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After 364 days of the normal isolation routine, the calendar hit a magical date where, Wednesday or not, things had to be special. Just by falling on the twenty-fourth day of March, every action and experience would have a slightly different flavor than if it had happened on any other day. How did the anniversary of my birth break down in 2021? Something like this:
8:13am Sleeping in may not be my strong suit, but I woke up with an eyelash on my cheek (several actually - my eyelashes are generally out of control) so the first thing I did was make a wish. I'll never tell.
Then, I went downstairs to see a family of four deer brunching on our backyard. They are quite sassy and superior with us. I just waved. My mom paused to give me a birthday hug and, by the time she was reaching for the door to shoo the deer away, they had already finished up their last course and were ambling back to the woods. They rule our block.
8:30am For my birthday, I had one of my favorite breakfasts: cereal. This time I went for Kashi, my favorite brand of cereal, in one of my favorite flavors - peanut butter. I had it with almond milk since our grocery store has stopped stocking oat milk for mysterious reasons (đ˘) and it was a great start to the day. As I was clearing up, my dad came in and gave me a big hug.
10:20am Okay, around this time, I was on my usual routine: editing last week's blog and studying Italian. My treat to myself: I logged into my email once the whole day, checked it, and then logged out. Usually on weekdays I keep my email open from 9:00-5:00, but not today! It was liberating. More surprises to come.
10:43am The doorbell rang and there was our lovely florist friend, Maria, with a vaseful of pink hydrangeas and purple roses. My dad called it a "soft spring look." I called it beautiful. Flowers are just about my favorite gift of all time, and receiving them on my birthday always makes my heart grow a couple sizes. We had a little photoshoot. These flowers were on their supermodel game.
Shoutout to Dad and Conor for being the best!
1:15pm On March 24, 1997 at 1:15 in the afternoon, I was born. Lunchtime baby. (My poor, hungry mother!) On March 24, 2021, as the clock ticked 1:15, I was in the middle of my workout. I have made a bunch of themed playlists out of The Fitness Marshall's dance routines, curating thirty-minute to hour-long workouts that are effective but also super fun. For my birthday, I chose my 'Baddie Alert' playlist, featuring some of my favorite, empowering songs. As it turned out, I turned twenty-four in the middle of the 'Worth It' by Fifth Harmony dance. It is not my absolute favorite song on the playlist, but they are all fun. Plus, I am pretty good at this choreo. Anyway, I feel like that message of being worth it is a great attitude to bring into the new year. I will take it!
3:00pm My dad got his second and final vaccination dose and my mom got her first, which I think is a pretty awesome birthday gift! While they were taking care of that, I had the house to myself for a little dance party and reading session. I am so fun! lol
6:45pm Dinner time! My big birthday dinner still to come, I got to pick what we had for dinner on the actual day as well. It was simple enough for a weekday, but I made sure to pick something we had not eaten during the entirety of quarantine. With those guidelines, a lot of meal ideas had to be tossed into the trash. I wound up choosing a salad. Call me crazy, but I really do love salads, and this one slaps. Plus, it has got bacon and cheese, so it is a cool kid salad, I would say.
The beauty of this salad really lies in how it hits nearly every part of your palate. Salty bacon mixes with the thick flavor of the bleu cheese, falling on a bed of crisp peppery arugula, with sweet craisins and walnuts lifting the flavor up. All these ingredients are lightly moistened by the acidic apple cider vinaigrette. I love how the dish plays with texture, as creamy cheese adheres to crunchy nuts, crispy bacon and gummy craisins. The whole salad feels fresh and flavorful. If it is healthy, it certainly is not the boring kind.
Then what? My mom said I could pick out what we watched, but I could not find my favorite movie - Almost Famous - anywhere. That was fine too. Instead, I spent the night journaling a little bit, reflecting on what I learned and grew from in the past year and what I want out of the coming one. We did not have cake (yet - don't freak out, this is not a neglect issue) but it felt wrong to not have a little something sweet on my birthday. On Valentine's Day a secret admirer gave me a box of assorted Godiva chocolates. Bless up. I ripped that sucker open and had three delicious truffles to celebrate. We also did not do presents (yet - see above parentheses) but my lovely friend Kaitlyn went to great lengths to ensure that the gift she mailed me arrived on my actual birthday. I opened up the cutest pair of yellow sweatpants and a pack of pastel butterfly clips. That really made my day. My favorite color, fashionable comfort, a favorite hair accessory. Ugh! It feels so good to be seen! Then I watched a couple episodes of Parts Unknown with my parents. We love that show.
The largest takeaway from my birthday is that I love you people. Messages from family and friends really made my day. All your little notes made the day so special, and my heart was just overjoyed. What a great team to have! I appreciate you all so terribly much â¤ď¸
And now, I am a wise old twenty-four. Growing up was fun because my mom was always creating magic. She teased that she was a witch and would tell us all about our horoscopes, owned a deck of tarot cards and once read our tea leaves at Shannon's eleventh birthday party. It was all in good fun, and I always found it so exciting. I bring this up now because my mom told me that twenty-four is going to be a fantastic year for me, she can feel it. I am hoping she actually has the magic to make that a prophecy and not the kind words of a mother - though those are reassuring and lovely as well.
And now I venture forth to slay this year.
Peace n luv
XX,
MK
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