I had the best birthday yesterday. Usually people get less and less excited about birthdays as they get older. That was true for me through most of my 20s. As the years go by you wind up doing less for your birthday– spending the day working/writing and then going out to dinner or something with friends. It feels like every other day instead of a special day. You tell people not to get you anything etc. Birthdays are somehow for kids and not adults.
Well, I’m not buying that too-adult-to-celebrate crap anymore. Life is short and any chance we get to celebrate the passage of time should be celebrated with as much excitement as we can muster!
So yesterday I turned 32. And to celebrate I had a bunch of great people over for a little party. I didn’t want a lot of fuss, and I didn’t want people to spend a lot of money on gifts and such. And since Jo just had surgery again this past week (she’s doing great, btw) I didn’t want her up and around unnecessarily cooking and entertaining. So I decided to invite a few select people over for 3 of my favorite things… pizza, beer and games. Actually 6 of my favorite things if you include wonderful people, laughter and ice cream cake.
It was a huge success.
Jo and I ordered pizza. Instead of gifts, I asked everyone to surprise me with some kind of beer they thought I’d like. This served to (1) provide beer for guests, (2) introduce me to some seriously yummy beers I wouldn’t have tried on my own and (3) stocked my fridge with enough beer to last for at least 2 weeks. Woohoo!
And we played Apples to Apples for hours. Let’s just say I do much better at that game when I’m not drinking so much. Last night I kept insisting crazy things like that witch hunts were “magical” and Schindler’s List was “spooky.” It all made sense to me at the time, anyway. And since I’m not 20 anymore and apparently can’t tolerate more than a few beers in an evening, I ended up waking up a couple times during the night for water and advil.
I’m feeling thoroughly spoiled gift-wise. Here’s what I got:
Jo bought me two huge coffee table books I’ve wanted forever– The Oxford Project and Weapons of Mass Communication.
She and my parents also each bought me a bracelet from my new favorite etsy store.
My mom and dad got me some lovely new silver earrings.
My sister bought me a thoroughly awesome owl pillow.
My parents bought me some great yellow retro pyrex containers and some particularly lovely jadeite containers and ice cream bowls. They look wonderful in my hoosier cabinet.
I also scored a Kohl’s gift card from my aunt, and the guy at the Trader Joe’s check out line gave me flowers.
And since Jo and I like to extend birthdays as long as we can, we’re going order sushi and rent a movie tomorrow night.
yay! i wish i had been with you on your birthday, glad i wasnt though i dont like beer!