Let The Birthday Shenanigans Begin!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! 

Yep, today is my birthday. If you are new here then you should know that LOOOOVE my birthday. Always have, even as kid. Now I'm just a grown-up kid. I do not feel my age and fortunately enough, I do not look my age (thanks mom and dad). 

As many of you know, I am not shy about announcing and celebrating my birthday, as I mentioned here. So I would like to share my plans for the day weekend. 

1. I took 2 days off work plus it's a non-work weekend. That means 4 days off!

2. Today I will cash in on birthday freebies: brekkie at Denny's, free tea at Blenz, and a free burger at either Red Robin or Vera's Burgers. I am also getting my hair coloured so I will be pampered. Tonight will be the really fun part - getting dressed up and having drinks at a swanky hotel bar. We will head to Reflections at the Rosewood's Hotel Georgia. This will be different from years past as I am a casual pub girl. I hope I fit in!

3. Friday will see some more pampering. I intend to redeem my free pedicure coupon. Then I will head home to prepare a scrumptious meal for some of my nearest and dearest friends. I wish I could invite more but, alas, my small bachelor apartment can accommodate only a few. I am at capacity as it is. It'll be a great girls' night in. 

4. Saturday night will be another the big celebration. I have reserved space at Red Card Sports Pub for an evening of drinks, perhaps dancing and fantastic camaraderie. If it is anything like years past it will be a great time. 

5. Sunday I am fairly certain I will be recovering from a hangover...

So there you have it. The plans for my special day. I will post photos down the line of the memories that will be made. 

Below please find a few photos of some of my past birthdays. I wish I had more but many are pre-digital. 

My first birthday and I'm already celebrating

A birthday while studying massage years ago

Most memorable birthday - on top of the Eiffel Tower

I climbed that tower on my birthday!

A couple years back and I met Captain Morgan
and borrowed his hat!

On Aging

Today is one month until my birthday. Yeah I know, I am a bit overzealous but I love my birthday. And when I say I love my birthday, I mean I LOVE my birthday. Planning events, hearing well wishes, fun festivities and the occasional gift is enough to make a girl giddy. And the attention. I relish the attention. The one day of the year I can claim as my own (despite the fact that I share that day with several people I know, including my oldest friend and her twin brother). According to my mom, even as a kid I looked forward to my day.  Yes, I LOVE MY BIRTHDAY. 

Many of you are the opposite - you dread your birthday and the idea of becoming yet another year older. That very idea boggles my mind. I do not understand it. A few times in my history I have dreaded a milestone birthday. Soon, however I realized it was for naught. For starters it does not change a thing. You can not get younger so why stress over it. Go have fun and celebrate yourself! I do so unabashedly - actually I tame it in sometimes because if I really showed how excited I was those around me would think I was nuts. Secondly, somewhere we started believing that all the great stuff happens when we are young. HA! Sure you have some great stuff happen when young but not everything. Many of the goals and desires we crave take time to come to fruition. Others, the joy is in the journey. Career advancement, paying off your mortgage, building your marriage, seeing children, grandchildren grow are things many desire and they are the journey. Why lament your youth when many wonders are in your future?  You could not pay me enough money to go back to my early - mid 20s, let alone my teen years. It was not until my late 20s that I started to come into my own. Before that things were a mess for me. No going back. Finally, the older you grow the more you learn, the more you experience. An interesting thing happens as you age - you begin to see. You learn what really matters. No, things do not become easy and without concern but you know yourself more and can see what is truly important. I can not really explain it but your mindset changes. It understand perhaps. I personally am intrigued as to what my future holds. I do know that big RTW trip is around the corner. After that? Who knows but just imagine the experiences I will have when I am old and gray, to have seen much and done so much more. A future worth looking forward to. 

On a side note, I do wish for my former young size 6 physique I once had...but that is it.