As with all birthdays I have had since the dawn of time, okay since I turned 31, the build up is a downward spiral heading in the direction of a complete and utter meltdown on the actual day. I have tried to change my attitude towards them but sadly I am who I am and that person is Miss Grumpy… particularly on a birthday. Today was no different… at least at the start of the day.
My morning began at 4.00am with a text message from one of my friends in England. Seriously, I have been living in Boston for 13 years, we are five hours behind, NOT five hours ahead… and I was not having a “fabulous day” at 4.00am! Oh Miss Grumpy I have missed you this past year!
I got up at 7.30am and dragged my grumpy, one year older tired butt to the shower to get ready for work. I swear there were a few more lines around my eyes than yesterday! Miss Grumpy should have booked the day off and stayed under the covers.
On the bus at 8.30am and checking my messages I realized I had about a thousand “happy birthdays” on Facebook… people are nice. Miss Grumpy was starting to feel a little better, although not out of the woods yet. I arrived at work and some of my colleagues had put on a little breakfast for me. A smile was starting to creep up one side of my face… people are really nice. I got back to my desk and there were more text messages and more Facebook messages for me and a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my fabulous friend, Rob, who never lets me down on birthdays or Valentine’s Day. The smile crept a little bit to other side of my face. Not quite a full fledged smile yet but definitely on the way to one.
Another colleague emailed to say “I know you don’t like to talk about birthdays but can I take you to the Bristol Lounge for lunch?” Why yes of course you can. So, my friend Melissa and my old roomie Lauren, who is in town for a wedding, popped over to the Bristol Lounge at the Four Seasons for a lobster lunch – how fabulous. The waiter even brought me a little piece of cake with a candle in it. I blew out the candle and made a wish to be 10 years younger. Just kidding, I made a different wish, which I will not be sharing.
After lunch, Lauren decided she wanted an Hermes shawl and why not, she deserves one. Miss Grumpy was along for the amusement of watching her spend a lot of money. So, we were in Hermes when this girl (about 25 years old) came in to look at the teeniest of handbags for $5,200, I kid you not, only for the sales person to say… “well, you must get it because it looks fabulous on you and you have only bought a ‘Birkin’ this year!” I am so serious. This is what made my birthday and I have no idea why! I could not stop laughing. In my wildest dreams I could not imagine spending $10,000 on a bag! I think it was the… “you have only bought a Birkin this year” …that got to me. Alas, not my world but such an amusing one to observe. Instead of making me sad because I could never spend that sort of money, it made me happy that I am who I am and how lucky I am to have the friends that I do, even if I can never spend $10,000 on a bag. I bet Miss Birkin has no friends. Miss Grumpy is no more for this day.
I plan to quietly celebrate another 40-sometihng year of life with a few close friends over dinner and tomorrow will just be another day! Farewell, Miss Grumpy, at least until May 12, 2012 J
