How fitting was it that the fourth season of Sex and The City, which was all about the women finally growing up, began with Carrie’s 35th birthday?

Carrie celebrated her big day by feeling sorry for herself. When roadwork caused her friends to miss her birthday party, Carrie began to ask herself why she hadn’t found her soul mate yet, and if she ever would. The rest of the ladies, when they finally caught up with her for birthday cake, assured her she wasn’t alone, but it was Charlotte’s response that really brought home the theme of friendship behind the entire series, “Maybe we could be each other’s soul mates? And then men could just be these great, nice guys to have fun with.”

But as sweet as Charlotte’s offer sounded, Carrie kept looking for love. This season, the search brought her back to Aidan Shaw, the furniture designer whose heart she’d broken last season. Carrie won his trust back by proving she’d changed since cheating on him with Mr. Big, but she wasn’t the only one. Aidan had shed his crunchy granola image -- no more long hair, rawhide necklaces, or pudgy stomach. He was looking good, but it ultimately wasn’t enough. Carrie truly loved Aidan, and even agreed to marry him (although she initially vomited upon discovering the heinous engagement ring Miranda had helped him pick out). By the time he proposed, Aidan had gotten the ring right (with help from Samantha this time), but Carrie was dealing with serious commitment issues. After experiencing a full-blown panic attack when trying on ugly wedding dresses for fun, Carrie realized she wasn’t ready to get married. Aidan didn’t want to keep their relationship going without the promise of marriage, and Carrie realized he’d never fully learned to trust her again. They broke up, and Carrie went back to the single life that she, and the viewers, loved best.

Carrie may have never made it to the altar, but Charlotte had last season, and now she was unsure if she wanted to stay married to Trey. Absence may not have been making her heart grow fonder, but it was solving the other problem that had driven them apart in the first place. Once Trey had convinced Charlotte he really wanted to be married to her, she moved back in to his Park Avenue apartment, and the happy couple began trying to get pregnant. This proved harder than they’d both imagined, and Charlotte was devastated to learn her reproductive system was to blame. She began fertility treatments, and learning Mandarin in case they adopted a Chinese baby, but Trey had lost the will to keep trying. Although the possibility of her ever conceiving a baby was minimal, and she didn’t exactly have another potential husband lined up, Charlotte chose her dream of having a family over staying married to a man who didn’t want the same things.

Charlotte’s frustration over her fertility issues reached a boiling point when Miranda (who only had one functional ovary) accidentally conceived a child with her ex-boyfriend Steve (who only had one testicle). The ex-couple had grown close again after Steve confided in Miranda that he had testicular cancer. Knowing he was too laid-back to take care of himself properly, Miranda stepped in as a full-service caregiver. She found Steve a good doctor, dealt with the insurance company, served him juice in his hospital bed, and even slept with him for an ego boost after his surgery wreaked havoc on his self-esteem. When Miranda learned she was pregnant, she knew she didn’t want to lock herself into a lifetime commitment to Steve, but she didn’t want to give up what could be her only chance at motherhood, either. She decided to have the baby and raise it separately, but kind of together with Steve. At the end of the season, after her water broke all over Carrie’s new shoes, Miranda gave birth to Brady Hobbes.

Usually, this is the point in the column where I point out that Samantha laughed in the face of love and spent the season bedding a new guy or two every episode, but in season four, things were different. Samantha found herself in not one, but two monogamous, multi-episode relationships, and the first of which was with a woman.

Samantha met Maria (Sonia Braga) at Charlotte's art gallery and was instantly drawn to her. Knowing Maria was a lesbian, Samantha just wanted to be friends. But Maria wanted more, especially when she saw a rare glimpse of Samantha’s true heart, when Sam stood up for her pal Carrie to Mr. Big. Realizing for the first time how good it felt to be with someone who encouraged her to get in touch with her emotions, Samantha decided to give things a try with Maria. Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte were shocked to see this sudden change in their friend, but breathed a sigh of relief when Samantha quickly grew tired of talking about her feelings all the time, dumped Maria, and went back to her old self.

But it wasn’t long before the love bug hit Samantha again. After fighting hard for a public relations assignment with handsome hotel mogul Richard Wright (James Remar), Samantha quickly found herself falling for her client. At first, she seemed drawn to him because he was so much like her. While her friends were caught up in engagements, marriages, and babies, Richard helped validate Samantha’s single lifestyle. He’d been living the same way for years. But it didn’t take long for Samantha’s feelings to run deeper, and as much as she hated to admit it, least of all to Richard, she was in love. At the end of the season, she wasn’t surprised to find him cheating on her, just at how much it hurt.

And where was Mr. Big this season? For the most part, in the background, as a friend and confidante Carrie turned to when she was feeling lonely. The sparks failed to ignite for them this season, at least until the finale, when Big announced he was tired of New York and was moving to Napa, California, where he’d purchased a vineyard. Carrie contemplated spending one last night with him before he left, but the birth of Miranda’s son called her away. She raced to Big’s apartment on his moving day to say goodbye, but he was already gone. He left her two presents, a record of Henry Mancini performing “Moon River," (which they’d shared a romantic dance to in his empty apartment) in case she got lonely, and a plane ticket for her to fly out to Napa, in case he got lonely.

I’m sure Carrie wasn’t the only one who spent the break between seasons hoping that he’d get lonely.

New Characters We Met: baby Brady Hobbes, a new permanent addition to Carrie’s gang

Best Hookups: Carrie learned about jazz from an ADD-addled musician (Craig Bierko), and Mr. Big got his heart broken by a movie star we never got to meet.

Fashion Highlight: It was all about the accessories this season, as Carrie could usually be seen decked out in heaps of pearls, layered horseshoe necklaces, and even a square cut diamond engagement ring on a chain around her neck. But perhaps the biggest fashion moment of the season was Carrie’s all-time biggest fashion misstep -- falling on the runway at a charity fashion show.

Best Quote: Carrie, on marriage: “Why do we even need to get married? Give me one good reason, except for the whole dying alone thing … which I’ll admit is worth thinking about.”

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