5 Signs You Are 30

Thirty was so strange for me. I’ve really had to come to terms with the fact that I am now a walking and talking adult. -C.S. Lewis

Taking a quick break from the usual blogging about relationships to reveal some trends I have noticed when it comes to being in my 30s.  Recently while sitting at a pub (which was apparently quite hip) I found myself asking my girlfriend why the music had to be so loud...then it hit me.  I have changed.  There is something that has grown up out of me, my inner rebellious, immature, teen self is no more.  She has been replaced instead by a mature woman.  The following are 5 trends that indicate you are well on your way to the dirty thirties.

The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits. -Hervey Allen

1) Everything got louder.  As I mentioned above music everywhere seems too loud everywhere you go, AND it is not even that you find the music in pretty much all places to be over bearing it is actually that you and your friends begin conversations about how music does not need to be so loud at the pub...seriously?  (I have to laugh at myself here I know so cliche)  Suddenly where you go revolves around where you can actually hear yourself and your friends.  I justify this mentality with the following reasons: 1 - you have grown into friends worth listening too in your old age, 2 - you do not want your throat to be sore from yelling across the table because you have also grown into someone who has a lower tolerance of pain than your former 20 year old self and lastly 3 - the music blasted in pubs is not really worth blasting...in anyone's ear...ever.  Really have you heard top 40's of this year?  Your grown self also has come to know what good music is and that if you are no longer liking what the younger generation likes than you are officially no longer part of the younger generation.

Everything I know I learned after I was thirty. -Georges Clemenceau

2) You want to put sweaters on everything....in the past few years I have caught myself saying this a lot "It is not really shorts weather, I hope that girl does not get a cold."  I am my mother's daughter.   My mother use to force me to take sweaters everywhere and I was adamant that was not cool.  I guess not a lot has changed in the cool ratio of wearing sweaters.  The reason I have began to think all things should be warm and dry is COMFORT, oh yes, we have passed the threshold people!! Once you begin to view style as comfort you are officially beyond adolescence and coasting happy into your 30's.  Typically however, you find clothing that is both stylish and comfortable...and buy whatever items you are fortunate enough to find like this in every color for every day of the week.  Let's face it comfort and style are a girls best friend.

When you turn thirty, a whole new thing happens: you see yourself acting like your parents. -Blair Sabol

3) You tactfully say no.  Just the other day I saw a robust young man swearing in Starbuck's because his drink was taking so long and an elderly woman was waiting in front of him.  Appalling I know.  Then it donned on me.  The mouthy, rude, and what I considered rebellious days are long gone, the young college days of being walked on like a door mat because life was all new are also gone, which brings us to 30.  A delightful age where you have learned to kill with kindness, stand your ground and offer your opinion in a complimentary way.  It should be noted that tact is not a feat that all have mastered (sadly).

“Most people don't grow up. Most people age. They find parking spaces, honor their credit cards, get married, have children, and call that maturity. What that is, is aging.” 
― Maya Angelou

4) BABIES, BABIES, BABIES.  As most of you readers know I do not want children of my own.  But, I may be the only 30 something woman in the world with this view, just kidding I know there are a few more of you out there hiding out like the mythical unicorn!  Aside from these rare women, everyone and their dog are having BABIES, talking about babies, and labor, and pregnancy and labor and pretty much every single thought you thought you would never have is now the topic of lunch room conversation.  But, the endless supply of baby postings on social media is the cherry on the baby cake.  But, like all good things this baby craze will die down, the children will grow up and right when you think you are sailing into retirement cruises and life on the beach GRANDBABIES will be all your friends talk to you about.  Welcome to 30.

“I want to grow old without facelifts... I want to have the courage to be loyal to the face I've made. Sometimes I think it would be easier to avoid old age, to die young, but then you'd never complete your life, would you? You'd never wholly know you.” 
― Marilyn Monroe

5) You don't know what is cool.  Over the past two years I have also caught myself actually saying this "I am not sure, what is cool now a days? What do the kids like?"  Ummmm, hmmmm.  It appears as though I am my father's daughter.  True story when I was 16 my dad gave me the Tom Petty "Life is a Highway" album because he asked the woman in the CD shop what was cool....I did not even know who Tom Petty was at the time.  Thus once you have reached the point where you do not know what is "trending," or who is "hip" than you can pretty well welcome yourself to adulthood.  TRUE FACT: adults do not care what is cool.

So there you have it.  Welcome to the wonderful age of comfort, honesty, real connections, BABIES, being uncool, BABIES, enjoying life the way it is, BABIES and all the wonderful things that being this age means.  For me, my best life yet has been in my 30's and if life just keeps getting better than I cannot wait to see what 40 brings!
Thanks for reading!