Twenty-Five!

Hello Mid-Twenties I've arrived! Though of course being twenty-five feels no different than being twenty-four, but I am now officially a quarter of a century old.

I don't know what the next year has in store for me... I'm hoping that my accident prone-ness / my questionable karma turns around... In prepping for my dinner party, I managed to pour a pot of boiling water on myself... nothing says happy birthday like burns on your stomach. At this point I just have to laugh... its been quite the year. Prancing around town with my skivvies hanging out, countless tonsillitis/ strep encounters, a doozy of a staff infection, numerous burns, lost luggage... maybe I"ll outgrow it eventually.

Here is the thing about having birthdays on a Monday... all the restaurants you want to go to are closed, and everyone you want to celebrate with is at work, so naturally you must throw a party over the weekend.

I had a solstice themed evening potluck fete, and had a lovely evening drinking mojitos, and celebrating with friends. Is there any better way to kick off the begining of summer than with a minty cool beverage, baseball, good friends, and delicious fresh food? The only rule of the potluck was that everything had to be fresh... nothing from a box or a can, and our dinner was an excellent spread of salads, dips, stuffed tomatoes, pie, homemade ice cream, cookies, and overall deliciousness. 

Monday was spent in typical birthday fashion, or at least what I consider to be typical birthday fashion. I started off the morning with twenty-five Sun Salutations. It seemed very appropriate given my recent start on the yogi path, and since my birthday falls on the solstice. It actually wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and by sun salute number twelve I was in the zone. I definitely feel a little bit more in-tune with my body, and am experiencing a few muscles that I haven't in a while. The great thing about sun salutations is that they work all the main muscle groups, so it's like a complete body workout, mind and body.

 I have a few ideas about birthdays... the first is that you should wear cute underwear on your birthday... or at least underwear that makes you feel sassy. It's totally a mental thing, but I think it adds a little je ne sais quoi to your day, even if no one else sees them, you at least know you are wearing them.

Secondly, I like to splurge a little bit on my birthday. Since I was turning twenty-five, I figured it was justifiable to splurge on a few small things.  Three to be exact (ok so really four if you count my trip to Boston). I treated myself to a nice lunch. Originally my plan was to enjoy a lunch of Pineapple Red Curry. Even though I have been known to eat thai food probably once a week, I am undeniably in love with curry. It is my ultimate comfort food. I crave it constantly, and it is one of the only foods capable of filling up my stomach, and my soul all at the same time. Sadly the local Thai restaurant was closed... (damn you Monday) but I was able to find a very tasty alternative at a tapas place down the street. The food was elegant and simple, and the ingredients were fresh. I had a roasted beet salad with sea salt, blue cheese and olive oil, an Arugula salad with hazelnuts and currants, and bacon wrapped dates. Oh, and I had a Pear and Cava cocktail... because who doesn't want something bubbly on their birthday?

Then I allowed myself to do a little bit of shopping. Though I promised I wouldn't buy anything unless I was in love with it, I of course managed to find something fun. Of course now the sun is shining,(which I of course will attribute to my sun salutations)  and all thoughts of coats are gone until the fall, this will be something fun for the fall, and the spring!

My third splurge was a bottle of Old Tom Gin from Ransom Distillery. Yum! This gin is excellent (it's perfect for sipping by itself, but makes a beautiful gin an tonic) and its locally made! Hooray!

The rest of the day was spent leisurely sipping coffee, indulging in a little bit of television, and playing copious amounts of Rockband....(I may or may not have been a drummer in a past life) I know its a glamorous life in birthday land... yoga, lounging around, lingering lunches, cocktails, shopping... a girl could get used to this! =) Now, back to reality, but I'm planning on embracing this next year, and am excited to see where it takes me.