Thirty.

Turning 30 on Monday was no Cinderella moment. There was no long list of invited guests or even a drunken fest. Although i do feel somewhat different, maybe it's made me more conscious knowing that i've left my 20s.

It's rather liberating.

My birthday was a relatively quiet one consisting of the repeated birthday song at random intervals during the day, phone calls from my family and a day trip to Düsseldorf. Oh and of course the dozens of facebook birthday greetings from friends i haven't heard from for ages from afar and near.

I waited till midnight to open my presents, not because that's my birth time but because it would feel more official.

My sister sent me two presents this year! The first arrived days ago directly from Amazon and was an easy-to-assemble cat hammock.

Both Luna and Yoshi aren't too sure what to make out of it just yet, but i occasionally see them run/hide under it in one of their Chase-Me-If-You-Can games. It stands in my work room/children's room.

The second present was a fabulous cloth handbag she painstakingly sewed together and made just for me. I love it!

There is no zip or magnetic button, the opening just flaps over closed. And the interior is lined with birds. Perfect size to fit what nonsense i need without weighing as much as a bowling ball.

She also included some super yummy lip balms [Just Peachy and French Vanilla] and a perfume stick made with Shea butter. All are Vegan by the way and are available online from You Stink Soap.

And finally, the pièce de résistance, was in the form of the latest 21.5" iMac!

J insisted that i get a new computer since my black MacBook had been giving me a few problems lately. Damn you rainbow coloured wheel of death! And now that i've taken on a few new projects, the risk of it having a heart attack and not functioning at all seems greater.

Lately, my whole day involves being at my computer. In fact, i've grown quite attached to sitting hunched over MattEbony [as i liked to call her]. MattEbony was my very first laptop i paid for with my hard earned money and managed to pay off in 12-month installments. It is already close to 4 years old [see here].

However, i have yet to rename my iMac, as i did with my Macbook. But i'm liking the name Lola for some reason.

And until now, i've had no real issues with working with a 13.3" screen size. It was all i could afford back then. Plus knowing that i spent most of my day at the office, it would make more sense to purchase a laptop as opposed to a desktop.

But i have to say, size does matter.

My 21.5" screen is massive in comparison. It's so shiny and new. I thought the glossy screen would bother me but it doesn't. The reflective screen also functions as a mirror to check on what the kitties are doing behind me.

Looking at this piece of art makes me wanna drool.

The quality of the speakers is far more superior than those found on my MacBook. Cranking up the volume has been an absolute pleasure. My peripheral vision has been somewhat extended.

Working in general has been a breeze. I'm even able to have my illustrator, inDesign, Open Office documents open whilst browsing online without any lag. It's made multi-tasking so much easier. The different operating system than my previous Mac which is far more advanced and has taken time to get used to but that's only normal.

Did you know the German keyboard layout is slightly different from an English one? Well it is and it's so damn confusing. For instance the Y and the Z keys are switched around. Why? I have no idea. And a few keys around the Return key is replaced by letters found in the German vocabulary. So to save my frustration trying to figure out where the keys have been shifted to, i chose not to take the wireless keyboard and got the the "normal" English keyboard that i'm used to.

And the guy at the store was really nice and gave us 2 extra GB of RAM free! Maybe their way of enticing potential customers to buy the latest machines. So now i have a total of 6 GB of RAM. Whereas my MacBook was pushing along with 2GB of RAM. The iMac came with a "Magic Mouse" but there's something about its' flat surface that doesn't conform to my hand and fingers as nicely. So i'm keeping true to my trusty Logitech.

So anyway, going back to the rest of my birthday, J had taken the day off, so we could spend it together. For most of the day the temperature hovered above 10˙C which was great since we had to drive to Düsseldorf to return the cardboard boxes we borrowed from the big boss' secretary when we moved. It gave us a reason to go somewhere familiar and frolic down memory lane.

And seeing that i had a Japanese food craving, we decided to check out a sushibar nearby.

For some reason i find being served by a white person in a Japanese Restaurant doesn't add to the whole Asian authentic experience. Yes i know i'm in Germany but maybe i'm just used to the stereotype. That said, the food was edible and fresh but still a little on the pricey side.

As for the kitties, they're getting along very well but as kittens are prone to be, have become more naughty. Luna's new trick is to knock over the bin in the bedroom and drag its' contents through the hallway. And Yoshi has a liking towards shoving his arse in the direction of my face in the middle of the night.

But when all is peaceful, Luna has a favorite place on top of the cupboard where she sleeps while i'm working. Yoshi is often found lying in the gap between me and the back of the chair. And when i'm not at my desk, they're like my very own entourage keeping me safe as i walk from one room to another.

OK.

Enough procrastinating. I must get back to work...