Birthday, belated.

Hi friends! It's been rather hectic around here so it's taken me a few days to write about my best birthday ever. I've never had a bad birthday. Maybe it's the hype I give it to ensure that my day is great. It might sound self-centered, well, it kind of is, but I think it's important to celebrate birthdays, no matter your age, and so I make it a point to do just that.

It started out a couple of weeks ago, when my coworkers got together to celebrate the January birthdays. They set up an awkward scene of eating cake at 10am break time in the shipping department after a rendition of "Happy Birthday" with the lights off. Nonetheless, I appreciated the gesture 100%.
Then came last Wednesday, where my boyfran and his mother gave me awesome gifts and we watched Moneyball. Love that movie. One of those gifts was a beautiful indoor plant (this is important to have during a dark, MN winter) and the other was a fantastic camera for which to blog with. Oh, and to capture life's moments.

Then came Friday! Flowers in the morning, a gift, a cake, a birthday song, a balloon, time to myself to clean and exercise, then a fun night at the boyfran's apartment which included the first beer I had in nearly a month. (Trust me, that's a long time). 

Then came Saturday! Spa date in the morning, followed by a shopping extravaganza, then coffee, a date for a manicure with a birthday-twin (well sort of, her birthday is the day after mine), a rush to the movies to see Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close with book club and other friends and to sob aloud. And then...this:

This video was created by my tubular friend, Micah, with the amazing efforts of Carrie, Nancy, Nathan, Mary, Linda, Zeb, Ashley, Jessica, Leigh...well, you can read the credits. It features everyone in my family (even the babies!), a HUGE chunk of my best friends, some of my favorite artists, some of my favorite retailers, and even my yoga instructor! Can you believe it?! I can't. I was in so much shock that I kept exclaiming, screaming, tearing up, etc. the first time I watched it and I hardly remember what was going through my head that first time. Since then, I have watched this video multiple times a day and pretty much know the ins and outs of it. I couldn't believe that I could receive such a thoughtful present that took so much work. I love it. From the bottom of my heart, I love it. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this piece I will cherish forever. 

After the video reveal, we rushed to Barrio in Downtown St. Paul to have my favorite type of food and imbibe on yummy drinks. I certainly felt the aftershocks, but it was well worth it. And it didn't stop there. Sunday, I received even more gifts, and Lunar New Year gifts as well. (Double-whammy!) And today, Katrina took me to dinner and gave me a wonderful gift. And then I got home and saw a package from Davina with the Tiny Book of Tiny Stories that I mentioned here! Tomorrow, the boyfran's parents have a dinner planned for me. Then I think it will all be over and I will revert to the non-birthday portion of the year. Whew.

I received a ridiculous amount of birthday love and I am so grateful. I never expected this to be as amazing as it was and it would never have been this way without all of the seriously cool people I know. Even those facebook friends who I haven't talked to in months. I am still grateful.

Thank you!!!!! Now let me celebrate your birthdays!!!!!