Most of my OOL (Out of London) friends
started buying homes in their mid- to late-20s. If you want to feel your
stomach drop, compare your friend’s dirt-cheap mortgage for a two-bedroom house in
Leicester to your astronomical monthly rent for a single room with a view of
the DLR (the catch being, of course, that you then have to live in Leicester).
London folks take a bit longer to get in the property game, but now that I’m in
my 30s, I’m seeing one friend after another buy. I wish I could say I’m joining
them, but the truth is, I’m still (gasp) sharing with a flatmate. I’d like to have my own place within the
next year or so, if only to allow myself uninterrupted weekend lie-ins, free
rein over the decorating choices, and Jane Austen movie marathons without a
running commentary. Will I buy? Not anytime soon. I may be getting older, but
I’m just not ready to commit to a mortgage — especially when it means leaving
Zone 1.
Shopping in my 20s meant heading to the
mall, buying a cheap going-out top at Forever 21, and wearing it for one or two
nights before it shrunk in the wash or fell out of favour. If I was feeling
flush, I might buy a uni-appropriate tee at Abercrombie & Fitch, or, more
likely, add to my impressive collection of Gap twin sets. Nothing cost more
than £30, and nothing really lasted more than a season. When I look back at my
wardrobe from that time, I see a distinct lack of direction. Now, I’m the girl (er, woman) who will
spend £500 on Acne boots, but will balk at spending more than a tenner on a
basic T-shirt. I like to buy things that I think will be investments: the best
underwear, the best jeans, the designer dress that I’ll one day give to my
daughter (if I ever get around to having one). But, it’s not just what’s on the
label. It’s about how it fits into my style. My uniform is an Alex Wang studded
Rocco bag, skinny jeans, a Sandro blouse or top scrawled with some sort of French
phrase, and Converse trainers. It’s semi-androgynous Parisienne, and it
influences every purchase I make. A 75-year-old model once shared that prints
are a no-no as you age (for her, anyway), and I’ve taken that to heart. Unless
it’s stripes, I’m inclined to pass. New me still has a few kinks to work out,
but overall, the look is less trendy, more timeless, and more focused.
I broke up with my devoted boyfriend so I
could move to London, and, well, sometimes the dating situation here feels like
some sort of karmic retribution. Men my age don’t seem terribly interested in
dating women my age because, as one friend put it, “You all want to get
married and have kids right away.” That leaves younger men, who are pretty and
fun to look at but can be infuriating. My last flame worried that if we got
serious, he’d be preventing me from ever having a child. Yep, foiled by an
imaginary child I never even said I wanted. I have little
experience dating older men, but the one who wined and dined me a couple of
years back lied about his age throughout the evening, finally landing at 49.
That kind of insecurity is a no-go. Most of my friends have paired off and are
embarking on parenthood, but I can honestly say I don’t feel too pressured to
follow suit — unless I read The Daily
Mail, in which case I’m convinced my uterus has already shrivelled up. Maybe the
whole biological-clock thing should keep me up at night, but frankly, it
doesn’t.
Social
Life
Night buses and head-throbbing house music?
No, thank you. While I’m not averse to a good ol’ house party or the occasional
dance-off, I’d just as soon curl up with a glass of vino in some dimly lit
cocktail bar where I can actually hear what my friends are saying. I’m sick of
shouting over a sound system. I’m sick of having my drink spilt down my dress
when some drunken reveller bumps into me. I’m sick of pretending that this
thump-thump-thump song makes me want to dance. Now that I’m in my 30s, I don’t
feel like I have anything to prove by staying out all night and twerking around
with a glow stick in each hand. Been there, done that. The resulting hangover
is simply not worth it.
I managed to get
that whole crap-boss-hellish-job thing out of my system in my 20s. Now, I’m the
one at brunch who silently picks at my toast while my friends wail about their
long hours and terrible supervisors. Being a freelancer helps a lot. I can more
or less set my schedule, I love what I do, and I can take my laptop and work
from Turkey or Spain if the travel bug strikes. If I don’t have time for a yoga
class or an early-evening cocktail, it’s only because I didn’t wake up early
enough or budget my time wisely. I’m a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of girl, and
have little patience for younger folks who expect a ticker-tape parade just for
showing up to work. Lest I start sounding too much like a fuddy-duddy, consider
this: I still don’t have a retirement plan, and I’m usually writing articles
whilst wearing a pair of shorts I bought at Coachella in 2005. They have a
picture of a bear wearing a sombrero on them and say “party in my pants.” Still
badass?
Erin
Donnelly is an American-born freelance writer who has been living in London for
six years. She turns 37 in October — but don’t tell anyone.