Today is my 31st birthday and I’m spreading out the celebration over the weekend by having dinner with family and spending time with friends. Last year I had big night out for my 30th birthday so I’m more than content to do something small this year.
I personally believe that your birthday is a time to 1. do something you love (I am letting my bestie take me thrifting) and 2. cross something off the old Life List.
This year’s candidates include:
28. Eat one of Valerie’s desserts at her restaurant
My friend Valerie is the pastry chef at the swankiest restaurant one town over. One time she emailed me a sample of the desserts she was dreaming up and I nearly ate my keyboard while reading it. This wouldn’t be possible until after we get the first paycheck from my husband’s new job, but I know it will be worth the wait.
33. Grow my own shiitake mushrooms
Depending on the price I might ask for this for my birthday. I could grow my own mushrooms! On a log! THE FUTURE IS AWESOME!
71. Plant a dwarf orchard in the backyard
Another birthday present option is to buy a dwarf fruit tree or two to begin growing my own little orchard. We’ve been devoting a lot of energy to the backyard lately. I would love nothing more than to pick my own lemons and limes from my very own trees next year.
96. Photograph my favorite local sites
Let me illustrate this point using a sad domino effect:
My birthday –> I’m getting old –> things are changing –> things are ending –> why god why –> better photograph them before they are gone.
I’m not unusually depressed about birthdays because I enjoy getting older. I’ve always felt that I’m a cranky old woman at heart. What I don’t enjoy, however, is the SAD, crumbling infrastructure of my town.
(Shout out to Jenn: REMEMBER THE COWS AT THE MALL? AND THE MERRY GO ROUND AT THE PARK? AND THE SUPER SWEDE? OMG. OMG. OMG. WE NEED TO GET DRUNK AND HOLD A WAKE FOR OUR CHILDHOOD. )
Ahem.
108. Grow a fabulous herb garden on my patio
Apparently the only things I want this year are horticultural in nature. That’s not true, exactly. I do want other things, but I seem pretty focused on plants this year. I guess because they are eatable and I enjoy eating. A whole lot.
I have no idea what I’ll actually cross off the list, but I’ll be sure to let you know.
OMG THE COWS AT THE MALL. The sad skeleton of the Merry-Go-Round still exists. Super Swede… this must be over my head.
I think I’m going to need Jenn’s help to properly explain Super Swede.
Awww, Happy Birthday! As a Michigan escapee, believe me, I totally understand the sadness at crumbling infrastructure. Goodbye, Milham Park rocket, even though I did have the opportunity to climb up in you as a drunken semi-adult in the middle of the night, which was enough to convince me that it really WAS structurally unsound. It was a windy night and once I got into the cone, I was half sure that my life was going to end in the cage of a giant monkey=bar rocket when it’s crumbling legs gave way and it toppled over. Sorry, mom and dad!
I shouldn’t complain because other states obviously have it so much worse. It’s just so damned /hard/.
Also, you have the best adventures.