This year was my sister’s Dirty Thirty, and we celebrated it literally. How? By smashing strangers in the face with food at Seattle’s Tomato Battle! Live music, Pyramid micro brews, and 10,000 lbs of tomatoes. Obviously our theme was Nerdy. So I guess that makes it her Nerdy Dirty Thirty… or Dirty Nerdy Thirty?

If you’re thinking about a massive food fight for your 30th birthday, here are my tips.

Dress up

These things are soooo much more fun when everyone gets into it. We went a nerds this year, but are already thinking about next year’s costume theme. Disney villians?

Wear white

While you’re thinking of a kick ass costume, keep this in mind- you’re going to get covered in a lot of red mush. Red much happens to look fantastic on white cloth. My favorite costume of the day was Gandalf the White, who left Gandalf the Pink.

Shop at Goodwill

After the fight, you will stink. Your clothes, your skin, your hair, your everything. I mean, tomato guts get everywhere. Unless you’re willing to risk keeping clothes that will forever smell like ketchup, I recommend getting threads that you don’t mind throwing away.

Invest in good eyewear

This is a must. Tomatoes will hit you square on the face. No, not might. They will. So invest in good eyewear. I strongly suggest scuba goggles. I saw folks wearing sunglasses or safety goggles- these will fall of your face and won’t protect your eyes from tomato juice, which stings like a bitch, by the way. I got my scuba goggles at TJ Maxx for $10.