Tips for Being a Good Friend on Birthdays

Birthdays are a special day no matter what the age! Take the time to make your friend's birthday the best it can be by planning ahead and thinking about the details. It's the little things they will remember!

Be sure to include lots of black in your decorating scheme. Black for birthday decorating is always classy.

Recognize that each year is special. I prefer spelling out the age with food. Little Fluff does also. He feels that it is important to celebrate the moments of our lives with sweet little morsels of food.

Confetti is an important piece of the equation (it's on the table, just trust me). Make sure to put confetti everywhere, especially in shoes, pockets, and in beds. That's a big birthday girl pleaser. Also presents are a birthday girl pleaser.

Little surprises are extra fun! I like to leave little messages in unexpected places.


Individualize your birthday treats. I chose a theme this year, and little man with the walker was a star player. Note the way he is placed on the Steel Cut Oats. I had never heard of these. I think it's an old people delicacy.

Other tips to consider:

1. Dry erase markers work on mirrors! Leave little notes. This also work for non-occasion messages. Like, "have a great day!" and "don't forget to make me a cake!"

2. Fresh baked things on the morning of that special person's birthday are wonderful! I had a roommate freshman year who got up earlier in the morning than should be allowed in order to have sticky buns ready for me before I left for school. Mmm.

3. Experiences stick in your memory longer than possessions. Gifts with meaning behind them are great! Even better are gifts of experiences. For instance, you could get them concert tickets, a dinner out with you, passes to a theme park, or plane tickets. I most enjoy the last listed item. I actually received a plane ticket from my wonderful freshman roommates because they wanted me to be able to go home for Thanksgiving to see my family. But that's another post.

4. Treasure hunts can be fun. If you are planning fun for a friend who is tolerant of a little cheesiness, you can do a little mission impossible themed birthday hunt. We did this my freshman year, with clues leading her all over campus, leading her back to our apartement where there were friends and a cake waiting to surprise her. It was good times. My favorite was the mission impossible tape we recorded to kick things off, and the man in suit and sunglasses who delivered it. Ah, the good old BYU days. We knew how to party.

How about a Little Fire?

My lucky day is Thursday. The internet told me so and the internet, as we know, is never wrong.

Also there are only 146 days until my birthday. In case you were wondering.

On my birthday, my cake will have 31 candles.Those 31 candles produce 31 BTUs,or 7,812 calories of heat (that's only 7.8120 food Calories!) .You can boil 3.54 US ounces of water with that many candles.

Road Trippin'

So this weekend K and I went on a road trip that ranks up high in my road trip memories. It's right up there with the memorable Utah point-at-the-map-and-drive road trip with the wacky, crazy Alpine kids. We went to the beach, and stayed here:

I have just one question for all the tourists out there. Why????

Seriously. What is the point of this? I'm all thinking we're going to be one with nature. Except that everyone else is zipping by us on the sandy path leading to the beach as they drive down to park down on the beach. And they are driving up and down the beach. And taking pictures from their cars. And parking right at the tide line. And riding stupid little mopeds up and down the beach. Aaaaah, nature. I was so refreshed.

There was a big pretty tree root.

And there were birds and water.

I'm a good picture-taker.

We ate at Las Maracas. I give the gaucamole there four out of five stars. When asked for her rating, K said "word to your mother." She doesn't know what that means, but it went with the signs she was flashing that she also did not know the meaning behind.


We stopped at a little tourist shop and got Saltwater taffy. K really enjoyed hers...



We took lots of pictures. This is K trying to take a picture of me.

We drove and drove and drove, and then suddenly the highway we were on ended, because I had shirked my navigational duties and didn't see the sign to turn, which we discovered on our way back. But we saw this sign, which entertained us.

Um, isn't that a warning sign?

Then the windshields got all smeared, and K's wiper fluid thing doesn't work, so she used her back-up system.

Did you know that if you hold an empty water bottle out the car window at high speeds, it whistles? It does.

We were driving along and all the sudden, K did a double-take,and she turned to me with wide eyes and yelled, "There was a cow head back there!" So we turned around so she could show me. Because I didn't want to see, but I did, you know? Plus I needed a picture for my blog. And here it is:
Yes, folks, that is a hunk of snow. (Point and laugh at K here)

We returned last night. It was a wonderful trip. It was all in honor of K's 30th birthday. She's an old lady. We were just two old ladies on a girl's weekend. We're already planning our next adventure.

Let's Bowl!

This must be the year of the cool birthday gifts. I just got this:

There are also shoes. They are on order. I'll be sure to post a picture of those too when I get them. Suffice it to say that they are shiney. And purple. Let your imagination soar.

Oh, and I got a bag to carry it all in. It's the complete package.

I got them from the Red-Headed Boy. Isn't he nice?

Will You Please Find My DVD?

As mentioned in a previous post, I cannot for the life of me find one of my Netflix DVDs. Will someone please tell me where it is? I am losing my mind! I have cleaned my office, my car, and my room. I'm almost organized everywhere. While this is helpful in giving me a jump start on a New Year's resolution, it is not making me happy. They say the mind is the first thing to go.... I guess turning 30 really does start you on the path to senility...

Surprise! You're Old!

I turned the big three-oh. And a few of my closest friends took me out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory. The truest testament of their dedication was that not only did they manage to show up, but they waited for 80 minutes to be seated! That's love!

Look how cute they are:

You know what's great about a blog? I have the power so if I don't like the pictures of me at a particular event, I can just not post them. And since it was on my camera, neither can any of the above people (neener, neener!).

And guess what I got for a present. I got this:

Which is a huge version of this picture I took in Paris, further confirming my superior photography skills:

K got it framed for me, by Little S, master framer. Little S tilted it a little because as you can see, I take crooked pictures. Totally planned. You know, for perspective er something. Several of my friends pitched in on it (you know who you are).

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday just officially drew to a close. There are still family festivities on Sunday, so it's really more a week long celebration. As it should be. I got this today:

Also I got these:

Remember these? It's those cool rice candies that have the paper wrapped around them that melt in your mouth. My mom used to get them for us when we were little. My pottery teacher gave them to me becasue I had pottery class on my birthday. I also got a beautiful hand watercolored card from one of her students, and cookies from a few of her students. It's a party everywhere I go this week. :)

Tonight I went to a meeting at a restaurant with some of my volunteers and again one of the volunteers had a little candle and a balloon for my birthday. See, they understand. It IS all about me.

Reason #3 I Know I'm Old- I am the Cat Lady

So my roommate KP adopted a kitty before she left and made me swear to take care of her/him while she was gone (we've never confirmed the gender of kitty-- he/she is a little anxious when it comes to human contact). Then this week I was coming home one day and found a DIFFERENT cat climbing out of the little kitty house KP got for our kitty in case he/she wants somewhere to snuggle in the cold. THEN I found a big fat grey cat eating out of our kitty's bowl. And just now, the little house-stealing cat was sitting outside of our back door, meowing loudly and looking expectantly at the door like I was going to let him/her in.

I am the cat lady.

Your Mind is the First Thing to Go

They tell me that the mind is the first thing to go.

Today on my 30th birthday the following happened:
1. Lost my camera
2. Went to car to look for camera. Contact popped out.
3. experienced small miracle and located contact on floor of car in dark with flashlight
4. Callled restaurant-waitress located camera (yay honest people!)
5. Started to leave to retrieve camera but K forbade me to leave the house wearing sweatpants, kermit shirt, and high heals. I still don't understand how that doesn't go.

Also I"ve been missing a Netflix dvd for 2 or 3 weeks now. It's driving me batty. Someone tell me where I left it.

Reason #2 I Know I'm Old

I can't remember where I put things and I'm walking around the apartment muttering about it.

The Last Day of My Youth

One of my friends kindly reminded me today to enjoy the last day of my youth. Because tomorrow I am old.

Siiiigh. It was good while it lasted.

Things I enjoyed in my youth:
1. Tire swings; because being dizzy is fun
2. Red Rover; because I SO kicked butt at that game
3. The Muppets
4. Smurfs
5. MASH (Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House)
6. TPing
7. Shera: The Princess of Power
8. HeMan: insert rest of title I can't remember here
9. Knight Rider. Because I was going to marry him
10. Peaches N' Cream Barbie
11. Rainbow Bright
12. Little House on the Prairie (The books and the show)- I wanted to marry Manly. He rode through blizzards to pick up his date.
13. Happy Days. Eeeeh!
14. Mr. Rogers. I think I'll make a snappy new day.
15. Swings.

So do I have to stop liking these things now that my youth is ending? I have two hours left. Should I run out and find a swing? How about a quick pick-up game of Red Rover? Who's in?

Reason #3 Turning 30 is Fun

People give you flowers :)

Reason #2 Turning 30 is Fun

I was at the W's house for Taco Tuesday tonight (although we did not have tacos), and Baby Girl was walking around singing "Happy Birthday" over and over again. What could be cuter?

Also I got a monkey. And Baby Girl was quick to point out it was a Monkey.

Reason #1 Turning 30 is Fun

I get cute little things like this from my teens:

And this:

Two Days Till Old

When I was little we had one of those station wagons with the backwards seats in the back. Why don't they make those anymore? They also still had seesaws and merry-go-rounds on playgrounds. And there were still trees in Federal Way. Ah, the olden days!

Being the Bigger Person Sucks

I mean figuratively, not literally, by the way. I got accused tonight of having said something that I totally didn't. I totally got slapped down at a meeting in front of a lot of other people and all I could really say was that I'm sorry if there was a miscommunication. All I can say is, Chicks! And I WAS RIGHT AND YOU WERE WRONG. Neener, neener.

Like I said, being the bigger person sucks.

And, that was reason #1 that I will never be old. Because, like at least two of my teenagers have told me through the last five years, I'm just like a big kid.

Reason #1 I Know I'm Old

I was giving one of my teenagers a ride home today, and we were listening to "It's the End of the World" by REM (no, I'm not obsessed, it just happened to be on the cd I popped in), and she told me she had never heard the song before. And that she didn't know who REM was.

Five more days till oldness.

7 Days Til Old Begins

Today is Thursday. Next Thursday I turn 30. To celebrate, I'm going to a meeting for work. Sounds like good times, huh? Generally I don't tell my volunteers it's my birthday (I know, hard to imagine, right? There ARE people I don't remind once a week all year long when my birthday is), but this year I told my teens, who told their mothers, who put two and two together and realized it was on a night I have a meeting. And we're meeting at a restaurant that night since it's December and, you know, restaurants are festive. So there is the potential for not only my volunteers to make it a big thing, but to do it in a public place. Which believe it or not I don't enjoy. I know it may SEEM like I want all the attention on my birthday by the way I talk and talk and talk about it, but really, I hate having lots and lots of eyes turned on me. It makes me really uncomfortable to have whole rooms full of people looking at me and singing me happy birthday. Small is best. But it should be all about me. Because I'm the princess. The old princess.