match for 50 degree weather. Luckily I had a Mexican blanket in my shack pack and i made myself a lovely little sarong. This apparently scared my competitors as my teammate Mark and I won 6-4, 6-2. Unfortunately, our 2’s, 3’s,and 4’s proceeded to lose, effectively elmiminating us from the playoffs before our 5’s had even played : o (

My afternoon consisted of a 3 hour nap interrupted by a persistently riniging phone. “Yeah great, thx for the call yep, 30, talk to ya later.” I rallied just in time for a well planned get together at South City Kitchen (or something like that). Emilly recommended the shrimp and grits, so I got that. little did I know they had used the singular “shrimp” for a reason. After I had slaked my hunger with the 4 shrimp and 2 scallops that had wandered on to my plate, we headed out to Sutra where Stephen knew the bouncer from a past life (at this point Stephen and Tim – not like “Stephen and Tim”, just “Stephen” and “Tim” – had met us -which consisted of Mark, Emily, Julie, Karen and Mandy – and we partied it up til 2am). I should mention before i get ahead of myself, that prior to getting there, Julie gave me a Sonny Perdue Pen, which was actually the second birthday present I received. i used it to sign the check from my insurance company. We met some nice bachelorette parties and had a good time dancing to a musical collection that prominently feautured one of my favorites, Biggie Smalls. I should probably mention that I’m very glad I’m not the husband of any of the bachelorettes.

As mentioned, we brought some hotties along

I joined a gang, and so we took a picture of our gang to put on some tshirts,

But later I left them for a rival gang. Here Mark and I give looks that say “Hey, You talkin’ to me? Step off dawg!!”

Oh, yeah, if this photo went lower, you could see the boots that designate Julie is talking to a cowboy. It was unclear if there was kissing going on in this photo.

Next came Sunday….after a big day of flower selection (thanks Emily) and a lovely Mary Mac’s brunch (not so much) I again spent quite a great deal of time napping. Just a note: I did not select the restaurant and they DO NOT SERVE BRUNCH. They do, however, serve well done hamburgers (regardless of whether or not you order them medium). Another note, the plants are still in their buckets on my balcony. They’re next on my to-do list.

That night we had quite a group assembled for little ole me’s birthday at Nickiemotos. After a lovely dinner and some questionable accounting practices I posed for a shot with a couple of my fans (Jess and Jaimey) and then headed up to Doug and MC’s rooftop.

On the rooftop we had yummy ice cream cake (this would be a good time to say THANK YOU SOOO MUCH to MC for putting this together, having us over, and generally being a great and supportive friend) punctuated by 30 trick candles. Here are some people who were there, Mandy, Emily, Aimee, Brad, Dietze and Lyndsay as well as the owner of the large arm in the foreground.

There was time for one last photo with Brad and Aimee (my old roomates) before heading home for some much needed rest.

Whoops, that’s not Brad and Aimee, that’s Buzz, he’s my nephew. This is Brad and Aimee.

Thanks to every one who helped support my crossing of the Rubicon. My friend Jason, at some point asked me what being 30 felt like (i guess he meant felt like to me, b/c he crossed that line years ago). I hadn’t exactly thought about it, and all I could say was to ask him if he remembers the last time he had eaten a huge meal and was just really full. He said, “Yes” and I told him that was what 30 felt like to me when I first thought about it. Just a little full. That probably means nothing, but I can’t be sure. : )