Decade # 3

Thanks for the treat Bruce & Rona!

Right smack in the middle of the move from Dallas to Richmond, I up and turned 30. I know what you are thinking, "Why, Emily, you don't look a day over 23!" I couldn't agree  more, but according to public record, myself and Nicole Lloyd turned 30 on October 23.

I was actually very much looking forward to this milestone. I had looked forward to turning 28, for some reason for a few years before that I had decided that would be when things would come together. At the end of my 27th year, I was back from L.A. and started working for myself full time. I had a great apartment and was living with my girl, Jasmine.

Then right before I hit 28, I met this dude.  Then he swept me off my feet and the next thing I knew he blinded me with a big ol' diamond and there I was planning a wedding. Just as I had planned, 28 is when it all came together. I wasn't as big of a fan of 29. It just seemed kind of a lame age. I just wanted to be 30 already.

The day before I turned 30, I was on the road again. All of my possessions (except one suitcase, my doggies, my wedding dress and my herb garden were in the car) were on a big truck bound for Richmond. We had about a week before we needed to meet the moving truck at our final destination. Since we were road tripping, we decided to spend few days in Memphis, this is where I would celebrate the big day.

We stayed at the Peabody Hotel. What a magical place, famous for the duck march, since the 1940's. The whole place shuts down at 11 am and 5pm for these ducks to parade down the red carpet.



After 29 years and 364 days, I finally made it to Graceland. I seemed to have been ahead of the game, since most of the other guests had gotten the AARP discount that day. Nonetheless, I was totally impressed by the King's diggs. How could you not be?  

My Favorite Room



Down in the Jungle Room

I spent the actual day of my birth, doing only things that I enjoy and that I am very good at. First the gym then spa, next a nap, then dinner. We had dinner at Flight. If you are ever in Memphis, GO TO FLIGHT! Given my indecisive nature, this is my dream restaurant. They serve everything in a flight (hence the name) of 3 minis. So the salad/soup/wine/dessert/entrees are all in mini servings of 3, so you don't have to choose between the corn and crab chowder, or the seafood gumbo, or the butternut squash bisque. You get all 3! Same with dessert, as you can see I am blowing the candles on my flight of birthday cake.

To end the night, we took a carriage ride around the city. Jeff said, a princess needs a carriage ride and I couldn't agree more. I think this year will be better than the last.

Post carriage ride, we had a night cap at the hotel bar. We found ourselves chatting with 3 very nice ladies, a 90 year old lady and her 2 daughters. The 90 year old lady was celebrating her birthday (that had been a few months before) and all she wanted was for her daughters to take her to Graceland. The next morning, we laughed at how we had retired before the 90 year old lady, who was still at the bar at 1 a.m., when Mr. Sandman came calling to me.

The next morning we waved hello to these ladies who had taken our recommendation to have breakfast at Cock-a-doo's, across the street, where we had the BBQ omelette and peanut butter banana French Toast two days in a row. Very good stuff. I like Memphis.

And I think turning 30 is pretty cool. I don't understand why so many people think this is a bad thing.