A Walk Down Birthday Lane

Ah, the Birthday recap edition, looking on past Septembers

People tend to ask, what do you want for your birthday? Or what did you get?

I guess I’m not so much into “things.” I’d much rather have experiences. Memorable ones. With bright sunny days surrounded by friends with music and laughter and stories of past excursions and creating moments worthy of future tales.

My birthday celebrations in recent years (for my own sake, I'm starting to forget these things):

2007 – I really don’t remember. Guess it shouldn't be on this memorable experiences list. I had just moved to Phoenix. I’d been at my job barely a month, a couple coworkers took me out for lunch to Delux. The grandparents with whom I lived were in the California condo for two weeks. I was home alone. I think I visited the other grandparents down south for a birthday dinner or something. May have been a rather sad experience, comparatively speaking.

2006 – Bowling at Lucky Strike! And a barbeque on our stoop afterwards, in our tiny little area of green space on our tiny little grill on the steps of our townhouse. Man, I miss that place.

2005 – The big 2.5 decade celebration with a huge party and glossy black and white invites and black attire requested and my roommate passing out 25 candles to 25 guys who had to present me with said candle after giving me a smooch. Hilarious. Thank you, Niki.

2004 - A year I'd rather forget, the year of the "Bar Mitzvah." Thanks to a few good friends, I still managed to make the weekend mostly decent and we're all about to laugh (sort of) about the whole thing now.Pre-digital camera days

2003 - Really, no idea.  I had just moved in with Niki and Yuhi to our Van Ness apartment.  No recollection.  

2002 - I have a really cute picture of me, Erin, Crystal, and Shannon in our apartment from that day.  I think we went out to dinner?  I wore a red skirt.

2001 - A few days after 9/11.  Rather muted. I do think JWP took me out for a really nice dinner and got me an awesome spa package, which I used during Thanksgiving break when Tanner came to visit me at the S St house.  Yeah....

2000 - The Henle apartment.  I think I went home around that time for a long weekend.  And when I came back the roommates + Abe had ice cream and cake waiting for me late one Sunday night.

1999 - First college birthday.  The ladies of Harbin 3 had been friends all of 2.5 weeks.  My lovely roommate ACS decorated the hallway, got a cake, balloons, and we had a little fiesta.

This year as I was pondering what to do, this wonderful lady suggested she could come into town for the weekend. My immediate response was a forceful NO! I (and I hate to say hate) strongly dislike this place and don’t want to spend the weekend here.

Her immediate alternative (and one of the reasons why she’s brilliant), let’s go to Palm Springs. Perfect, perfect, perfect!

Weekend recap, coming up.