Stick a fork in it... 30 Before 30 is done.

Not that I actually FINISHED all 30 things... but I got pretty close.  And finally called the endeavor "done" after Saturday's birthday celebration.


To recap, after the Texas trip I still had a few things left to go on the list...
4.    Get to (at least) the half way point in my midwifery diploma coursework.
7.    Visit a new country.
9.    Teach Rory to read.
13.   Get caught up on the family photo albums and stay that way!
14.   Transfer all our video tapes onto DVDs.
19.   Dress all fancy (including hat and heels) and go to the Steeplechase.
21.   Hand write a thank you note every week for the whole year.
22.  Take the girls to see the ocean for the first time.
23.  Learn to quilt.
25.  Go karaoke-ing.  


It's probably pretty obvious that *several* of those were going to be impossible to fulfill in the 3 days before my birthday... helloooo, #7?  Ha.

For the record, numbers 9, 13, 14, and 21 are "in progress" but not actually done enough to count.  4, 7, 22, 23, and 25 are going to have to go on my next list... but more on that later.

That left me with this last one:

 19.   Dress all fancy (including hat and heels) and go to the Steeplechase.

If you don't know what this event is, check out the website here.

Why did I want to do this?  Well, to be completely honest, I was slightly obsessed with the movie My Fair Lady at some point in my childhood.  And the horse race scene is pretty much the awesomest part of the movie.  So when I found out there is a racing event with the big hats and all the pomp and circumstance of a real horse derby in my relative backyard, I wanted in!

{This is before everyone started telling me it's basically an excuse to act classy whilst tailgating and getting drunk, oops. More on that later.}

So anyways, about a week before my birthday, and after A LOT of whining, complaining, and threats of crying in public, I coerced my husband into telling me what he was planning for my birthday.  I do NOT like surprises and he had been taunting me with enough hints that I knew he was planning something, I just didn't know what.  And apparently it involved me wearing a dress, which is not my favorite.  I was stressed, to say the least.

I had pretty much given up on being able to attend the Steeplechase after I saw the cost of tickets and the fact that it was the weekend after my birthday, I assumed the husband would say it was a no-go.

{Enter Groupon into the story.}

Apparently, a week or two before, husband stumbled upon a Groupon for 4 tickets to the Steeplechase event I had been longing to attend!  And he even claims he FORGOT it was on my list, and that he just came up with it on his own as something he thought I would like to do.  A million cute points to him!

So, like I said, he finally admitted to the plan and I was super excited!  I would even gladly wear a dress since I knew I got to wear an awesome hat to go with it!

The best friend took me shopping and we planned out the whole day.  By the 14th, we were primed and ready to do it up right!  It was everyone's first time attending so we were a little hesitant we might do it "wrong," but you can tell me from the pictures whether or not you think we nailed it.

Red solo cup, I fill you up... let's have a party!

Me and my dapper man

A few highlights from the day:
*got my picture taken by the local newspaper reporter scoping out cool hats
*ate my favorite food: funnel cake!
*drank the tastiest mimosa ever made... by me, haha!
*saw terrier races for the first time

There were some other notable events relating to racegoers who had imbibed a tad too much before 1 pm, but we'll keep it classy here and not tell those stories.

{Seriously not referring to the 4 of us, seriously!  Except for the toddlers two tents over, we were the most sober people there.}

Mainly, fun was had by all!  It was a really nice way to ring in the 30th year.  And it was also a pretty cool way for the husband to make the 13th birthday of mine we have celebrated together memorable.