It's My Party

Google knows it's my birthday! ;)

Growing up, I was always envious of my friends who had summer birthdays. While I had ice skating and roller skating parties (thank you mom and dad!), they had pool parties and barbecues. There's only so much you can do outside when it's below freezing in January. I even considered celebrating my half birthday, which conveniently falls just after the Fourth of July and I thought I was so special to have fireworks for my half birthday.

One year, I did try to fight my winter birthday and forced my friends to go on a polar dip in the Atlantic ocean. In January. In New England. It was snowing. (I have such good friends :)). Needless to say there wasn't much sunscreen or sunbathing involved.

So for my first summer birthday, I took advantage of the sunny day and warm nights (even if they are windy). When I decided I wanted to try Fremantle, my everything-Aussie guru picked the Norfolk Hotel for dinner. Growing up, instead of going out to eat for my birthday, I would request poor-man stroganoff and then mussels I got older and m palate matured with broccoli with American cheese (I know I'm weird). Keeping with my birthday tradition, we had mussels in our tapas spread.

As the wind continued to blow in the beer garden, we moved to the basement where there was a DJ. As every other bar in Perth, he started playing normal pop dance music, but then switched to "duff duff" or electronic music. I tried to request the wobble, but surprisingly, he had never heard of it. I just didn't seem right without at least one Wagon Wheel sing-a-long. But we made it work.

 "You've never heard of the Wobble?!"

This morning I woke up to the smell of wood burning. There's a bushfire 400km southwest of here, and the winds have carried the smoke and deposited it on my lovely city. That smoke was thick!

Since the sun wasn't bright through the smoke, I decided to wait for it to clear out to enjoy my beach birthday. So what did I do? I did what any person would do when the air is full of smoke. I picked an activity that relies on getting extra oxygen to your lungs though increased breathing. Of course I went for a run. By the time I returned, it was starting to clear up, so I headed to Cottesloe, picking up a birthday treat along the way from my new cupcake place, Bella's.

 

Overall, it was a relaxing summer birthday, even if it doesn't quite seem like my birthday without a chance of snow. And I did miss my birthday doughnut and Howie-family singers' painful rendition of H-a-p-p-y b-i-r-t-h-d-a-y (Mom). Luckily I have my family and friends back home and my new friends and Aussie adopted family to help me celebrate wherever I am. Thank you for all the love and wishes! Now I've got 364 days to start planning my next fun-in-the-sun birthday. I'm going to start planning while having another birthday treat, chocolate ice cream (with no Moose Tracks it will have to do) with melted peanut butter. A heavenly ending to any birthday.