Having a birthday in the middle of a work week, in the middle of Winter- in the middle of New England- and right smack in the middle of adulthood can seem a bit unceremonious. Sure, I could have taken a full day off from the office this past Wednesday and slept in- but then what? All of my friends and family would have still been at their jobs for the day- leaving a somewhat small gap between finishing work and having to be in bed to get ready for the next day for everyone to get together and do something celebratory.
So, this year, I opted for a couple of smaller hangouts with loved ones to make sure my birthday didn’t become a mid-week, “Hump Day” scheduling nightmare- and take the stress off of those around me who would have otherwise been scrambling to plan something. Tonight, for example- is my get together with my immediate family (my mother, brothers, sister-in-law, niece, etc.) where we’re going to eat some Chinese food, have some cake, and more than likely make fun of how old I’m getting- and in a couple of weeks some of my friends and I are going to plan another dinner and game/movie night- much like we did a couple of weeks ago in New Hampshire.
That’s not to say I didn’t do something special on my actual birthday, though. While I *did* work for a good chunk of the day, I also left the office a couple of hours earlier to treat myself to some coffee, a little shopping- and got dolled up for a night out with Troy- who had planned an evening together to commemorate my aging another year as gracefully as I can.
Side note: we can’t take photos together that aren’t blurry or ridiculous. It’s literally impossible.
We had dinner and drinks (and shots, of course) at Mama Iguanas in Northampton and followed it up with a night at East Heaven, also in Northampton- for a soak in a hot tub and hour long massages. I was so blissed out by the whole thing that I ended up falling asleep about halfway through my massage- only waking up when the masseuse had to shake me a little to let me know the session had finished.
And I remained completely zoned out for the next 24 hours- halfway sleeping through work the following day (I still got things done, but I absolutely put off the more challenging and time-consuming stuff for a later date.)
And here I am, another year older, maybe a little wiser- and looking forward to the next one. My one take-away from making it into my thirties, though? I definitely need to invest in more massages.
xo
Coffee & Chiffon 