The Big Three O

The thing that I dreaded has finally come. Yes ladies and gents, today is my birthday and I just turned 30. I realized it’s not that bad, hell I don’t even feel any different. I am happy, healthy, and I still have dreams waiting to be realized.

I didn’t do anything special today but buy myself a slice of cake from Cheesecake Melliza and checked my FB to thank the people (that’s 47 greetings baby!) who remembered my special day. This day has been uneventful because for the past two days I’d been celebrating. 🙂

First, I went on a girl’s night out with two of my girl friends, Ana and Christine last 17th August, at the Bonifacio Global City. We had one round of drinks at Jill’s, had a late dinner at Pasto, and capped the night with coffee at Starbucks, Glorietta.

Then last night, 18th August, I forced Ana to accompany me in Quezon City to get myself a birthday gift; two new tattoos. We went to 55 Tinta, the same place where I got my first ink a year ago. I was attended by the same tat artist, Alain Mamon.

I got two tattoos: one is a symbol for Leo; my zodiac sign. I had it placed on the right side of my neck, just below my ear. The other one is the title of one of my poems, The palest of red. It’s on the side of my right forearm. I had the word, “red” in color.

The 55 Tinta staff was as accommodating as ever. They even greeted me happy birthday upon learning we were a few hours away before I turned 30.

After my tattoo session, Ana and I had dinner at Friuli, a small Italian restaurant, a few walks away from 55 Tinta. [Read: Budget-Friendly Italian Food At Friuli Trattoria]

I wish I could give you 30 nuggets of wisdom the way other bloggers do on their birthday posts but I don’t want to bore you with things you probably already know. For tradition’s sake though let me share to you the best thing I’ve learned (and hold value) in my 30 years of existence and it’s this, “Do not sell yourself short,” not in your career, not in friendship, and most of all, not in love. There are times when we tend to undervalue ourselves because we’d been mistreated or belittled by other people, but I learned that this is wrong. True, not everyone will like or love you but in the end, their opinion does not really matter. The only validation you need is from yourself. How you see yourself is the only thing that will determine your happiness.

Before I close, let me thank everyone who greeted me on my birthday. Thanks so much, you guys are awesome!