Happy Birthday to Me!

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each others' blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

Check out the backstory about how the project was conceived and how we all came together.

Here are the other blogs:
Froggie Knits Like Crazy
Charmingly Random
Desperate Madness


This week's topic comes from Charmingly Random: Do you have any birthday traditions? If you don't celebrate your birthday, are there any annual traditions you participate in? Tell me about them!

Oddly enough, I don't have any traditions surrounding my birthday. I love celebrating my birthday, but every year it has been something random. I used to stay up till 12:35 am to see my birthday come in, but I'm too tired these days to uphold such a custom. This year, Tisha B'Av (a sad day during which we fast; it is held in remembrance of the burning of the temples) happens to fall on my birthday. (A few years ago I shared it with the Fast of Tammuz, but I broke it halfway through because it was extremely hot outside.)

Instead of sharing birthday traditions, I am going to share my top 5 favorite birthdays ever!

1. My 11th birthday party at Ed Debevic's. It's when Froggie and I first became friends and she got me the "Beverly Hills Cop 2" soundtrack because we would joke about "I Want Your Sex" by George Michael (because sex was such a bad word for us at the time. :) ) Afterward, Froggie and another close friend spent the night and then we all took the bus to camp together the next day. Even though junior high was hellish for me, it was a nice way to see myself into my adolescent years. My party was a lot of fun in general, thanks to a cool waitress.

*Side note: I was watching "90210" after writing this post and one of the guys had "I Want Your Sex" as his ring tone. :)

2. My 30th birthday party, which was a semi-surprise. My husband and two close friends of mine (one who unfortunately ended up not being able to make it because of heat sensitivity) threw a Hawaiian luau (that was the surprise part) and then we went to Hala Kahiki, a Hawaiian bar with really cool drinks. My husband had a picture of me put onto an ice cream cake, and even what he did to the picture was a surprise. A video of the experience can be found here.

3. My 18th birthday, which involved going to see "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" with my parents, sister, grandparents and a close friend of mine (whom I talked about in last week's "Friendship Friday" blog). Afterward, we went to Lockwood Castle and they gave me a birthday sundae with a sparkler in it. I hadn't had a sparkler in my birthday dessert since I went to Farrell's when I was little!

4. My 33rd birthday, which made up for my 31st and 32nd birthdays being so dull and forgettable. I went to see "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" with my older son and a girl I had become friends with over the past few months. Then we went bowling with my husband and her husband (as well as my younger son, of course). Afterward, we went to one of our favorite restaurants with the couple. It was just a fun day overall.

5. My 25th birthday, which was held at the Cubby Bear North. It was just fun to have a group of friends together at a bar. We all sat outside because the weather was so gorgeous. "Jack" was there and gave me some fun birthday surprises (the best one being a DVD player....he couldn't take my old school style). :)

There are other birthdays that I enjoyed (such as one at the Neo-Futurarium and one involving my dog embarrassing me in front of a fun group of friends), as well as some that I wish had never happened. With my birthday being in the middle of the summer, it was never acknowledged at school, but the upside was being able to have outdoor parties or do something summer-themed.

One of my other favorite birthday memories was when I turned 26 and my husband (then boyfriend) decided to surprise me with a cake at work. I did not expect that at all and he earned major brownie points for doing so.

I enjoy focusing on my kids' birthdays nowadays and always making them special in some way or another. I know there will be a lot of milestone birthdays to celebrate as time goes on. I'm already excited for my younger son's upsherin (hair cutting ceremony) next year. :) And my older son will be 5, so that's a big deal too!

I also enjoy doing stuff for my husband's birthday, whether it is throwing him a surprise party (which I did last year) or just taking him out someplace special.

As for my own food-free birthday this year, I'll just celebrate the next day, when it's permissible to enjoy things again. :)