Today's my birthday!

And if you asked me how my day was, I would tell you it is definitely in the running for

"The most perfect day ever lived."

First of all, I should tell you that I hardly ever actually celebrate my birthday. Like, in my growing up years I more often than not opted to just skip my birthday party. And in high school, my birthday always fell right at the end of term, so I was mostly just stressed out. And in college, my birthday falls right at the beginning of the semester, so that's stressful too. I don't mean to complain; I'm actually quite fond of my birthday and I think it's the best day of the year to have one for some reason. I'm just saying that the general rule is that if I ever celebrate, it is minimal and usually not on the actual day of my birth.

This year I learned how fun it can be to just celebrate your birthday and forget other stuff. Seriously guys, you should all try it this year!! And if you can afford to, might I recommend beginning your celebrations a day early? It's a good idea.

So anyways, yesterday was fun because I bought myself a present and then learned that Shaundra was going to buy it (via gift card), so then I returned it and re-bought it and instead of paying ten dollars, I earned one cent. #winning Also, I had lunch with Shaundra and Mallory, which included delicious soup and perfect gifts. My friends love me and I love them.

Yesterday was also good because we had our Women's Chorus retreat for this semester and although those are usually exhausting, I mostly just felt very uplifted because it is such a great opportunity to be a member of this group of 180 amazing girls led by 1 amazing woman. Totally changed my WC attitude for the semester, which needed to happen. 

And those were lovely things that happened yesterday, but today really took the cake (BIRTHDAY PUN), so let's talk about today.

Today I woke up at the perfect time for a birthday sleep-in (9:30), and went upstairs to meet the best breakfast of my life. I requested to have pancakes/French toast/anything else that could serve as a vehicle for our extra yummy syrup, but what I didn't expect was cream cheese in my scrambled eggs and LEMON CURD on my French toast. Oh my gosh, I am so in love with lemon curd (probably in my top 10 foods), and that was the best idea anybody ever had for a toast topping because it made my tummy sing songs of pure joy. So thanks be to my mother for thinking of it. 

After breakfast I practiced for my piano solo in church tomorrow and worked on chores. This was not even a bummer because it felt nice to work hard before playing hard for the rest of the day. Then I took a nice long shower and listened to Imagine Dragons and ate cake batter.

Then Shaundra picked me up for lunch with her and Mallory....AND Madi and Brittany and Carolyn, which I totally did not see coming! Sneaky, sneaky Shaundra. It was lovely to have everyone there because as I said earlier, there's a lot of friend love there. My friends are the best. Plus, we ate at Malawi's, which is always wonderful. Three cheers for the ranch chicken pizza and that heavenly peaches and cream pizza.

When we came back to my house after that, Jen and her mom were just pulling up to come say hi and drop off a gift, which was one of my all-time favorite books, These Is My Words. It is always fun to receive a gift from that Jennifer because she gets SO excited about it and I just love her. Also, her folks really know how to give the perfect thing.

The rest of the day was pretty much spent with Shaundra and my family because Shaundra and I had an impromptu SMASH party but really it turned into following Emerson around the whole basement and playing trains. And then we played my favorite games (Nertz and Bananagrams). And then I opened presents and we ate cake and ice cream and homemade hot fudge. And I didn't touch or look at homework all day long, which rocks.

I realize it may be difficult to gather just how perfect today was by the play-by-play I've offered, so lemme just mention a few keys for having your own perfect birthday:

First, you need to eat all your favorite foods. I ate cake instead of dinner, and I am fine with that. You should be too. 

Second, you need to get perfect presents from everyone. This may sound difficult to orchestrate, but the secret to success here is wanting nothing specific. Literally everything I received for my birthday this year was exactly the one thing I wanted most, and that's impossible but true.

Third and most importantly, you need to spend it with people you love, and you need to love the people you spend it with. You can even get away with forgetting the first two keys if you follow this one. (True story.)

I feel like I need to include a picture of my current self, so this is my most recent self-taken photo. It was taken on a beach in Mexico so that is why I have beach hair and a fantastic sunburn.

Thank you times 17,000,000 to everyone who made me feel loved today. Especial thanks to my family (with an especial especial thanks to Mom and Dad) and to Shaundra who was behind the whole lunch party. I am so grateful for all you lovely people and I can't even express how great you made this day for me. I LOVE YOU ALL.

Something tells me this next year of life is going to be wonderful. Bring on the 20's!