Birthday, birthday, gotta get down on your birthday

I can’t believe I’m writing this at 27 years old. I feel like I’m kind of where I want to be at this age, but also like, how was it FIVE years ago that I graduated from college? Surreal, to say the least.

I was feeling a bit melancholy on Friday, my birthday, mostly because I felt pretty far away from the US and my friends and fam, but the day was made immediately better as we had yet another day off. We had Wed- Fri off last week because our lovely Mazda was in for repairs and the other clinic cars were in use, so we were told to stay home. Instead, Lauren treated me to a lovely birthday brunch, a showing of the Hunger Games (loved it!), a bit o’shopping, and getting ready for my b-day pub crawl. 

We met at this somewhat divey bar called Bob Rocks in my favourite neighborhood Greenside and as we rolled in, a huge group of people was already there, and I was greeted with huge hugs and offers to buy me drinks. I was so surprised that nearly everyone I invited came- there must have been a group of nearly 20 people (not bragging about how popular or friend-filled I am, as many of the people were also friends of friends, honestly!) I kind of felt like something might be going on as people kept awkwardly disappearing and then reappearing with huge smiles on their faces. Suffice it to say I was really blown away when I went to change shoes and came back and everyone was waiting with a huge tray of chocolate cupcakes, a giant card, and a little box. I almost lost it, as I was so incredibly touched by the effort they went to, and actually did start crying when I opened my present to find a brand new bright purple camera with a matching case (I sadly lost mine in the shuffle of Splashy Fen music festival, completely devastated). They all chipped in to buy me a new one, saying that they loved my pictures so much and wanted me to document my last few weeks here. Of course, they christened the camera with inappropriate and adorable pictures that they took in the alley next to the bar. Classic. All I could do was nod my head, terrified of starting to cry and not being able to stop. What an incredible group of people, to say the least.

We then spent the night bouncing from bar to bar, dancing to terrible and outdated music in some places, and always losing people from bar to bar, but overall it was just an amazing, wonderful birthday celebration. I felt special and pretty, and isn’t that all you can really hope for on your birthday?

We had to call it a night earlier than I would have liked, as Lauren was sane and responsible and realized we had about 4 hours before we had to get on a stupid early flight to Cape Town! More in the next post., whoo!

Thank you all for the birthday love as well- I definitely felt it, from near and far :)

A Splashy Fen reunion at my birthday- they're making fun of how I always pose in pictures

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