It is officially my birthday in 20 minutes, but we celebrated today. Let me tell you, the past two birthdays have been horrible. I was totally depressed on my 25th birthday and actually ended up crying at my party, and on my 26th birthday I had food poisoning and was puking and ghost-white and couldn’t even really get out of bed. Needless to say, I had my doubts about this one.
But I’ve been Little Miss Prayerful lately, just asking that I be able to appreciate having my mom and sister in town, and having plenty of friends to invite to my party, and asking that I be able to approach this birthday with love and gratitude and joy rather than with fear and envy and ego. And so far it has totally worked!
My mom and sister and I have been getting along fabulously, which has basically never happened before during this extent of time. We haven’t had a single fight. They made me wake up early this morning and we all walked to Starbucks, and then we came back home and they tag-teamed my hair, which still had a few stray tiny braids from the Renaissance Fair that I couldn’t get out. I seriously thought we were going to have to cut them, but Mom & Sis got ‘em out cleanly. Hooray!
Then we all headed out to Pike Place Market (which my mom kept calling “Pike’s Peak,” because she’s old and doesn’t learn new things very well). Pike Place is my absolute favorite tourist destination in Seattle. I really look forward to having visitors to take there. The market is just so vibrant and creative and cooperative and just basically makes you feel happy. Here’s a few pics from the market:
You may notice that my mom is not in any of these pics. This is not because we refuse to photograph her, it’s because she is ADAMANT about not having her photo on my blog, despite the fact that she is a beautiful woman who looks about half her age and weighs about half what I do. Honestly, people mistake her for my sister. Many people request not to have their photos on my blog, and I deny those requests. The only reason I allow my mom to stay off my blog is because I also don’t post my father’s face, at his request. And one time my mom was like, “Why is your father’s face never on your blog?” and I was like, “Because he asked me not to use pictures of him,” and she was like, “Well so did I!” and I was like, “Yeah, but he was serious.” Of course, this became a giant hullabaloo and my mother refused to be photographed ever until I promised her that I would, in all seriousness, not post her face on my blog. So that’s why you won’t see my gorgeous mother in any of these pics. My sister wishes I would do the same for her, but really that’s never going to happen unless it turns out that we miraculously have a brother whom I take seriously.
Back to my day. We had lunch at the Market, and then I decided I needed a new dress for my birthday party tonight. So we went to Nordstrom, which I loooove, because they just take such good care of you there. The girl pulled a ton of gorgeous dresses for me and I tried them all on. My mom, of course, preferred a simple, chic, sleeveless baby blue Calvin Klein. I, of course, preferred the bright red one that used about five total inches of fabric in the chest. The rest of the dressing room agreed with me. And, because Nordstrom rocks, they had a “lingerie consultant” come in and find the PERFECT bra to compliment this dress (it is not an easy dress to find a bra for), and so basically I looked like Selma Hayek between my neck and my waist. Needless to say, I was delighted.
I have to admit I was totally nervous for my party tonight. I’m always a wreck before any party I’m hosting. I’m always sure that no one’s going to come and no one’s going to have fun and it’s going to be a giant disaster. I had a couple friends email or text me today to be like, “I’m so sorry, something came up, I can’t make it.” This is totally what always happens the day of a party, and I expected it, but of course it made me think that no one was actually going to be there.
SOOO NOT TRUE!!!! I had a bunch of friends show up! The restaurant we went to, Wild Ginger in downtown Seattle, actually had reserved a separate party room for us. When I called on Friday, they told me they didn’t have any rooms left for that night, so I didn’t think we’d get a room, but I guess one had opened up. The waitstaff was fantastic, and they just took such great care of us. They kept the drinks coming and brought tons of yummy food and all my favorite people were there!!! I just have the bestest friends. My mom commented on the ride home, “You know, Sash, you just have the most intelligent and beautiful and kind group of friends. It’s amazing how you land in any city and just find the smartest and sweetest people there.” And it’s true! I don’t know why or how, but the people who come into my life are just so fantastic in so many ways. I laughed pretty much the whole night, and I think everyone else had a good time, too. And it wasn’t a fake laugh, it was for real. I was just so happy to be around my friends, who know me so well. I got some killer presents, including gorgeous earrings, a vegan cookbook, bath soaps, flowers and an old-school Kristen Stewart movie. (My friend Katie, who reads Evil Beet, was like, “I bet she’s not giving a fuck the whoooole time.” Ha!)
So all in all, it was a very fantastic birthday, and, even better, my ACTUAL birthday hasn’t even started yet! I’m not sure what my mom and sister and I are doing tomorrow to celebrate March 24, but I’m pretty sure it can’t top today. It was really a gift to have such a great time with my friends and family. I needed a day like today — it re-energized my spirits and gave me a lot of hope. I’m just delighted to FINALLY be starting off a year on a high note.
