38 Is Great
38 is a boring age. Nothing truly eventful, nor is it quite yet 40, which always adds some fun, "do you feel old yet" energy to the celebrations. That's why it suits me so well. It's a birthday that allows for maximum focus on enjoying the moment in a quietly rewarding way - and this year, that meant enlisting my friend Alison on a Monday to drive into the heart of Ojai, California and indulge in wholesome food, hiking, and tea with sprinkles of tarot-adjacent animal spirit guide cards to help with the life reflection that so often surrounds turning a year older. I tried and failed to make a lovely itinerary in Figma, but at least we knew where we were going.
So I set off on May 11 to pick up Alison from her house full of adorable children, snuffly French Bulldog, and her husband who provided the hiking location for our little day trip. On the way, I stopped for a much needed bathroom break and picked up pre-ordered matcha lattes (courtesy of my considerate friend) with my special birthday version all covered in rainbow sprinkles. Rainbow sprinkles are my absolute favorite, so this was a huge hit.
Armed with perfectly sweetened sesame matcha lattes and a cd case full of random music (mine), we wove through backroads until we arrived at Farmer and the Cook for some vegetarian taquitos and the last breakfast burrito they made that day. We spread out the Animal Spirit Guide card deck and puzzled out our card combinations and admired the artwork in the accompanying book. I felt cooler the moment the server said, "Oh, I have that deck too and I love it!"
Then felt immediately less cool when I replied awkwardly, "Yes! I use it because I'm too dumb to figure out tarot cards." The server understandably looked at me in silence and then walked back to the kitchen while I pondered why I say things before thinking it through.
Full of wholesome food and matcha, we drove to the Cozy Dell trailhead before it got too hot for me to want to hike up a sunny hill. After quickly changing shoes (me) and slathering mineral sunscreen from head to toe (both) we started a meandering pace through a dry creek and up to the first vista we saw. Feeling accomplished but thirsty, we took some photos at the top with my point-and-shoot camera and then made our way back down to the car.
Done with the eating and hiking, we moved on to the tea drinking portion of the day and took shelter from the heat at Magic Hour which was, thankfully, serving iced versions of their wellness-focused tea and I think I drank the first glass so fast that I didn't even manage to taste the subtle and complex flavor profile of the cornflower blue tea. The second glass was sipped and appreciated, and we spent time there with another animal guide deck and generally cooling off in the presence of beautiful and aromatic tea and tea accessories.
It was a beautiful and perfect day spent in beautiful company. There's something about a birthday that makes you want the day to mean something, and I think this one did because we did nothing but comforting things. 38 asked nothing of me, and I gave it a Monday, a best friend, and multiple glasses of blue tea.