No more celebrating...I need rest!

OK, first of all, Happy Birthday to me! Yay, I'm finally 29! Oh and for that guy that doesn't get sarcasm but totally does get rude comments "<wink><wink><sarcasm>"...happy now?

This holiday was definitely busier than most and I have my awesome neighbor-friends to thank for that. I decided not to travel this holiday. I'd traveled enough this year, hitting Miami, NYC, LA and Phoenix since the beginning of September and the idea of staying at home *really* appealed to me. My travel schedule, combined with that trying snow storm and then that trying power-outage. Yeah. I felt some serious nesting coming on. I could have totally done the ceremonial opening of the spaghetti sauce jar but my neighbors would have none of that and I am glad that they encouraged me to be social. I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with friends; the best part being watching kids rip into their presents. Who knew that Dora the Explorer was such a big deal? Also, it seems that princesses are big this year. And video games. I'm super fortunate to have the best neighbor-friends (that's my new word for my neighbors) ever.

The goal for today is the avoid any opportunity for actually celebrating my birthday. Saying "Happy Birthday" is one thing, but actually *doing* something is pretty much out of the question. First of all, I am not a birthday-celebrating kind of gal. The idea of celebrating my own birthday makes me uncomfortable. I think it's because deep down I am a little shy and not really that comfortable drawing much attention to myself for something as frivolous as a birthday celebration. Second, I am kind of sick of food right now. My normally healthy eating habits make me perfectly unequipped to deal with the onslaught of sugary/creamy/rich holiday food. Today is about drinking lots of water and eating salads. My system would like to return to its normal state. Anyway, thanks to the friends that have wanted to celebrate my birthday (I appreciate the thought) and for understanding why it just isn't going to happen. Blame my parents who were always too tired in the 26th to really make the birthday thing work...I understand. I'm tired too.

The one thing I have typically done on the 26th is gone shopping. At the holidays, given that my birthday was close at hand, I could always count on a gift check under the tree and what better day to spend it than the biggest sale day ever? This year, I don't have the heart to brave the crowds. I'm known in the neighborhood as quite the internet shopper ("is that brown truck stopping at her house again today?") so I'm doing the sale shopping in my own way; by buying the set of dishes I want for my new kitchen on sale at Pottery Barn online. What a sense of satisfaction I get from actually exercising enough patience to wait for them to go on sale (a challenge for me)! Yeah, this holiday break has been quite busy with online shopping. When that delivery truck stops, you never know what you may have bought online and then forgot about.

Anyway, I will likely do some more blogging this week, but didn't want to forget to wish everyone a Happy and Safe New Year!