Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Birthday Musings

Last week, I turned 46. I mean, let that sink in -  46. That seems so ... old. I mean, I know rationally that 46 is middle-age these days, but I still have a hard time saying it out loud and thinking it and being it. Sure, there are days that I wake up and my body feels about 100, but most days I think and feel much younger than my mid-40s. Can I still say mid-40s? Oh my God, when do I have to start saying late 40s? I can't even think about that yet. It's beginning to look like I'm going to celebrate my birthday for a couple of weeks, but I'm totally cool with having fun like that. Check out a few pics of my various celebrations. ;)

The day before my birthday, my sweet girl brought me lunch and dessert and posed for this fun random selfie with me. Because I was stressed out and getting ready for the retreat, she just came by the house to treat me in a low-pressure kind of way. She's awfully considerate of me sometimes; I sure am lucky to be her mom.

My birthday treats came from Riley's Bakery, a local bakery that's been in business for like 75 years. They have THE BEST tea cookies and petit fours, and everything else is pretty great too. I've been enjoying those multi-colored frosted tea cookies since I was a toddler, and they bring back great memories of my childhood and my mom as a result. If you're ever in BG, you should totally give them a try. (And no, they don't know I exist - so no kickbacks involved in recommending them. They're just that fabulous.)

On my actual birthday, I met Tracie and a bunch of ScrapGals at the Chuy's in Midtown Nashville for a birthday dinner. We didn't all get to sit together, but it was so much fun to meet the women who were coming to our retreat the next day and to enjoy just hanging out. Several of the ladies who met me brought sweet treats or cards which I totally didn't expect, and Tracie hooked me up with a few awesome clothing items and a new sticker book for my Big Happy Memory Planner. We ate and laughed and had a big time at dinner, and I was so glad I ended up spending it with some of my crafty tribe. (It even helped keep my mind off of the number.)

After dinner, I went over to the Courtyard Mariott in Mount Juliet with Tracie to check out the venue where our retreat would be held that weekend, and I checked into my room for the event. Here's a quick mirror selfie I snapped. I mean, you only turn 46 once, right? I figured I might as well document it since it's better than the alternative. Except for the showerhead on the left hand side, I like this photo a lot. You'd think a mirror selfie would be easy, but these things are more difficult than you'd imagine.

The fella and I got together before my birthday since he planned to be in Louisville and I planned to be in Nashville on my actual special day. On Tuesday before my birthday, the fella arranged a date night where we went to a swanky new steakhouse in town, the NightCap, for dinner and dessert. We had a late-ish reservation, so we just spent the rest of the evening relaxing together. It was a nice, chill evening, and he surprised me with some lovely gifts. I'm a lucky girl - even though this is a kind of rotten picture!

I'm still planning on celebrating with Kelsey and Jake later this week- their crazy schedules haven't permitted a time when we could all get together yet - and with my bestie, Vonda, late next week. Sometimes you just have to work around the times that work for everyone. Who knows what other future plans might pop up?! If I'm going to have birthdays, it seems only right to celebrate them with friends and food and cocktails and gifts and laughs and more.

And let's be real, I should be proud of and grateful for my 46 trips around the sun. Here's to hoping the next 46 are likewise filled with unconditional love and belly laughter and late nights and world travels and deep conversations and beautiful art and all the other things that make my life truly rich.

1 comment:

  1. I'm glad you have had some special celebrations with more to come. The mirror selfie is gorgeous! If it makes you feel any better, I turned 50 in September. It still sounds all kinds of wrong -- lol. I might have to make a scrapbook page to try to get my head around it. You can totally still say mid-forties at 46. :-)

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