Birthday Month (So Far)

Tuesday, April 9 was my birthday, so if you noticed a crackle of excitement in the air and wondered if it was some kind of special, magical occasion, your instincts were correct. Many of you know by now that I prefer not to confine my birthday to just a 24-hour period, but rather to spread the birthday enjoyment out over the entire month of April for maximum celebration. We are just about a third of the way into birthday month, and I have to say, it\'s going pretty well so far.

My college roommate and darling friend Sharon kicked off birthday month: on exactly April 1, a package arrived containing glitter crowns, drink umbrellas, and a wonderfully sparkly card. She knows me well, and it was a fabulous way to set the tone for my month. Sharon, you never disappoint.

I love everything about this (including the way the birthday package came addressed).

We enjoyed our drink umbrellas out on our patio last Saturday. Hey, you have to put your gifts to good use.

I love getting mail, and every day I\'ve been walking back from the mailbox with a big smile on my face as the cards have rolled in. My kitchen window is lined with birthday sentiments from friends and family. It\'s like a little party waiting for me whenever I walk by...well, that and a big box of cupcakes.

My awesome assortment of birthday cards this year.

My friend Sylvia also sent me some birthday goodies last week, and again, it\'s so fun when your friends know you well. It was a bit dreary Friday afternoon, but that brightened up quickly when I opened Syl\'s package with an adorable tote bag, a package of my well-loved Peeps, and a fresh gossip magazine, all for me!

What a fun package of birthday goodies!

Fast forwarding to Tuesday, the actual day of my birth, and I woke up once again to rainy weather. This is another reason that birthday month is such a wonderful thing: there\'s no pressure for any one day to be just right, because I knew I had a whole month full of days! Rain or not, I was determined to enjoy it to the fullest. I let myself have some great guilty pleasure fast food for lunch (I love a good McDonald\'s cheeseburger and fountain Diet Coke), and then treated myself to a manicure and pedicure. It\'s impossible not to have a good day when the nail salon employees all gather around you, wishing you a \"Happy 18th birthday!\" and laughing, \"No drinks for you today! You not old enough, only 18!\" For that reason alone, I highly encourage a nail salon visit on your next birthday so you, too, can feel 18 again for a moment in time.

Clint came home bearing gifts. I had given him two ideas for presents this year: a purse I highly coveted since the fall and a pair of sandals I felt I really needed. What a pleasant surprise to open BOTH! 

Honey, you shouldn\'t have (and I\'m glad you did).

This Kelly Wynne bag is stadium-approved for Clemson game days (and gorgeous for any other day, too).

And can we take just a moment to gave upon the best card, maybe in the history of birthday cards?

The perfect card doesn\'t exi.... (And the inside read, \"You\'re almost too awesome to be real.\" Aww)

For my celebratory dinner, we tried a fairly new restaurant in Charlotte that serves--after the fuss I made last week--small plates! Don\'t worry; I knew we were going and I was actually fine with it, mainly because this restaurant serves more medium-sized plates and because I knew what I was getting myself into. It was fun to try something out of our ordinary, and I have to say that everything we ate at The Stanley was absolutely delicious. I snapped a few pictures of the plates we shared, in case any of you foodies (or just hungry people) wanted to see.

The Stanley began our meal with complimentary champagne, so we were off to a great start.

This was our favorite. Surf and Turf: beef tartar and fried oysters with veggie slaw and truffle aioli. I could have just ordered 3 of these and left happy!

These steam pork buns are a customer favorite and they were basically upscale, tasty comfort food: sweet and saucy pork belly on doughy, tender buns.

I don\'t eat any food on the bone, so this was Clint\'s choice. Tempura quail over veggie fried rice (I, personally, liked the rice).

We also had an amazing fresh raviolo (which I assume is the singular for ravioli, so you learn something new every day) with goat cheese, spring peas, and ham but I took a break from my picture taking at that point to sip some champagne and enjoy my meal. Picture it in your mind. For dessert, our waiter recommended the white chocolate bread pudding with a sweet potato ice cream. I don\'t like bread pudding or sweet potatoes, but Clint does, so he ordered it and said it was pretty good. I enjoyed blowing out the candle that came alongside and sipping the last of my champagne.

My favorite part of this dessert was the candle.

The dessert worked out just fine for the birthday girl, however, because I came home and enjoyed a cupcake (which I wisely purchased for myself earlier in the day) in my pajamas. As I told a friend earlier in the day, \"no one knows how to celebrate me like ME.\" My neighbor left me a gift bag filled with dirty martini fixings by the back door while we were away, so that was a very nice welcome home, and something I assured him will be put to good use at some point this festive month. Cotton, our dog, was kind enough to throw up--I\'m sure from sheer excitement over my birthday--so I got to clean that up and wash a load of laundry before heading to bed, too. You can\'t win them all, but I\'m not through celebrating, so I\'ll get the last laugh, don\'t you worry. 

We have more birthday plans both Friday and Saturday with friends, and my mom has already reminded me that my birthday can\'t be over until I have celebrated at my parents\' house. That will happen over Easter weekend, and I can promise you I needed no convincing to keep up the merriment through the end of the month. It\'s tradition, after all. I\'ll be sure to keep you updated on how we commemorate the rest of April, and thanks to everyone for indulging me in birthday month! Like the email from my dentist kindly reminded me, \"Studies show that people who have more birthdays live longer than those who do not.\" 

To be continued, I assure you.