Thank you!!!

Thank you everyone for a really wonderful birthday day.

I started out by ringing in midnight of my birthday day with my roommate Kayvon at our neighborhood hotspot, Beauty & Essex.



From there I woke up pretty hungover and didn't get myself together until noon-ish. I went on a secret mission to Coney Island to procure some secret items for a secret surprise I'm planning for this weekend in Vegas.

Then I went to the gym and worked out with my trainer (figured I'd start the new decade off right and healthy). Then, like an old man, my back felt really sore following the workout. And I went to my neighborhood massage parlor for a back massage.

The little Asian masseuse lady climbed all around me like a monkey and it was a fantastic massage until the end where she made me flip over and tried offering me a happy ending MULTIPLE times by patting me inappropriately and making really obscene hand gestures. SO UNCOMFORTABLE.

Now I know how Felix felt during his "On is OK?" incident.

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After massage, I went over to Kate's to help her pack for her weeklong trip to Hong Kong and give her pointers about things to buy and people to meet (hopefully she will get to hang out with TL and TL2).

She bought me a Magnolia cupcake and sang me a birthday song. It was so sweet.



After Kate's ride to the airport picked her up, I went over to Conlixes and we watched the Beverly Hills Housewives (not pictured).

And then out of the blue, Meredith, my first roommate in LA, called me and told me she was in town and wanted to get drinks. So I met up with her at La Esquina.



Meredith, if you remember, was one of the first people I ever photographed and basically inspired me to take headshots when she came home with some pretty new headshots way back when. Really crazy how things have come full circle.

We closed out my bday and I went home to lie down because my back was starting to hurt from my workout earlier in the day and I'm an old man. Fitting right?

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This was the first year my facebook account was linked to my iPhone to give me instant notifications and I have to say it felt pretty amazing to have my phone blow up with wall posts and text messages every 3-5 minutes all day long to remind me that it was my birthday and that someone somewhere was thinking about me, if only for a split-second.

Things like this coming across my news feed:



really touched me. These are two lovely girls I met who were bridesmaids in Doug's little sister Annie's wedding.




People like this are what makes me love wedding photography. You get to be a big part of someone's special day. You get to see their parents and siblings and best friends at their absolute happiest and looking their absolute best. I think of The Bridezilla as more of an urban legend, because I've never met one. All my brides are happy gorgeous awesome people.

I couldn't be happier with where I'm at in life at 30. Sure, back when I was 19 I fantasized about being a ten-millionaire by the time I was 30. But things are a little more realistic now, and I probably won't be a ten-millionaire til I'm 40**, but that's just fine. :-)

Even now I feel like I live a kind of dream-life. I have an amazing job and career. I'm surrounded by the funniest most wonderful people. I don't need to wake up to an alarm clock. And I still kind of look like a 20 year old, especially after Photoshop.

And so my 30th birthday day was semi-low-key....

But tonight begins a week of insane celebration.

30 is going be amazing.



LOL

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**unless I win the lottery tonight. I bought 30 tickets yesterday and they gave me 4 extra for some reason...



Comment on this post and you can share in some of my winnings.