Monday, March 11, 2013

Birthday

photo taken of the March calendar made by The Indigo Bunting

Saturday was my 29th birthday.  At first I thought, 29... that's not a special number.  Mike had to work all day, so I knew I had to spend the whole day by myself, which also seemed pretty boring.  But I was so wrong about all of that!

I started the morning off with a walk through my neighborhood.  And because it was a Saturday, there were no cars whizzing by, or neighborhood construction banging and clanking going on.  And I, too, was not whizzing.  Usually my walks are brisk.  I only have so much time in a day to get a little exercise in.  This time it felt so nice, and noticeably more satisfying, to simply amble along.

IMG_1239  We had just gotten hail the day before (!!!), and Saturday was supposed to be more rain and clouds.  But it turned out to be one of the most gorgeous days ever!  Not a cloud in the sky.  And because of the rain the day before, the L.A. air was actually clean and fresh.  I could take in long, slow breaths and not feel like I was doing my body more harm than good.  The insects were going crazy!  I made friends with a hummingbird...

Spotted these two lovebirds keeping watch next to, what I'm assuming, was their nest.

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The bees and butterflies were all over this wild flower that smelled delicious.  

And a cool breeze blew over all the wild nasturtium and yellow flowers and bright green grasses (see photos below).

I came home and planted some green onion, and yellow cala lilly bulbs I got from my mother.  It felt good to get out in the damp earth.  I was so happy to start working on my garden again (it's been a little neglected over the past year).

Then I got the most amazing Hydrafacial ever at Argyle Salon + Spa from Jaclyn.  It's so expensive (mreow), but I was lucky and got a great deal through Gilt City -- woo hoo!

Then I settled down at home with a glowing face and had a glass of white wine and watched Amelie -- a great girl birthday movie!  (And of course a great anytime movie for anyone!)

I ended the magical day with a mellow dinner with my nearest and dearest. I couldn't have thought of a better way to end my birthday....

And about that 29 being a dumb number/age thing?  The receptionist at the spa, who also just turned 29, told me that he plans on making this year "the blast of all blasts".  He pointed out how our 30's are going to be great...we know that already.  But here we are in our last year of our 20's.  Now's a great time to do all the crazy stuff we've been wanting to do, but haven't done yet.  I think I really needed to hear this because I was planning on lying for a year, and telling everyone I was still 28.  But now I'm actually really proud to be 29!  'Why' you ask?  Because I've given myself a goal... or a 'Bucket List', you might say, of things I want to do before I turn 30.

-  Put out my new album at the beginning of Summer
-  Get a webseries going (more on that later!)
-  Go skydiving
-  See the "O" Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas (I really really want to see this!!!)
-  Go snorkeling in Kaua'i again

That's it.  A pretty simple bucket list, but one I'm excited to start checking off.  Are any of you 29, or have been 29, and have/had a special way of looking at it?  Do any of you have bucket lists in general?  

Love,
Priscilla
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34 comments:

  1. According to my mom on the 30th birthday, that year and henceforth would always be my 29th birthday so she would never have to deal with the reality of having a 30-year old son (I'm now 33). :-P

    Happy 29th to you, Ms. P!

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  2. Happy birthday! I love the pictures, especially the last two look so pretty :)

    I'm turning 21 soon and I have a bucket list of about 10 pages. Most of my goals are actually wild traveldreams which I'll probably never end up doing, but there's nothing wrong with dreaming, right? :)

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    1. You're so young! What a fun age... Keeping dreaming those dreams -- you never know where life will take you! xo

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  3. What a wonderful blog post and Happy Birthday to you!

    I hope you accomplish all of that stuff on your list in a year.

    I'll be celebrating the 7th anniversary of my 29th birthday this year. :)

    Paul

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  4. I've always thought of every five years as the end of a chapter of our lives. While I love to make the most of each day and year, the end of the chapter should be filled with something special. Before turning thirty, I had similar goals, but also thought ahead and figured out, what do I want to accomplish when I become thirty, as I arrived on a new plateau! In my first few years of thirty, I've done even more than I could have imagined!

    A word of advice when skydiving, pick a place with a good record but also a beautiful view! You've got a great list, I wish you the best in reaching them all!

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  5. Any chance of adding a StageIt show or two to your bucket list?
    -Steve

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  6. I moved to NYC from California about 20 days after my 29th birthday! It was a place I had always wanted to live and the planets just seem to align right around then.

    Even though I no longer live there, it was one of the best (& scariest) decisions I could have made and allowed me to really grow into my 30s.

    Go out/in with a bang, pretty girl.
    XoX--Cinnamon

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  7. Hi Priscilla!

    Happy be-lated & great shots! It was my birthday too recently (last Monday) and one of my goals this year is to record an album. I met you recently when you played at the Spare Room. I'll send you the picture :) Can't wait to hear the new album!

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    1. Hi Melissa!

      Happy Belated Birthday!!! I hope you do record that album! xoxo :)

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  8. Happy belated Birthday, Priscilla! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed your day and have positive thoughts about it. Beautiful photos, btw, thanks for sharing.

    VERY excited to hear about the new album! Hadn't heard it for quite some time, but I was actually listening last night to your brilliant debut album in the car on the way home from seeing Marc Broussard in concert in Chicago. :)

    Any tour plans in support of the new album?

    All the best!

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    1. Aw, thank you. And yes -- I really hope so!

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    2. Awesome! Your voice and music makes me very happy. :)

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  9. Happy Belated Birthday Priscilla!
    Thank you for all that you've done for us these past years!
    Your music is truly one of a kind - one of the few fresh, organic tunes I turn on when everything else seems so loud and noisy.
    The life you share through your blog is also inspiring, insightful, and unique. They remind us of many things that we often overlook in our own lives. Thanks again for being the amazing person you are, and I hope that you continue to burn brightly and live madly!

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    1. Thank YOU for all the support and kind words. It means so much to me... encourages me to keep writing!

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  10. I will be turning 29 in a few weeks and I'm not sure what to make of it yet. I have experienced so many places and done pretty much everything I wanted to throughout my 20s. I keep a dynamic bucket list of activities, however, the places I want to travel to constitute a majority of the list.

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    1. Happy soon-to-be Birthday! May your bucket list never end!

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  11. Happy belated birthday Priscilla! I'm glad it was such a nice day for you. :)

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  12. I'm lovin' this trend toward annual album releases :D

    You appear to be in an ideal head space. Mine was much the same. For me, 29 was a threshold. Time to let go of the crepe paper crowns.

    xxo

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  13. Hello Priscilla, happy birthday! Your day sounds wonderful. Sometimes the simple ones are the very best. I live in LA too and Saturday was beautiful! I am glad that a new album is on your bucket list for the year! Very good news for your fans. I am 29 right now, and I have three months left till 30. I will be celebrating my birthday by going to Kaua'i in June, so I will be looking forward to snorkeling. I've never been, and I am so excited! I must tell you, although it might be a bit morbid to comment on your cheery post, but a good friend of mine turned 29 a couple years ago, then unexpectedly passed away soon after her birthday...she will always stay 29 to me. I listened to your song "Dream" over and over at the time I was going through this loss of my friend, because it reminded me so much of her. And now whenever I hear your song, I think of my friend and remember the happy times we had. I just want to thank you for that! I hope I didn't bum you out. Have a good bucket list year! -Vanessa

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    1. I am so sorry you lost your friend. I am touched that my song reminds you of her. She sounds like a beautiful soul.

      Have an amazing Birthday in Kaua'i, one of my all time favorite places!!! xo

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  14. mine was to go back to school..and i'm starting next month! :) cheers on crossing off our lists!

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  15. Hey Priscilla! Happy belated birthday! I remember feeling really down and sad when I was 29 simply because I was at the end of my 20s. Then I realized how wrong it was because girrrrrl, the best has yet to come! Thirties is definitely more fun! And Amelie is such a great choice for birthday movie!

    Thanks so much for providing us with your beautiful, talented singing! I love listening to your album when I am designing (calms me so much!)

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  16. To be honest, a lot of things that were on my bucket list had happened. I published a poem in my school's literary journal, I saw Prince and Bob Dylan in concert (not the same night, unfortunately), and I won a dodgeball championship (they exist!) with my team. Also, I had the opportunity (twice) to meet you when you came to Vancouver in 2011 and one of those times was my birthday. You played "Dream" for myself and the other birthday person in the room. Truly, it was a memorable day and really put a happy moment to my 23rd birthday. In fact, I have your zine from that day that says "Priscilla Ahn made me smile today." Thought I would share that with you because your impact on my bday was so special to me and I hope by letting you know that you can at least share in that same happiness for your birthday this year (after all, you made it so). :) So, happy belated birthday, P and I hope you come by Vancouver again and play "Take Me Home, Country Road" so I can cross off another item on the bucket list!

    PS: Two vegetarian restaurant suggestions: Vij's (one of Canada's best restaurants) and Wallflower (with that name, how could you not check it out?).

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    1. Amazing bucket list! And so honored to be a part of it!! I remember that show and your birthday! ^^ How fun!

      Well, I may be in Vancouver a lot more soon... I will definitely have to check out these restaurants! And hopefully I'll be playing more shows there too. I'll try to remember your Take Me Home, Country Road request. ;)

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  17. A quiet reflective 29th you had:) Thank the stars for nature. It's said life is what you have trying to get somewhere else. There is a great comfort, peace and reality in appreciating our efforts. Taking stock of it all.
    It's also said that the 21st birthday is the year of knowledge and enlightenment. Of adulthood. I disagree as I feel turning 30 is it.The weights of hindsight and the sight of the future from an age tempered enough in fun, fire and time to know better what we want and where to go. And there are regrets. Youth is heavy. I'm sure the 21st celebration of coming of age is more to do with community and parental hopes of youth accounting for itself and looking towards responsibility. "you must start to grow up".........and ready for 30. Wisdom does come with age. Some of it's scary.

    I've always gotten through by protecting the child. We all have the child in us. Kind, fun,sense of humour, carefree, bravery,good hearted, exploring, innocent- and to much that befalls us and we encounter. Protect the child and look for the child in others. Yes,thirty is it, the big one:) protect the child. The hunter and defender must always be aware,but I never stop letting the child have a look out my eyes too. That is living.

    wooooo woooooooooooooo beeewwarrrrreeeee Priiiiisssssciiillllla 30 is coming to get yoooouuuuu

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  18. happy happy belated birthday, Priscilla! Just wanted to let you know that you, your voice, your beautiful life are so inspiring. I've recently decided that I'd like to my live life like you-honestly, simply, beautifully. the first song i ever heard you sing was a youtube video of "are we different" for la blogotheque, and i immediately thought, WOW. now seeing you perform live someday is on my bucket list!!

    anyway, i can't gush enough on how much i love your music and your state of mind. have so much fun in your 29th year and beyond! <3

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    1. You are so kind Katharine. But just to keep myself grounded, I have to remind myself that sometimes my "state of mind" is seriously flawed! haha... it takes a lot of work some days to find peace. But you're right... all we can do it start from where we are and try again. ;)

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  19. Happy be-lated birthday.

    My sole suggestion - put a little time to think about the bucket list for the next few years. Turning over to 30 means having a chance to dream about all the great things that 30 should hold.

    I am will be 40 in a couple of months. looking forward to the next stage.... but too late to do the things that I might have done at 30.

    BTW - no regrets 30 has been awesome.
    Fraser

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