Birthday Changes...

The title of this post sounds like a euphemism for menopause, LOL.

Although, it WAS my thirty-fifth birthday about a month-and-a-half ago, so The Change is somewhat on my mind.  So much so that I've been knocking about in my head the idea of freezing my eggs.  No joke.  I see nothing wrong with a modern woman taking charge of her fertility and doing something about the fact that she wants kids but... just not now.  Life is moving too quickly (as evidenced by my lack of blogging!) and I'm relishing my friends, fun and freedom.  More importantly, I'm not in a long-term relationship (yet!), and much as I respect single moms, I'm definitely not prepared to join their ranks.

Things might be looking up on the relationship front, though.  Although it's only been a few months, there is someone new.  I'm keeping this one close to the vest for now since for some reason, my relationships always seem to go south soon after I "go public" with it.  (My brother jokes that if I want to break up with someone, just arrange a first meeting between him and the guy in question - we'll break up within three weeks of the meeting, guaranteed!  Haha)  But I WILL share with you the card for his birthday, which was just a week or so before mine.  

I planned a day of fun for him, and he reciprocated it all - and more beyond belief - when my day arrived.  The weekend before my actual birthday, he told me that he was taking me to a surprise... which turned out to be a Broadway show called First Date.  I hadn't seen a show in so long, and the one he picked was hilarious; it poked fun of all the modern and traditional dating do's and don'ts in original and theatrical ways.  We laughed a lot at seeing all the awful things that have happened to the both of us in the course of our dating lives comically dramatized on stage.

We then went back to his apartment, where he surprised me further with one of my big passions (besides cardmaking, of course!) - homemade cocktails!  He was so cute and tried to make his own saffron infused gin with real saffron threads.  It didn't turn out like he thought it would, but he also bought a Gabriel Boudier Saffron Infused Gin and made me an amazing gin and tonic with it.  I was so impressed!  And here I thought I was the cocktail guru!

While we were sipping our scrumptious drinks, he gave me a surprise present - an amazing piece of shiny that I love to bits!  I had been looking for something like what he gave me for the longest time, and the one that he gave me is SO my taste.  It really couldn't have been more perfect than if I had it made to order.  It's my lucky bracelet now - I make sure to wear it on plane flights and when I have important meetings at work.

   

And then, as I was still prancing around waving my arm wildly to see my new pretty sparkle, it was time to get cleaned up.  He didn't let on until we arrived that he had made reservations at Asiate, the gorgeous restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental.  

We snagged the best table in the restaurant, and thoroughly enjoyed a memorable tasting menu and each other's company (as we always do) while gazing out at the astounding sunset view of Columbus Circle and Central Park:

And as if all that weren't enough, I was floored on the actual day of my birthday.  I took the day off work for my birthday last year, and wanted to do so again this year, but I just started a new job and didn't feel like I could.  I was immeasurably cheered by a surprise delivery of the best bouquet I've ever received:

It was so amazing (and humongous!) that it created an unintended benefit of making people at work do double-takes when they walked past my office.  I was still new at the job and trying to get to know people, and I got to chat with a lot of people who are on my floor but who I had never spoken to because they all came in to admire the flowers and tell me that it was more like a small tree than a bouquet of flowers!

After work, I arrived at his apartment, and found that he had planned to cook dinner for me.  (You have no idea how much I love men who cook!)  And when I was still rubbing my fat and full tummy after dinner, he ordered me to the bedroom while he prepared "something" in the living room.  I happily complied, and it wasn't before long when tinny electronic notes of the birthday song floated into the air.  I walked into the living room to this spread:

Chocolate Grand Marnier fondue... and a singing candle atop a HOMEMADE BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!  No one except my mom has ever baked me a birthday cake in my life!  How did I get so lucky?  To have such a wonderful guy be so wonderful to me... I still can't believe he baked me a cake!!!  He ran out of white frosting before he was done, so the back third of the cake was iced with chocolate icing, which makes me chuckle and endeared me to the cake even more.  Over a month later, I still get warm fuzzy feelings whenever I think of the cake.  And everything else.  

As go the lyrics of the Sound of Music, "I must have done something, something good."

I was so anxious about reaching the milestone ripe old age of thirty-five, but with someone like him and my wonderful family and friends, I feel okay.  More than okay - I feel like this is the time of my life.  Each passing year gets sweeter and sweeter, and I'm so grateful for all that I have.  And now that thirty-five is over and done with, I find that I'm not gripped by anxiety any longer.  What will happen, will happen.  What won't, won't.  But I know that in any case, I will be happy, and I will live my life to the fullest.

Thank you, R.