Another Year Older

Ok, two things: 1) My trip to Chicago flew by in a blink and 2) Bryan's trip to New York flew by in a blink, too. UGH to both! I'll never understand how the hours in a day can pass so quickly sometimes. Time spent with people you love is honestly priceless and I wish I could hold on to certain moments and not let them go. Sigh...

I'm obviously quite behind on my posts so I thought I'd sneak in a quick one about my birthday before jumping back into school. This year was a little different for me in terms of my birthday. Most everyone who knows me is aware of how much I love celebrating birthdays. You won't find me being a scrooge about it, even with each year I age, simply because being alive and celebrating that is a gift and an honor. I don't like hearing people say they hate their birthday. It makes me sad. All of that said, I'm normally ready to celebrate mine for a month (at least!) but it was the last thing on my mind this year. I've just been too swamped to focus on it so you can understand how happy I was to have my friends and Allison plan a very fun, low key weekend for me.

The day before my actual birthday, a group of us headed over to Brooklyn Brewery to enjoy a laid back afternoon together. All I wanted this year was to spend time with my dear friends and to be away from annoying crowds or riffraff. We hung out for the day at the brewery and it was perfect! Shameer definitely didn't disappoint in getting my annual surprise cake, either. He's done that for both Allison and I for a number of years and it's just the sweetest, most awesome gesture. I look forward to it, actually! Behold, the perfect candle, too:

When we wrapped up there, we walked over to Spritzenhaus which I just love. We'd gone for the first time last summer after roaming around Smorgasburg and I thought it was such an awesome place. Lemme tell you, it still is! We drank awesome beers and laughed quite a bit as we all tend to do together. Allison even drank cider! I love any chance to steer Allison into the world of beer so, if that means starting with cider, so be it. We had a really fun afternoon overall:

 Yep, beer in a wine glass. It's how I roll:

This makes me happy:

The next day, my actual birthday, Allison and Camille had put together a lovely brunch for me that was delicious. They did lightened up versions of bacon, egg and cheese biscuits which are one of my favorite things, ever. Allison made homemade biscuits but then did egg whites, turkey bacon, a touch of cheese and a really nice green salad:

It was fantastic! I mean, the candle in the biscuit couldn't be more appropriate for me. The three of us had a great time together and I was thankful for such a nice weekend with the people I love so much. Though this year's shenanigans and celebration was much more tame than past years, it was no less wonderful. Getting older for me has been a sincere joy and that's something in itself to be thankful for. Another year older, another year happier. I'm very blessed. :)

PS - Happy Easter to all! What an amazing, important, special day this is. I praise and thank god for what it means and hope the day was wonderful for each of you.