So ... I'm 33 ...

... for some reason, turning 33 is hitting me like a ton of bricks.  I realize it's not a major milestone (i.e. 21 or 50 or 18), and I also realize I'm still younger by several months/years than most of my friends (ha - had to throw that in there - love you guys!) ... but ...

THIS IS THE OLDEST I'VE EVER BEEN.

I think my issue is that I thought I'd be further along by 33 ... husband, kids, white picket fence ... and I'm not.  So that kinda sucks.

BUT!!! (oh yes, there's a positive ...)

1. I have the best family and friends a girl could ask for.
2. I live in Vietnam which is freaking amazing.
3. I have the sweetest dog in the entire world.
4. I have an amazing job that lets me see the world (and that I absolutely love - most days).

All in all, I don't have much (if anything) to complain about.  And 32 was a shit-tay year, so ... bring it on 33!!!!

How the day went down ...

• I woke up at 5:30 a.m. because I was so excited it was my birthday.  Yup - I acted like a 3 year old.  Awesome.

• I worked a full day, and that actually kinda sucked!  People were friendly and wishing me happy birthday and what not, but a. I was in the office on my birthday - and that just blows, and b. one of my co-workers had on his douche helmet and gave me an earful of douchey attitude.  Not cool dude, not cool.

• FINALLY, I made it home and welcomed friends over for a pre-dinner drink before we went to Sumo Sushi (all you can eat sushi and BBQ) for dinner.  Awesome night with awesome friends - felt very special and very lucky.

Roses from my landlord!

Nathalie, me and David @ dinner

BEEF

Daraca, Damien and LaMont @ Sumo Sushi

Something on this table disagreed with me completely ...
Sumo sushi is dead to me.

And then ...

• ... something in the sushi disagreed with me - TERRIBLY.  So I spent the next 24 hours racing to and from the bathroom.  No need for details here, but - let's just say it's wasn't the best ending to the day.
  
  (You're probably thinking ... hmmmm - what did you expect????  All you can eat sushi + BBQ in Vietnam sounds shady as hell.  Thanks Captain Obvious.  I agree wholeheartedly that it was not the smartest decision on my part.  You'd think I'd have learned by 33.)

All in all, a pretty inauspicious start to 33.  

But instead of focusing on the negative, I'll end this on a positive ... 

1. I got to celebrate my birthday for 36 hours because of the time difference between here and the States.  That kinda rocks.

2. I'm heading to Nepal for 10 days in late March.  That's just straight up badass.

3. I'm finalizing my trip home during the summer - definitely something to look forward to.

4. My Irish friends are having me over for lunch on Sunday to celebrate St. Patty's Day in true Irish style.  No idea exactly what that means, but you know it's going to be amazing.  

Thanks to all of you for the birthday wishes, cards, emails, Skype, texts, etc.  I felt the love reaching 1/2-way around the world!!