It's Official

As of yesterday, it is official.  I am forty.  Do I feel any older?  Nope.  In fact, I feel pretty amazing, especially after a great weekend celebrating with so many dear friends.

I kicked things off on Friday evening by having an early dinner with Jeffrey then heading out to Hickory Alive for some live music from one of my favorite bands, Baby Black.  The cool thing about Hickory Alive is that it is like a mini-reunion, I get to see and catch up with folks I haven't seen in a while.

Saturday morning I went for my very first trail run to help prepare for my July race, which is the Xterra Harbison Half Marathon Trail Run.  It was just me, the squirrels (there were so many squirrels!), and two runners who were obviously not trail runners.  I chose Riverbend Park, which I for some reason had convinced myself was flat.  For the record, it is NOT flat.  Trail running is a whole different animal.  What have I gotten myself into this time?

After my tough & sweaty run, I rinsed off and headed to Britter's pool for the day.  I was much smarter about sunscreen application this week (still a bit red from LAST week's pool day) and wore a hat to protect my face.  We had a relaxing day floating around with some good tunes. 

While getting ready to hit the big H-Town, I found myself singing "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark", so I decided to turn on the radio.  Guess what song was just starting.  Yep – it was Fall Out Boy!  Do we really need any more evidence that I am Vader?  The force was strong in me this weekend. So, light ‘em up, up, up . . .

Britt and I settle into the back of Mumbai cab headed to dinner

Finally, it was time for the main event.  The Mumbai cab picked us up, and Jeff, Z, Britt, and I headed to Youssef 242 for appetizers and a pre-dinner drink.  We were then joined by a few dozen of my closest friends for a fantastic dinner.  The food and staff were amazing.  I cannot thank Youssef enough for being willing to accommodate our group.  If you have not been, you should definitely go.  Not from Hickory, well, it's not the end of the earth!  Come visit, yo!

After dinner, we stopped by Alessio as a way point before heading to the new dance club, Club Blū to get our dance dance on.  The club was ok, but there really aren't many options for dancing in Hickory.  The cool part was that I talked our way into the VIP area.  Told ya - Vader.  (Hand wave) You WILL provide us with the VIP section and a bouncer to keep away the riff raff.  BOOM!

After the super-active festivities of Saturday, I was ready to bring it down a notch on Sunday.  Anna & Britt came to pick me up and we headed to Rock Barn to enjoy a spa day.  We had lunch and pineapple mimosas and floated around the mineral pools until our massage appointments.  Then, we floated away the afternoon. 

I finished the day with trip to Sweet Frog with Anna-banana.  Now, I need to pull myself together and focus so that I can survive the remaining six half marathons for this year.

PS - If you are reading this, whether I got to see you in person or not, thanks for being part of my Fabulous Forty journey.  I am very fortunate to have so many great friends and family members spread out all over the world.  Thanks for being there.