Recipe For a Lovely Birthday - Take two parts staying up late and posting to your journal. Add three email bday cards delivered at midnight. Mix with 5-6 hours sleep, wake up slightly confused about which day it is, happily remember it's your birthday. Enjoy a hot shower and all the minty shower products, emerge refreshed and pleased. Wear your favorite shoes, favorite socks, favorite slacks, and favorite shirt. Feel thankful the laundry is already done.

A bloom on my desk plant yesterday
Check all the inboxes and journals and comments and electronic messages of good will and happy birthday. Answer a few of them. Enjoy several IM (instant messaging) conversations. Smile when your daughter phones you first thing, to wish you happy birthday. Answer a lovely text message on your phone, of birthday felicitations, from one of your favorite guy friends.

Wander to the fancy grocery store around the corner, get a free latte with the "frequent buyers" card you filled up yesterday. Eat a few bites of fresh ground cashew butter on challah. Have a lovely conversation with the nice coffee lady about challah, the meaning of round turban loaves to celebrate New Year's for Rosh Hoshanah, and have even more fun describing the whole season of Rosh Hoshanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Friday night Shabbat dinners with friends all year. Feel warm and fuzzy about it.

Another shot of my blooming plant
Head out to have a manicure and pedicure, because it's your birthday and it's something you enjoy. Go to your favorite gift store, fall in love with a nice necklace, buy yourself a shiny birthday present. Go to your favorite deli, buy a loaf of your favorite bread, buy one of your favorite desserts. Head home, eat holiday leftovers for lunch, and half the yummy dessert. Start reading a new book (get fantastic research ideas and project ideas from just the first few pages even!). Answer a bday text from your sister (yay, sisto!).

Put on some comedy in the background, get to work on the computer and cleaning up around the house. Answer the doorbell and receive a basket filled with flowers, decorated with butterflies. Photograph the basket with your new butterfly necklace. Marvel at the synchronicity of being home and having bought butterflies today, too.

Birthday Flowers
Update your resume, send several cover letters, advance your career search. Get a couple of job leads, send those letters too.

Go to the home of some of your best friends for dinner with them and with your roomie. Have one more friend suddenly able to join you after all. All squeeze into their new car, go have sushi. Take a phone call from friends at A&S, all calling on speaker phone to wish you happy birthday. Enjoy a great big meal full of sushi yumminess. Walk two blocks for gelato. Flirt with the nice coffee guy, get your latte "on the house" because the coffee guy likes the conversation about your birthday. Return to your friends house happy and sated with food-goodness.

Head home, with a copy of Fraggle Rock. Watch Doozers (yippee!) and update your journal full of birthday goodness. Read a few more birthday wishes on myspace, in email, and on journal comments.

Go to sleep very happy.

Butterfly necklace with flower-butterflies
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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: 39 amazing years so far. Here's to another 89 more! *wink*