Birthday Post

Today (February 26th) is my birthday. If you don't know me, I am in love with my birthday. I am an only child, so every year my birthday was a very large celebration in our household. Even when I went to boarding school, my parents made a big deal about my birthday. The countdown usually starts after Christmas. This year I vowed to not start a countdown until after my roommates birthday (January 15th), and if you ask her I did a good job. I didn't start making a big deal about it, until the middle of last week. Every year I build my birthday up to expectations that are impossible to reach. I feel like it's either way to much attention (you don't know how to handle), or you want more. There is simply no balance.  Being aware of that, this year I decided to be grateful for where I am here and now. I was telling a friend earlier today, that I believe your birthday is the start of a new year (instead of new years eve). Therefore, I usually reflect a lot about the past year. When looking back at this year, I was shocked about how much has happened. Now I am not going to go into the gory details, because that's not the point of this blog. However, I can say that I have lost a lot. I have lost some important friendships, a stable family (my parents got divorced) and some other things (I won't be going into). On the positive end of things I have gained a lot. For example new friendships have emerged, and I have gained more self comfort. I have learned a lot about myself this past year, which can be scary, but has also made me stronger (cue Kelly Clarkson music).

This week has been full of birthday celebrations.

Last Saturday, my dad came up and took me out to dinner. My dad surprised me, bringing my dog which always makes me smile. 

Tuesday, Ellen and I had an afternoon full of baking and watching movies. Then we went out to dinner to our favorite restaurant, the 99 and got a free birthday dessert. They even sang to me!

Thursday, A and I celebrated my birthday by making blueberry muffins and doing all sorts of birthday activities. She even gave me a balloon:)

Friday, consisted of rowing, rowing and more rowing. Then working all afternoon to finish all my work, so I could have the weekend off. I crashed at 8pm.

Saturday, I got flowers from my dad in the mail. There is nothing better then fresh flowers to brighten up a dorm room. My roommate and I attended JShow (a traditional show thrown by the Junior class every year). We were going to go to a party afterwards, but we ended up falling asleep to a movie (yes, we are seriously an old married couple). 

SUNDAY (the BIG DAY)

Let me start off by saying, my birthday was amazing. I woke up covered in balloons. Kirsten ended up hopping on me and giving me the biggest birthday hug. I got dressed, opened some birthday gift from the parents, and cards family friends had sent. 

Then I had lunch with Belle! Who got me a very cute cupcake.

After that I went swimming. I love swimming, it was such a great way to reflect on the day. Cara a fellow crewton joined me. It was fun to have someone next to you, who you know. We ran into Megan and had a great talk about the weekend, birthdays etc.

I went back to my room to get ready, then went to go watch the Oscars (pre show to the pre show). I guess I ruined the surprise and wasn't supposed to show up till 6pm. No one was there, and then around 5:30, Hattie came over and watched the pre show with me. Lots of friends/crewtons stopped by throughout the night  to say hi or some even stayed for a longer time. We ordered sushi and then Kirsten and Hattie (and Rebecca, just found out she helped a lot) surprised me with a cake, frosting made by Helena (see thank you notes). Hattie and I sticked it out till the end, when someone kicked us out right before the three best awards. We quickly moved to another dorm and watched the rest. Watching Meryl Streep win, was defiantly a highlight of the night. All in all, I hopped into bed right as the clock hit 12am, and my birthday was over.

It was an amazing (sorry to repeat that word over and over again), awesome, joyous day filled with my friends, who are in essence my true family. I love them all for celebrating with me. However, I have to give a special shout out to two people who made this day happen, and really didn't need to do anything, but they did.

1. Hattie- Since the end of last semester, our friendship has grown like it's been on steroids. We were friendly before, but since then we have truly bonded. I have loved doing Jillian Michaels DVD's with her and having movie nights. I am so grateful to have her in my life as a friend. Hattie, thank you for being my friend and making my birthday so special.
2. Kirsten- Everyone who reads this blog or knows me, knows that Kirsten is my roommate. She is also a coxswain on the crew team and was my cox last year. However, she is more then just a roommate, she is one of my greatest friends. It shouldn't come as a shock that she makes my gratitude list every Thursday.  When we took a chance to room with each other this year, I never could have imagined the friendship that would emerge. From doing random Zumba breaks to our "serious chats", where I tell her stuff that sometimes I can't even admit to myself. From laughing so hard (that we maybe pee our pants), to the cuddling and comforting when one another when the other is in tears.  I can't put into words what she means to me, because it sounds to cliche to say, she means the world to me, but she does. It may also sound cheesy what I am about to say, but I really do love her as a friend. Thank You for making my birthday so special.

I am currently writing all my birthday thank you cards, maybe I will post them tonight.