It's My Birthday!

Today I turn, in Aiden's words, "twenty-pweeee!". Or 23, for those who don't speak toddler. I get very nervous around my birthday, especially as an adult, because a bad birthday feels like a bad omen for the whole year. Frankly, I've been completely spoiled on birthday's past, so there's always pressure for the next one to live up to that standard.

When I turned 4 my mom hand decorated my cake with little candies so that it looked just like the Little Mermaid. I think I'll ask for that again next year. When I was 15 my mom, Laura and I went to NYC for a girl's day out. When I turned 16, Laura organized a huge surprise party and gave me an album of letters written by my friends and parents. When I turned 18, Sean took the train home from Boston so that he could surprise me before school. We went and saw "Harry Potter" (for those of you who know us, you know that it was a VERY romantic gesture) and then we drove to Montreal (where the drinking age is 18 so I actually got champagne on my champagne birthday!). Needless to say, I've had some fantastic birthdays. And one horrible one: on my 17th birthday not one single person came to my party except Laura, and it was at her house.

As a grown up though, it stops being an All About You party. Everyone's busy and there's just not enough free time. It's just less of a big deal as you get older. I figured today would be like that, especially since Sean and I are down to one car so I've been stuck at home. Except, it's actually been great!

Last night my mom took Sean and I out for dinner,where I enjoyed the double whammy gift of great food and a well behaved child. This morning my friend Tierney stopped by with a latte, which was the nicest pick-me-up. My brother came over at lunch time and played with Aiden and took us out so I could run some errands. My grandparents even popped by with a card and a gift. I was so surprised that everyone called or stopped by and it was so nice to know that they were thinking about me.

Plus, Aiden helped me make some cupcakes, and I realized that watching him make them was so much more fun than actually eating them. I think we're definitely going have to make them for his birthday.

Safety First!!!

Future Pastry Chef

Very Excited!


Lovely.

A masterpiece.


Official Birthday Portrait.


Uncle Ben and the choo-choo's. Wow, that could be a band name.

Yeah, it's been pretty awesome. Also, I know you probably thought Thanksgiving was the opening of the holiday season, but secretly, I like to think my birthday actually marks the start of it. So I give you full permission to start listening to Christmas music and bringing out the decorations.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone!