Twenty Six

back in the olden day of 1997, sketchers and overalls were in style.

i, in my seventh grade glory, did not own any overalls.  this was nearly purely out of choice, though, as i (quite rightly, looking back on pictures now) refused to purchase or wear those abominations of jeans and buckles.

the same thing was repeated with capri pants.  except i eventually gave in and bought some of those.

they're pretty comfortable, you know.

and so.  remember a few years ago, when "twenty five things about yourself" was all the rage on the fbook?

i'm sure it surprises you to no end (no end at all, in fact, if you know me at all) that i refused to join in.

but then. OH but then.  then i attended a week long conference in phnom penh covering many a topics that i feel somewhat very acquainted with, and thusly, for my sanity, i did then let my mind wander.

you know how these things are.  

and therefore, wander my mind did, until it created this here little list about birthdays and memories and happy things.  

twenty six memories, to be exact, all of which would be improved if i had with me one little blue photo album full of pictures from the past.  so, do please visit this here post again in two years, after i've been able to scan and upload said pictures. you know, just wait for october 2013. no bigs.

hokay, so. without further ado.

ONE

once upon a time, i was a bad ass little three year old. i loved winnie the pooh and tigger too. well, mainly tigger.  (i found pooh a bit slow.)  so, my bad ass mother bought me (made me?!) a delicious, chocolate tigger-bouncing-on-his-tail cake.  all for me.

TWO

at same said birthday, still being the bad ass i am, i got one of the best birthday gifts ever.  a plastic fisher price cassette player that included a MICROPHONE. i know.  i used that baby all through my primary school years, singing along to "colors of the wind" and "i just can't wait to be king."  sadly though, those videos will never surface because a) my parent's didn't own a video camera when i was a kid and b) i'll never be featured on "behind the music."

THREE

continuing in the theme of how awesome i was as a young girl, i can vividly recall having a large number of playmates over for my fifth birthday. i wore a frilly pink dress, and i spent the majority of the party stealing m&ms from my own m&m themed birthday table.

and yes, it did take me an additional twenty years to bring this story up to my mother, who kindly informed me that i wasn't stealing, as it was my birthday party and they were on the table for me.

also, they knew i was taking them.

FOUR

things you should know about me include the very simple fact that in my family, birthdays are a big. friggin. deal.  all people get at least one week, thus, their birthday week, and an entire day, if not weekend, devoted to just things they want.  birthdays are time to eat what you want and do what you want (as long as your room is clean, of course.) 

FIVE

in the same vein, in my family, you get two special birthday dinners for your birthday. one home made and one at the restaurant of your choice.  my home made meal was always pigs in a blanket. (so classy!)

SIX

people like to surprise me for my birthday. i really like this.  my first ever surprise birthday happened when i was seven (or eight?) when my mom and brother showed up to the halloween celebration at my day care (happening, of course, on my birthday, october 30) with a pinata and cake!  my nearly-teen brother took great care to look quite pained to have to be entertaining such young kids, but somehow didn't look so sad when he got to eat cake and laugh at us while he controlled the pinata.

SEVEN

continuing with the surprise theme, i got my second surprise party when i turned fourteen.  i had just finished performing at a veteran's day celebration with my drill/dance team (i was just that cool in junior high, didn't you know?) when my bestest friends were waiting for me at my house, having led me quite down the wrong path.  they had each told me they couldn't do anything that night and i was feeling quite low- until they led me on a scavenger hunt for my birthday gifts in my own house and gave me perhaps the best birthday of my teen years.  

EIGHT

my most recent surprise came when i turned 22.  my first year of teaching, topher took me out around baltimore for the day, only for me to return to a surprise with my favorite baltimore people and lots of fun.  i may have also bic-shaved topher's head. after a surprising number of glasses of wine, i'll add.

NINE

so, clearly, my birthday is the day before halloween.  there is nothing better than sharing your birthday with candy. and dressing up.  one of the best parts of my childhood was my birthday, because so many years involved celebrating my birthday while trick or treating with my friends.

it was awesome.

TEN

every year on my birthday, my mother would wake me up at six twelve am, when i was born, with hot chocolate.  we'd spend the first few minutes of my new year cuddled up together on my bed, enjoying the dark, cold, idaho air and some delicious warm drinks.

ELEVEN

i am not much of a cake girl. i love to bake it, but come my birthday, i'd rather have ice cream.  if you're going to give me cake, make it butter yellow with chocolate icing. nothing better.  or, give me a really good cheesecake.  for many years, my mom would make my favorite cheesecake and serve it up for my friends and i each year.

TWELVE

i celebrated my sixteenth birthday in two distinct ways.  i woke up on my sixteenth birthday, at six twelve am as always, to my same cup of hot chocolate and one new addition.  a baseball tee with a giant 16 on the front.  a new tee shirt, courtesy of cindy, just for me to wear on my sixteenth birthday.  wear it i did, for just long enough to get a picture snapped.

THIRTEEN

for my sixteenth, my mother also set up an evening for my friends and i at a local theater doing a "haunted dinner" type show.  it was pretty fantastic.  kind of the best way to celebrate your sweet sixteen. 

FOURTEEN

going back to the surprise theme, i turned eighteen freshman year of college.  one of my roommates had just broken her leg and i was expecting a simple dinner out with friends. little did i know my mom had sent some money and instructions to my friends to make my birthday - my first away from home -  as awesome as possible.  and awesome it was- involving a surprise pinata in our dorm floor's lounge full of candy and UNDERWEAR. plus cheesecake.

i know.

FIFTEEN

i spent my fifteenth birthday surrounded by my bestest high school friends.  just some coca-cola, fresh snow, and cheesecake. what's better?

SIXTEEN

let's talk for a second about a birthday memory with the adorable girl in the foreground of the above picture, in green. katie.  my oldest friend.  i still remember the very first birthday of hers i attended.  we made our own jewelry with clay, and her mom- my second mother- still loves to remind me that i was such an overwhelming ball of energy at ten that she questioned her sanity in having me over again.  eep.

SEVENTEEN

remember how i said that birthdays are a huge deal for me and my family?  the same is not exactly true of chris.  they're important, mind you, just not THE BIG FRIGGIN DEAL like they are in mine. 

EIGHTEEN

the above statement, though, has not diminished the importance topher has placed on birthdays since we met.  for our first together, he surprised me with tickets to a great play at the kennedy center and dinner on the amazing rooftop restaurant at the center.  we don't have a picture, but it probably looked something like this when we were dressed up:

NINETEEN

i turned twenty while we studied abroad, and topher flew from beijing to rome to spend the week (you know, the birthday week) with me. 

TWENTY

very few exciting things happened when i turned twenty one.  i believe this to be because by the time i turned twenty one, everyone had been there for quite a while.  

it was kinda sad.

TWENTY ONE

however. my uncle did gift me the most beautiful opal (my birth stone) and diamond gold ring for my birthday. thank you godfather uncle.

TWENTY TWO

on that note, though, we did celebrate topher's 21st in style.  involving beer pong, and a drink for every year he had been alive.

this one photo is enough to tell you how that day went. suffice it to say, it was good fun.

TWENTY THREE

we celebrated my twenty third birthday by eating dinner with friends at an amazing italian restaurant (wherein i found out that one of my bestest friends was returning to the DC area!) and then having said friends stay at our house.  we proceeded to stay up quite late, drinking and generally having fun.  which wouldn't have been a problem if it hadn't been for these gems taking place the next morning, bright and early:

still, engagement photos are a pretty amazing birthday memory.

TWENTY FOUR

for my twenty-fourth birthday, topher surprised me with a night at an amazing resort/hotel in a nearby coastal town.  he had such connections that we even got our personal arrival gift to celebrate my birthday:

TWENTY FIVE

what's better than a winery tour with an amazing friend?

TWENTY SIX

i'm reserving this space for the memory that is sure to come this saturday as i celebrate with my unparalleled new friends in the capital of my new home.

also, i had written "best birthday presents" for this number, and i decided that's just narcissistic of me.

as if a list of twenty six of my own birthday memories isn't.

i'm still hitting publish.

cheers to friday and to birthdays around the world!