18 (x2)

Happy (belated) birthday to me!

On August 3rd, I officially turned 18 (x2). I say it this way because I can no longer say my actual age. I know, it’s silly. I mean, how hard can it possibly be?

Thiiiirrrrtttyyy ssss… nope. Can’t do it.

Anyway, aside from thinking I’m a total freak, you’re probably asking yourself why I waited until now to blog about it (or perhaps you’re just waiting with bated breath for my musings on bellybutton lint).

Am I just lazy? Well, sort of, yes.

But really, I waited to write this post until I finished celebrating! I mean, I don’t just celebrate my birthDAY -- I celebrate my birthWEEK (sometimes TWO if I’m feeling frisky!). Which, is interesting because I while I hate the idea of aging, I really do heart my birthday.

Now, I won’t bore you with 36 things you should know about my birthday (although it IS tempting). Instead, I will submit 3 critical birthday facts for your review:

1) I never work on my birthday.
Being a summer baby, I never had to go to school on my birthday. In fact, I never had to do much of ANYTHING except open presents and eat cake. So, imagine my dismay upon graduation to The Real World. I began my very first job in Parsippany, NJ, a week before my 22nd birthday -- and I had to WORK on the Big Day! Nobody even knew my name, much less that it was my birthday. I was stuck in the photocopy room all day and can still vividly recall jabbing the collate button with my index finger, while grumbling, “This totally sucks!” So, on August 3, 1995, feeling lightheaded from the overwhelming scent of toner, I vowed never again to work on my birthday. And I never have.

2) I always have a cheesecake birthday cake.
Some people like cupcakes. Some people like ice cream cake. Some people are birthday Grinches and eat broccoli instead. Me? I like cheesecake. But ONLY creamy New York-style. Not that crappy, lumpy, gross-tasting Italian kind (as much as I love the Itals, ricotta does not a cheesecake make). And I am a purist -- just plain cheesecake, maybe with strawberries on the side, please. This is the best cake to make a proper wish upon, in my opinion.

3) I always buy myself a gift.
I love buying gifts for people! So it stands to reason that in the days and weeks around my birthday, I find just about every excuse possible to treat myself. Usually it’s small things, and one big splurge. This year, it occurred to me that I hadn’t really gotten myself anything yet, which I happened to mention to my mom. She replied, “You already got a gift. From a BOY. Who you are not related to. Quit while you’re ahead.” Actually, she may be right about that one…

So, do YOU have any favorite memories about MY birthday??

Kidding, kidding. I’ll also take your favorite kinds of birthday cake…