My first weekend at 30 is remarkably similar to my first weekend at 26

And the party went off without a hitch.

Good thing, too, because Friday was a crappy day. A lot of people I was looking forward to hearing from actually forgot my birthday (or chose not to acknowledge it) and I dealt with that by sulking in my office and crying when I got home. The people I didn't hear from weren't my closest friends, but people I still enjoy talking to, if only a few times a year, like on our birthdays. I pulled myself together in time for a small dinner out, and by the time I had woken up the next morning, I had messages (voice mail, text, and email) from 4 or 5 of those very people.

The birthday party by far made up for the pity party. Not only did every single person show up, but everyone stayed. The last guests left at 2 AM! And while I had thought that people might miss the excitement of being in a bar, a lot of people actually told me how much they liked that I had a house party. I'll probably post some funny and poignant anecdotes about the evening later this week, but here's a small photo sampler of the night's debauchery: