Made in 1979, All Original Parts

"Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese." - Luis Bunuel

Etsy.com (I want this shirt)

This past Tuesday was my birthday, and for me it was a significant one.  When I think back to being 15, 35 seemed so far away.  For reference people who were 35 at the time (my mom) seemed like real adults. Having real responsibilities, owning houses, having three children, eating dinner as a family at 5pm. Maybe that's a downfall to having parents who had you relatively young, you get a warped view of age.  Regardless, 35 is a scary age, 15 year old Kelly definitely had a view of herself having it all together by  this date. However who defines "having it all together"? Over the past few months there have definitely been subtle and not so subtle rumblings of "don't you want to have kids?", "are you thinking about freezing your eggs", "it's not too late, you will meet someone.".  Seriously people give a girl a break. As Tuesday approached significant people in my life can share with you that I definitely started to freak out a little. 

Beaker freaking out. 

Upon initial freakout, several of these significant people some of who have already passed the 35 year old threshold (you know who you are) made some good points.  I would like to thank them for grounding me as the date approached.

• I am in better shape than I was at 30, and I am getting even healthier each day.
• Think back to your early 20's who you want to re-live that  confusion, you finally know who you are and what you want.
• Regardless of where I thought I would be at 35, my life is in fact legit awesome. (refer to: living in NYC, having independence, being able to back squat over 100 pounds...)

In addition to focusing on the three facts above, I began to reflect on how much can change in 5 years time.  When people ask you where you want to be in 5 years, what do you say?  With all honesty I can say this is 80% where 30 year old Kelly imagined herself. Speaking of her here is a flashback to Bloomington (Business School) at my 30th birthday bash. No need to go in to detail of what happened that night, fun was had by all and I was sufficiently embarrassed.

The fact remains you can not stop time so it's better to embrace all that is positive and let go of the negativity if possible. A lot has changed in 5 years, I am back in NYC, I have finally stayed at a company for over 4 years, I am living in a great apartment, and I have started using wrinkle cream out of need instead of habit....  Even more has changed in the last 7 months in terms of happiness and health.  I even noticed it in the birthday card notes I received, with 50% of them mentioning something about working out or getting healthy. I am glad people are noticing, as it's motivating to know people recognize the effort but continue to be even more motivated by how great I feel.

Changing your lifestyle is never an easy thing to do, people often talk about "eat less, exercise more" or "eat healthier". It's definitely a mindset for me and a lifestyle, I find myself craving a workout more than craving sugar these days and that is a fundamental change for me.  I started this blog to keep me accountable to the eating and working out.  I have blogged a lot less lately as it's become routine to some degree.  Below are some action shots of me at the gym this past week, I am seeing improvements in strength and changes in body parts and it's all very motivating.

 Mid Front Squat on my last day as a 34 year old.

Look at those elbows.

All this worry and reflection of where I am in life at 35 did not fortunately get in the way of celebrating.  I approach my birthday with a love/hate attitude, I don't like being embarrassed with large groups singing (which happened twice at work) but I do enjoy birthday surprises, time with friends and family and of course delicious food and all the wine.  

A huge thank you to all of those who helped me ring in this crazy scary new year.  Some quick pics from the various celebrations.

The Ladies the Saturday before my birthday. Fireball'ed up

I am re-energized to think that 35 doesn't have to be scary it can be anything you want it to be.

Actual Birthday Dinner with some key ladies

Does your birthday continue to be a big celebration as you age or do you keep it low key?