30

Before we went to Finland I turned 30. Not so note-worthy, I find, but did we celebrate with a lovely picnic in our living room. Most of the guests didn't know it was a birthday picnic - I don't like to make a fuss. So without stress (but a bad hangover from staying at Rosi's until 7am) we lounged in our living room with a few good friends, drank sparkling wine and ate bulgur salad, Portuguese cheeses, turkish pastes, bread, spiced cashews and pea soup, with a side of fresh cherries and strawberries. The people in the know gifted me with bottles of organic sparkling wine and to practice my German M&M had picked out the book Herr Lehmann by Sven Regener for me.

During our holidays at home both A's and my birthdays were of course celebrated repeatedly. A's mom gave me a gorgeous pair of silver earrings and my dad got A a vintage microphone that he was over the moon about. I got books and gift cards, and I started to believe that maybe turning 30 was a big deal.