Friday Favorites - Putting the birthday to bed.

I know, I know. It's Friday Favorites' day, and you don't see a list. 
Don't worry. Stay with me.

Yesterday (as you and my 168 Facebook friends know) was my birthday. 

I may or may not have woken up like this...

...only to be met with crickets. 

And it was a fine day, as far as birthdays when you're an adult go. But it was a pretty normal day, give or take a beer at lunch and two meals out.  I went back to sleep for an hour after everyone left the house (which isn't exactly a birthday specific event in my world, but since I was still wearing my tiara, totally felt different), put an extra spoon of sugar in my coffee (crAzy, I know), had a delightful lunch with Husband where the aforementioned beer becomes part of the story, took a mid-day cat nap - with cat - on the sofa (not unusual even without the beer), went to Thing 1's solo vocal contest at the High School and cried big fat proud mama tears watching her sing the most beautiful Italian aria, picked up Thing 2 at rehearsal, had a wonderful dinner with my family and my mama at one of my favorite restaurants, and came home and had a birthday chocotini instead of cake. Obviously.

Candle courtesy of my favorite Husband and bartender.
He gets me. 

And I'm still birthdaying today, tomorrow and Sunday (as it should be) because since there wasn't any thing I was in need or want of (that was in the realm of possibility) I instead booked myself an hour and a half facial and a hydrating pedicure and will be pampered for a few hours this afternoon (I'm hoping it makes me forget that it's 20° outside) and then in the morning Husband and I are escaping to the happy place for a date weekend. I'm packing the tiara.

But as I was contemplating what I was going to do on my birthday last weekend (and the weekend before that), I realized (as I do every year) that as you get older birthdays tend to lose a little bit of their magic, which comes with adult responsibilities and schedules and general weariness. Not that they still can't be important and made a big deal of (as evidenced by the tiara), but think back to when you were in elementary school. Birthdays mother effin ruled.  And then you blinked (had a kid) and a great birthday consisted of a dinner at Applebee's and a night off from bath time duty (maybe).


Which brings me to the Favorites (finally, you say).
This week's list contains both a story and a list.
And the theme? My birthday, of course.

Michelle's Favorite Birthday Memories

1.  Miss America Sleepovers. (The story) -
From about age nine to 13, I had sleepover birthday parties where the big attraction was a Miss America Pageant. As in "pick the state you'd like to represent beforehand and tell me so I can have your glittered sash ready and start practicing your talent a few weeks before the party if you want to have any chance of winning" type of attraction (my go-to talent was singing pretty much any song from "Annie", obviously). My sister and her friends would be the judges and we'd spend hours curling our hair and fashioning evening gowns out of nightgowns and whatever we could pull out of my closet.
And the mark of a successful pageant?
When someone cried.
And by "someone", I mean me, usually. Not because I didn't win (which I believe I only did once) but because strangely enough, the pageants caused all sorts of girl drama; Fights would break out and feelings would get hurt and backs would get stabbed.
In hindsight it seems...oh, I don't know....shallow and self-centered and a monumentally bad idea? 
Totally.
But still, the annual Miss America birthday sleepovers were something my group of friends looked forward to year after year. In fact, the birthday I was sixth grade it had gotten to be such a big deal that my parents actually built a stage for us.
Amazing that only one of us that I know of ended up with a questionable line of work in Los Angeles.

But even after you outgrow the slumber parties and birthdays tend to become regular days (but with cake), every once in awhile one comes along that is so great that you can feed off of it for the next several (8) years.


2 - 6. Best Birthdays. (The list) -

2.  18th Birthday - The night of my Honors Cotillion. Giant white dress, fancy party, date of my dreams, after party in a hotel room...Senior Year at its finest.

3.  21st Birthday - Las Vegas. 'Nuff said.

4.  30th Birthday - First trip with Thing 1 to Disneyworld. The fact that I had a terrible stomach clenching virus didn't make it any less awesome, surprisingly.

5.  40th Birthday - My sister flew in from Colorado and surprised me for the weekend, and then three days later my family went to Grand Cayman Island and I got to swim with dolphins.

6. Crap. I can't think of any more that stand out. Which proves my point, methinks.

However, despite not having a long list of BIG BANG birthdays, I cannot dispute the fact that yesterday, like all the others that might have faded into the birthday memory melting pot , I felt surrounded by love and laughter, and like the luckiest girl in the world - with or without being crowned Miss America.

Now, if only there was something I could do about these wrinkles...

Aaand now it's time to announce the winners of the signed copies of my book plus the martini recipes 

(as chosen randomly by rafflecopter)!!

Congratulations to Jenn T. and Jen F-L!! 

Send me an email with your addresses, girls, and I'll get the goods out to you on Monday!