Dear Justin

Dear Justin,

First of all—Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have stuffed yourself with some delicious turkey and stuffing… oh and squash—one of my favorites.

I am certain you have been following my blog—because it’s been sooo riveting—so you should know that I have checked everything off my 30 list! Except for #31—this is where you come in.

So I started out after New Year’s (already over a month after I turned 29) and decided to accomplish 30 things before I turn 30—which happens to be today… on Thanksgiving. Not an ideal day to celebrate your 30^th. But hey, I would be guaranteed time with family and a great meal. And I get to share a 30^th Thanksgiving birthday with my favorite Yankee (last year Swisher turned 30 on Turkey Day).

I think some people had doubts whether I’d be able to accomplish everything in 11 short months and yes, I think at some points I really wasn’t sure if I’d do EVERYTHING. But I did set out to check every single item off. And I now have.

Except for kissing you.

I got some suggestions of doing a YouTube video. And I liked that idea. Except I didn’t have the creative skills, guts, or time to do it. So I decided to write you a letter instead (via my blog).  

I was thinking of going to find some old school ‘N Sync poster in Faro, Portugal (where I am currently) and make out with it. But I have a feeling I would have little luck with that. Plus, I don’t want to kiss the 17 year old Justin. I want to kiss the much sexier and very funny 30-year-old Justin. In real life.

Now I’m not inviting you to the Marine Corps ball (although I did run the Marine Corps Marathon in 2008—Semper Fi). I work in advertising—pharmaceutical advertising. Not super glamorous. Or patriotic. However, my awesome team did a great job of Photosshopping the image below.

To celebrate my 30^th, I spent the day with my sisters and our adopted Portuguese family eating a wonderful dinner. I only wish the rest of my family could be here. But they are back home enjoying our traditional dinner. And pumpkin pie (also one of my favorites). I do demand leftovers when I get back to the States on Sunday. It is one of the best parts of Thanksgiving.

I’m not going to try to convince you to kiss me. I think my blog speaks for itself. Do you know any other girl that watched the sunrise and sunset on both coasts in the same day, did a Polar Bear Plunge in the Atlantic in February, ran a marathon, tried kangaroo meat, read 10 classics, and jumped out of a plane in the same year? No? Well I did. I’m pretty awesome. And that’s why you should kiss me. Oh and I'm a pretty good kisser. If you need references, I can track them down.

So this is a formal invite to my 30^th birthday party on December 2nd. It’s a small affair in NYC—and since NYC is so awesome, why not? If you happen to be in town, make your way to El Centro on 9th Avenue at 8pm. I’ll be there with a margarita in hand.  

xoxo

~Shawnessy