Last Friday, we did 30 fun facts about our friendship. It’s only fitting that we do 30 fun highlights from the weekend. Jen is, after all, part of the 30s-club.

1) From San Jose to Santa Cruz, we listened to one song and one song only. “My Next 30 Years” by Tim McGraw.

2) We arrived in Santa Cruz around 8PM and had Mexican food and margaritas.

3) We spent Friday night playing Apples to Apples – the Junior edition. Because we are really classy and don’t like the vulgarity of Cards Against Humanity. (Jokes. I love Cards Against Humanity! But we were playing with an 8-year old so we needed to be PG.) Although, I do like one component of Apples to Apples. You’re allowed to go around and defend your card. I feel like I would win if people could hear my justification.

4) One of Jen’s birthday gifts was a yoga mat. So we ended up doing a little yoga before bed. Izzy thought I was the best at it.

5) The sun was out for most of Saturday (which was the day of the BBQ). We were really lucky because there was NO sun on Sunday.

6) We built a fort on Saturday morning. Izzy is the strongest 8-year old I know.

7) I walked up and down the shore with Izzy to find things to decorate our fort with. I almost touched 87 crabs thinking they were pretty shells.

8) We had secret mimosas while we waited for the guests to arrive.

9) Juan busted out his guitar to practice. Later on, his band joined him and provided us with some live music entertainment.

10) We stayed at the picnic tables until the sun went down. We danced on tables, played Cups, and laughed and giggled until it was too dark to play anymore.

11) We got to see Mario – after 5 years! This crazy kid is a Berkeley graduate and is now working as an academic counselor. Hearing Mario’s mini speech about Jen was definitely a highlight. Love him.

12) Spending time with so many people that love Jen as much as I do.

13) Realizing that, as we approach our 30s, there are lots of babies at birthday parties.

14) The secret stash of tequila we had at the beach. Taking a shot of tequila with Mario. And by “a shot,” I mean several.

15) The amazing birthday cake that Jen’s friend, Alice, made. According to Alice, it was gluten-free, dairy-free, calorie-free. My kind of cake.

16) Coming together on Saturday night to project Emily’s phone onto the TV screen.

17) Waking up and doing cartwheels on the beach.

18) Watching the pod of dolphins that were swimming and playing just FEET from the shore.

19) Watching a baby seal try to swim through all the waves.

20) Coffee on Sunday morning. And Cheez-its for breakfast.

21) Stopping at Summit House on the way back home. Getting to watch two people fight over who was going to serve our table.

22) Reaching home and realizing that transitioning back to reality was not going to go very well. So we continued our adventures at a few wineries.

23) Sitting at Picchetti until the sun went down.

24) Reminding myself that we are the luckiest humans to get to live in this beautiful place.

25) Willow for dinner. Custom salads are my jam.

26) Reminiscing about the weekend with my favorites.

27) Inappropriate things placed on foreheads.

28) Broadcasting information about our private lives to strangers sitting at Willow.

29) Coming home to a messy room, an empty fridge, and piles of things to do. Because I realized that none of it matters if your heart is happy.

30) Getting to watch my best friend turn 30. She looks like she’s 12. She acts like she’s 8. But she’s 30. And I can’t wait to see what adventures our “next 30 years” will hold. <3

Happy happy happy birthday Jen Merz. LYLAS.