It's my birthday! It's the one day of the year where I will be endlessly selfish and demand attention. Birthdays are a pass to be the center of attention and egotistical without all the judgement and anti-karma vibes from people around you. Therefore, I always make a thing out of my birthday because I can easily convince/guilt my friends into doing things they may otherwise not want to do or that I would not otherwise suggest. It's also like my actual New Year, a time to reflect on where I was a year ago and where I want to be a year from now.
Georgetown Cupcake's birthday treat
Lemme say that it's been a roller coaster of a year and I could not have foreseen most of the year's events if you had told me of them a year ago (does that make sense...). This year, I'm turning 25 which as far as I'm concerned, is a milestone birthday. Time to set some life perspective and maybe make some course adjustments. My sister taught me for my 13th birthday that part of becoming a woman is learning how to pamper yourself. Note taken! I spent last weekend pampering myself in preparation for birthday week. This included getting a makeover at my local Sephora (because I'm essentially 15 in makeup age and needed some help on how to be an adult) and giving myself an at-home facial with products from the Body Shop. I also gave myself a pedicure, indulged in some ice coffee and cookies, and bought some new shoes--nice tall heels, thank you very much!
Turning 17, like it was just yesterday...
As you can tell from some of my cost-effective meals, I'm a bit frugal so spending time and money on myself was a great birthday gift to me! There seems to be a trend going around of #100daysofhappiness so this week I tried to do something for myself each day that I loved to celebrate birthday week. Here's the wrap up:
Monday: In the spirit of Dine Out Boston, I went to Red Lantern with my cousin and at her encouragement, got a Shirley Temple with my fancy sushi meal. Shirley Temples were what I always got when I was dragged to my parents' parties or country club. I think it started my love of cherries and you can frequently catch me stealing cherries from the bar to add to my drinks, even if they don't typically have cherries on them. I never realized how easy these are to make and I assure you, many of these virgin cocktails will be consumed on my birthday.
Red Lantern recap!
Tuesday: My mom's birthday is two days after mine so we frequently share our birthday celebrations. Maybe that's why I love to make a big deal out of myyyy birthday, to celebrate independently. My mom has instilled many things in me, obviously, including a love of and indulgence in chocolate, hot cocoa, cinnamon toast and daffodils. Daffodils are some of the first signs of spring and come into season just in time for our birthdays. When my mom was a little girl, her grandparents had a huge field of daffodils and she passed this sentimental love down to me. So on Tuesday, I stopped at the local corner flower shop and bought myself two bunches of daffodils. They quickly bloomed into a sunny array of spring cheer.
And then my heart with pleasure fills; And dances with the daffodils
Wednesday: I wasn't sure what to do with my Wednesday birthday thoughts, I was trying to pace myself and not eat large quantities of cake and chocolate prematurely. But when I got home, I had a package from my grandparents with my birthday gift. Excellent excitement! I restrained myself and didn't open it immediately but I got all giddy for presents.
Thursday: I don't plan these things, I just try to find something good in each day. Who knows what the day will bring. But as Julia Child said "a party without cake is just a meeting". And therefore, a day without cake is just another day. I'm surrounded by cupcake shops and I love cupcakes. Therefore, Thursday was devoted to enjoying a little premature birthday cake. It's someone's birthday somewhere so here's to you, friend!
Lemon-Raspberry cupcake from Sweet!
Friday: If you have ever seen the movie Practical Magic with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, you will understand this reference. If you haven't seen this movie, shame on you, go find it on Netflix. I love Sandra Bullock's witty charm that she brings to every movie. I also loved the idea of living in this house with all of your maternal figures helping you grow. Since birthday festivities will be on Saturday night, I wanted to stay in on Friday and watch movies but was likely going to be up at midnight. Cue midnight margaritas! I hate tequila but love margaritas (it's okay to be contradictory on such things) and celebrated my 21st birthday with margaritas. So it was a toast to me and my younger self and my future self and all the selves in between.
Saturday: Waffles. All the waffles. National Waffle Day was this past week but let's be real, it's a brunch food. Growing up, my dad would make waffles every Sunday, complete with strawberries and cool whip. And so, Saturday morning was devoted to waffles smothered in syrup, butter and strawberries. And mimosas, there were mimosas. Later tonight, my friends have been convinced to dress in Gatsby style to celebrate my quarter century. Like I said, I can ask anything of people for my big day. I will be decked out in sparkles and heels, sipping Prohibition Era cocktails.
These are a few of my favorite things
When my nephew was learning to count, we tested him by asking him to count the number of adults and kids at the table. The final count was n+1 and we pointed out he had counted too many. He looked confused and listed out the people he counted as adults and counted as kids. I was both an adult and a kid to him because I was "tall like a grown-up but really more like a kid" (or something like that). I have sadly since been fully allocated to the adult category but I relish being categorized as both and resist being only one. I vote for being childish in all the good ways (and not the petulant ways) and grown-up in all the good ways (like being independent) which leaves no room for bad in any way.
So tomorrow will mark the first day of a new year and a new, older me. More mature (pronounced ma-tour)? Perhaps. Wiser? Definitely. Happier and more adventurous? Abso-freaking-lutely.
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