Just when a woman's learned how to wind her way through a life of temp jobs and commitment-phobic boyfriends, she has to face the biggest nightmare yet--turning 30. What with everything on that -To Do Before 30- list still left undone and and the biological clock ticking all too loudly, even the most sensible chicks come a little unglued when their fourth decade is upon them.

Luckily, humor writer Julie Tilsner is here to help. A Business Week editor who ditched New York City and a successful career for a kibbutz in Israel when the big day closed in on her, Tilsner...