35.

I turned 35 on Saturday. I had an awesome party - at a playground with a Rapunzel cake and balloons.

Just kidding.

I did go to a party at a playground and there was a Rapunzel cake. The party wasn't for me. It was for Lane's best friend Andrea. I was more than happy to share my day with her though.

In return, she shared her cake with me and Paola let me blow out one candle - almost - 35 times.

Each year, my dad calls on my birthday and asks if I feel my age. Never, ever have I felt as old as I really am. Except for this year. It has hit. I feel 35.

That isn't really bad. And, I don't have too much to say about being 35.

I've got everything I could really want.

So, in honor of my big turn in to mid-life, I thought I would share with all of you 35 things about myself.

(Feel free to exit this blog now.)

1. For those of you who read, but don't know me "in real life" my name is Lana - the first a is a long a. So, it is pronounced like Donna but with an L.

2. One of my very best friends is named Lanna. The first a is a short a. So, it is pronounced like Anna but with an L.

3. I have been to all of the states in the United States of America - except for Alaska and Hawaii. Most states, I visited before the ripe old age of 5. And traveled there by vehicle.

4. My dad is a truck driver, which explains how I've been to all of those places.

5. I have also been to France (twice), England (once), Mexico (twice), The Dominican Republic (twice).

6. If I could live any where it would be Paris. My favorite city hands down.

7. Since Paris isn't really an option any more, I just daydream about living in one of the old cottage houses off the Marietta Square.

8. I am pretty much blind. Contacts during the day. Glasses at night.

9. I've never had any kind of surgery, or stitches, or a broken bone.

10. In fact, the only time I have ever been to - or even in - a hospital was when I gave birth to my boys.

11. My favorite food is my mom's homemade lasagna. So good.

12. I can't eat it any more because it hurts my belly too bad.

13. I have a gluten intolerance. (That's why I can't eat lasagna. The noodles are made of wheat, and I haven't found a gluten free noodle that fits the bill.)

14. My grandmother was my best friend. Next week, it will be nine years since she passed away. I still think of her every day.

15. I have lived in 4 apartments, 1 loft, 1 townhouse and 1 house.

16. Two of the apartments were in houses that were more than 100 years old. The loft was in an old school building that was more than 100 years old.

17. I am not scared of ghosts.

18. My mom once told me ghosts won't hurt you - only other humans can hurt you. Think about it. It is true.

19. I love to exercise - and go to the gym between 4 or 5 times on a good week.

20. I hate to run.

21. If I could have any job I wanted, I would work as an editor at Country Living Magazine.

22. I love gummy and sugar candies - gummy bears, Runts, jelly beans, sour patch kids, gummy peaches.

23. I can't sleep unless the closet door in my bedroom is closed.

24. I never had braces but do have fillings in more than half my teeth.

25. I secretly love my freckles.

26. I was this close to becoming a high school English teacher.

27. My first job was at a furniture store. I was 15.

28. My first job after college was at an antique auction house. You might have seen it on TV.

29. I didn't get my driver's license until a few months before my 17th birthday.

30. My first car was made before I was even born - a 1972 VW Bug.

31. I was once in a commercial for one of those quick cash places. (One of my old roommates worked at the local TV station, called me while I was taking a nap, said she needed help ASAP and I went down there not knowing what I was getting in to. I hadn't brushed my hair or even refreshed my make up.)

32. The book Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison changed made a huge impression on my life. I have read it at least five times.

33. I've never been camping.

34. My favorite nail polish color is Dragon by Chanel.

35. I have not one single regret. If it were not for each decision I have made in my life - the good and the bad and the really, really bad - I wouldn't be where I am now.

And I love my life right now.