30 not -30-
I turned 30 on February 3, 2010. It's a milestone birthday. Gone is my whimsical youth with one final hurrah toasting my 20s. I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful party with some great friends. I planned the party a few weeks in advance and the wonderful Kate planned a secret [very, very sneaky] pizza party aspect of it. Here's my buddy Melody indulging me in my mini portrait studio I set up on the spiral staircase by my desk. It was my birthday so nobody could say no to a portrait (woohoo!).
Here's the dynamic duo of Kevin and Jilly Jill. Kevin brought over a billion toppings for the pizzas we made that night and Jilly Jill came through with some lovely vino. Don't let those smiles fool you, they are some sneaky bastards.
And here's the always looking good in portraits Tony who brought some lovely homemade tomato sauce for the dozen or so pizzas we had along with his favorite IPA, Bell's Two Hearted Ale.
My friend Ryan came by an dropped off a 1162 page book that I'll never be able to get though, but I know is a very interesting read The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Rise and Fall of New York. And speaking of books, I just started using Goodreads to keep track of the books I read and to get suggestions from my friends and their selections. My profile is up here.
My friend and co-worker, Colleen, trudged through the blizzard and showed up at my doorstep 3/4 the way to a snowwoman. She shook it off and brought some fun to the party.
And here's Julia [the tiger], one half of the duo behind tastebuds and tidbits. She was apparently the mastermind behind the surprise pizza party aspect of it. What a sneaky tiger chica.
And my favorite shot of the night was of my friend Ben. The lighting is perfect with the softbox giving a nice blast to his face with falloff onto the brick behind him and the SB800 on my camera pointed to camera right bouncing off of my white wall by my desk is providing just enough fill. He's got a wonderfully painful look on his face which is just comical. I have no idea what we were talking about that brought about the face as I was about 7 fingers of Glenfiddich 15 into the night (plus a few beers).
All this wouldn't have been possible if not for the wonderful love and support of my best gal. She got everything together and handled the surprise part masterfully. I saw clues here and there, but wasn't able to put it all together. Sneaky, sneaky girl. You're the best.
I welcome my 30s with open arms and know that it's not the end [ie -30- in journalism parlance identifying the end of a story]. I've accomplished a lot in the first third or so of my life and look forward to more capers with my great friends. Here's a slideshow, with link to bigger shots, of the night and everyone who was there: