Celebrating 40

40 seems a big milestone to reach and it’s finally here. I will share my thoughts in the next post but in this post I want to share how I celebrated it.

Because I am Christmas baby and usually restaurants are closed on Dec 25, we went out for lunch on Dec 24, organised by husband, first time since we got together I think. hahaha….. It was nice not to have to do the logistic this time but dress up and go!

I was not surprised that husband picked up a vegan restaurant, the corner tree. It’s an old fashion restaurant that looked very homey.

I browsed the menu and selected some appetizers to share. A toasted bread with olive oil with mix of spices. Girls loved this one. Well…. they just love bread.

a fritter with harissa sauce.

vegetable dumplings, loved by the kids.

for main, husband and I shared a thai vegetable curry

korean bibimbap, my favorite of the meal!

fried polenta with mushroom…. husband had most of it as I found it too salty. Girls had spaguetti with vegan meatball which they loved too.

and carrot cake as dessert

overall the meal was really delicious. All family found something that we really liked. we forgot to take a family picture so we took it once we got back. I cherish every special occasion pictures. Is it a sign of turning 40 the need to capture all special moments? it’s like catching sand with my hands… but I keep trying.

The next day I woke up with gift and card from husband on my desk in the dark. It was super sweet of him and made me laugh at 5am. He got me the same birthday card that I gave him 15 days ago 🙂

I spent the morning taking a long bath, reflecting what means turning 40 for me, what are my goals in my 40s which are definitely from 30s. 30s is the decade of change, graduating, getting a job, get married, have kids, settled into motherhood, consolidate marriage and friendships, found calling professionally, and became humble about oneself. What would 40 be? I’m hopeful and expectant.

Once I’ve had my slow morning, girls brought me their gifts. Lizzy got me a sweet card. She did the drawing, Sofia helped with the words.

Sofia went beyond my expectations. First they got me a very cute card. My takeaway is that she wants to be me and that I’m a good mom. Best compliment and recognition I can ask for.

then I got a set of decorating starts and a fake french fries. hahahha… not sure what they mean but I appreciate that she took days to make them.

and finally the most unexpected gift was a note and pen holder made with Lizzy’s old sock. hahahha…. she told me the day before that she’d spent many afternoon making something using old materials at home for me, that is also useful. It made me laugh….

Finally, when it got dark, I made a simple microwave cake and we blowed candles. It was lovely.

My gift to myself was to run 40km in 40 hrs. I wanted to make it a memorable day but also knew 40km in one day seems impossible, it’s almost a marathon, and I didn’t do the training. So 40km in under 40 hrs sounded more feasible. Still, I didn’t force myself to do it but just entertained the idea and let my body decide if it’s ready. I also tried many times to run a 40, it was harder than I thought. Here’s my best attempt!

At the end, I made it to  40.01 km. I run 7 miles on 12/24, and then 18 miles on 12/25 split between AM (14 miles) and PM (5 miles). The PM miles were hard. I am not used to run in the afternoon, and after 14 miles in the AM, my body was tired and legs sore. The last 2 miles were especially hard, just like those when finishing a marathon. But I finished it strong and super grateful for my body to not let me down, which gave me confidence that 40 is not scary. I could still be strong if I take good care of myself.

What a great way to celebrate a milestone birthday! 🙂 I loved every part of my birthday, probably the best one in a long time.