TL;DR - I've found many birthday ideas to make this month wonderful despite being broke, tired, and chronically lazy. ☆
I'm one of those people who goes overboard in celebrating my birthday. I'm not sure how I came to find getting a year older such an exciting prospect, but for as long as I can remember I've celebrated my existence as a continued gift to this world by treating the entire month of August as one long party.
Over the past year I've gone through some ~stuff~ which kind of put a damper on my birthday last year. I felt like there was nothing to celebrate, though I did do the obligatory obliteration of my memories of the night with a few close friends. I had no job, no man, my health was not great, and my ambition was at an all time low. For me, one night celebrating at a bar was such a cliche it was as good as not celebrating at all, compared to previous years! To put that into context - for my golden birthday, 23, I was in Budapest the entire month of August for work and I traveled to Vienna, Ibiza, Dusseldorf, Rome, Geneva and Bern as well. On the actual day I went exploring along the Danube river and partied all night at a Hungarian bar called Peaches and Cream. I am the queen of birthday celebration. But last year I didn't do so well.
At the beginning of August this year, my mindset was sort of similar. I was going to go to Olive Garden with my family, a longstanding tradition, and that was it. I have bills to pay, sleep to catch up on, and not a lot of friends in the Milwaukee area. Celebrating seemed like more work than it was worth. But at some point my attitude shifted. Though it may be a glaringly obvious observation, I've concluded that I don't need to run through sprinklers or have a boyfriend or visit the Schonbrunn palace in order to properly commemorate this day. As an Adult™, there are many small but wonderful ways to celebrate! So this is what I'm doing/have done this year and I highly recommend it all if you, like me, have tired of drinking to celebrate absolutely everything and are looking for something more fulfilling. I'm chronicling it because I'm so over the top excited I just cannot contain myself (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and also because I have made a resolution to focus on positive things etc.
1. Visited the tiny children - everyone who knows me is aware that my brother and sister are my favorite people on the planet, so I visited them at the beginning of the month. They were off school, and we spent the week watching movies, eating ice cream, swimming in the pool, and playing board games, among various other shenanigans. Though adults can generally be relied upon to let you down, children can always be relied on to have an amazing time with at Chuck E. Cheese.
2. Planned a horse riding day - though this and everything below is yet to transpire, I'm really very extra excited about it. The last time I went on a proper horse ride was at least fifteen years ago, so I'm not exactly well equipped for this and am more than a little nervous, but animals are amazing and horses are beautiful so I'm doing it anyway. A small group of friends and I are going to go out to a ranch in the Wisconsin countryside and we'll have a picnic and there will be lots of bugs...but I am optimistic.
3. Getting my hair done - every girl knows the secret to having an amazing day is getting a your hair professionally blow dried, and since this year I basically am a real life Rapunzel I am totally capitalizing on this for exactly $19 because groupon.
4. Volunteering at the Humane Society - Though my tiny bunny is the light of my life, one animal is simply not enough for me. So before I get my hair cut I am going to volunteer with the little dogs and smother them with love and affection. I expect that their resulting goodwill will be a wave I can ride for the rest of the day.
5. Taking a yoga class with my absolute favorite Milwaukee teacher, Marietta Pucillo at Yama Yoga - classes with Marietta always leave me feeling pleasantly limber and relaxed, like I could be an Olympic gymnast if I wasn't about to have the best nap of my life. The fact that Yama gave me a free class credit for my birthday is just delicious icing.
6. Getting a Sephora makeover! These are, apparently, free with a $50 purchase which I will be making anyway to stock up on my green powder lols (yum)! Can't wait to leave Sephora looking like Kylie Jenner.
7. Getting (free) birthday drinks at Rosie's with Amy and a 2016 mug to add to my collection - this has become another Milwaukee tradition of mine, and I dread the day when I will be in another city and miss a year. Armed with my blow dried hair, my Sephora approved face, and free beer mug, I will be unstoppable.
8. Getting a facial at Aveda - this is a pre birthday treat which actually has nothing to do with my birthday and just happens to coincide with the time that Aveda was doing free facials for rewards members to introduce their new skincare line. But I'll take it.
9. Movies on movies on movies - this is also kind of a coincidence in that a lot of good movies just happened to come out this month, but I am attributing it to the secret world plan to make August the best month.So far I've seen Ice Age (pretty good but I saw it with my sister so it was a top notch day) and Bad Moms (HILARIOUS) and I will be seeing Sausage Party next week which by all accounts should be amazing.
10. Birthday rewardsss! These are way too numerous to mention but suffice it to say that if you sign up for enough rewards programs and mailing lists you will feel like a queen for the ENTIRE MONTH. So far I have gotten freebies from Aveda, GNC, Gigi's cupcakes, Yama Yoga, Sephora, and several others. I didn't have to spend a dime (though in some cases...I did cave). Yes please.
11. Good deeds - this is sort of in the same vein as volunteering at the humane society, but I read an interesting article online that suggested celebrating your birthday by doing random acts of kindness for others. Because I am way too selfish, materialistic and hungry to celebrate in this one very altruistic way, I am making it only a part of my day.
12 Getting a massage - this also happening pre birthday (tonight) because I don't want to feel sleepy and moist while I'm trying to celebrate my existence (although I suppose on my actual birthday...I was likely both sleepy and moist).
12. And of course...dinner at Olive Garden with my family and Delishmish in my new bunny print shorts. I plan to eat for three.
I'm one of those people who goes overboard in celebrating my birthday. I'm not sure how I came to find getting a year older such an exciting prospect, but for as long as I can remember I've celebrated my existence as a continued gift to this world by treating the entire month of August as one long party.
Over the past year I've gone through some ~stuff~ which kind of put a damper on my birthday last year. I felt like there was nothing to celebrate, though I did do the obligatory obliteration of my memories of the night with a few close friends. I had no job, no man, my health was not great, and my ambition was at an all time low. For me, one night celebrating at a bar was such a cliche it was as good as not celebrating at all, compared to previous years! To put that into context - for my golden birthday, 23, I was in Budapest the entire month of August for work and I traveled to Vienna, Ibiza, Dusseldorf, Rome, Geneva and Bern as well. On the actual day I went exploring along the Danube river and partied all night at a Hungarian bar called Peaches and Cream. I am the queen of birthday celebration. But last year I didn't do so well.
At the beginning of August this year, my mindset was sort of similar. I was going to go to Olive Garden with my family, a longstanding tradition, and that was it. I have bills to pay, sleep to catch up on, and not a lot of friends in the Milwaukee area. Celebrating seemed like more work than it was worth. But at some point my attitude shifted. Though it may be a glaringly obvious observation, I've concluded that I don't need to run through sprinklers or have a boyfriend or visit the Schonbrunn palace in order to properly commemorate this day. As an Adult™, there are many small but wonderful ways to celebrate! So this is what I'm doing/have done this year and I highly recommend it all if you, like me, have tired of drinking to celebrate absolutely everything and are looking for something more fulfilling. I'm chronicling it because I'm so over the top excited I just cannot contain myself (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and also because I have made a resolution to focus on positive things etc.
1. Visited the tiny children - everyone who knows me is aware that my brother and sister are my favorite people on the planet, so I visited them at the beginning of the month. They were off school, and we spent the week watching movies, eating ice cream, swimming in the pool, and playing board games, among various other shenanigans. Though adults can generally be relied upon to let you down, children can always be relied on to have an amazing time with at Chuck E. Cheese.
2. Planned a horse riding day - though this and everything below is yet to transpire, I'm really very extra excited about it. The last time I went on a proper horse ride was at least fifteen years ago, so I'm not exactly well equipped for this and am more than a little nervous, but animals are amazing and horses are beautiful so I'm doing it anyway. A small group of friends and I are going to go out to a ranch in the Wisconsin countryside and we'll have a picnic and there will be lots of bugs...but I am optimistic.
3. Getting my hair done - every girl knows the secret to having an amazing day is getting a your hair professionally blow dried, and since this year I basically am a real life Rapunzel I am totally capitalizing on this for exactly $19 because groupon.
4. Volunteering at the Humane Society - Though my tiny bunny is the light of my life, one animal is simply not enough for me. So before I get my hair cut I am going to volunteer with the little dogs and smother them with love and affection. I expect that their resulting goodwill will be a wave I can ride for the rest of the day.
5. Taking a yoga class with my absolute favorite Milwaukee teacher, Marietta Pucillo at Yama Yoga - classes with Marietta always leave me feeling pleasantly limber and relaxed, like I could be an Olympic gymnast if I wasn't about to have the best nap of my life. The fact that Yama gave me a free class credit for my birthday is just delicious icing.
6. Getting a Sephora makeover! These are, apparently, free with a $50 purchase which I will be making anyway to stock up on my green powder lols (yum)! Can't wait to leave Sephora looking like Kylie Jenner.
7. Getting (free) birthday drinks at Rosie's with Amy and a 2016 mug to add to my collection - this has become another Milwaukee tradition of mine, and I dread the day when I will be in another city and miss a year. Armed with my blow dried hair, my Sephora approved face, and free beer mug, I will be unstoppable.
8. Getting a facial at Aveda - this is a pre birthday treat which actually has nothing to do with my birthday and just happens to coincide with the time that Aveda was doing free facials for rewards members to introduce their new skincare line. But I'll take it.
9. Movies on movies on movies - this is also kind of a coincidence in that a lot of good movies just happened to come out this month, but I am attributing it to the secret world plan to make August the best month.So far I've seen Ice Age (pretty good but I saw it with my sister so it was a top notch day) and Bad Moms (HILARIOUS) and I will be seeing Sausage Party next week which by all accounts should be amazing.
10. Birthday rewardsss! These are way too numerous to mention but suffice it to say that if you sign up for enough rewards programs and mailing lists you will feel like a queen for the ENTIRE MONTH. So far I have gotten freebies from Aveda, GNC, Gigi's cupcakes, Yama Yoga, Sephora, and several others. I didn't have to spend a dime (though in some cases...I did cave). Yes please.
11. Good deeds - this is sort of in the same vein as volunteering at the humane society, but I read an interesting article online that suggested celebrating your birthday by doing random acts of kindness for others. Because I am way too selfish, materialistic and hungry to celebrate in this one very altruistic way, I am making it only a part of my day.
12 Getting a massage - this also happening pre birthday (tonight) because I don't want to feel sleepy and moist while I'm trying to celebrate my existence (although I suppose on my actual birthday...I was likely both sleepy and moist).
12. And of course...dinner at Olive Garden with my family and Delishmish in my new bunny print shorts. I plan to eat for three.
