birthday fun...

As tradition would have it, I got to spend an evening after work last week getting spoiled with dinner, drinks and quality time with some favorite high school girlfriends. This will never get old.  It's amazing what calling our somewhat regular hangout time a "birthday celebration" can do to the fun we have.  Suddenly, we become these giddy girls, adorned in pink boas, gushing with our latest "top secrets", and engaged in hilarious, chaotic conversations where if you actually stop to take a breath, someone else may just start talking over you, so..you sacrifice breathing.

The hilarity of our chatter turned into a round of "You know you're 26 when..."'s.  I cannot recall all of the creativity but here are a few to wet your appetite and hopefully incite additional ideas:

*disclaimer, these will all be anonymous to protect the participants, but you know who you are..*

YOU KNOW YOU'RE 26 WHEN...

you're psyched to get gift cards to Whole Foods.

(because without them you are resigned to Market Basket and the like, unless you drop by the WF hot or cold bar once in a blue moon, which i HIGHLY recommend, dee-lish...) Moving on... 

instead of being satisfied that you are in a good relationship, the peanut gallery wants to know when you're "tying the knot" and may even go so far as to inquire to said good boyfriend.

(always uncomfortable, often unavoidable.) Next...

you have started using the tweezers for, uh, more than just the eyebrows on occasion.

a "night out on the town" just isn't what it used to be. because it's 11:30pm and you're already walking home from the bar while the college kids are heading out of their dorms around you.

you're no longer the "model age" for starting your retirement fund. in fact, you're late now, so start saving!

you have to count back how many years you've been out of college to figure out how many years you've been out of high school.

pregaming is out and looking up recipes for fun dinners to cook is in.

you actually hear yourself ask a friend, "Am I too old to wear this?" or "Does this look too young for me?" (What!?)

You get the idea...there were some good laughs and accidental disclosures which made it all the more fun...of course feel free to add some more!

Then, just before I was swept away by my little birthday romancer for a mini-trip to Maine to ring in my own new year, there was dinner with Mom and Pops to celebrate too...

25 was pretty great..
                      I'm looking forward to seeing what 26 has in store...
but for the present, i'm just thankful for my health, my work and my dear friends and family that make everything else worth it all.

more to come on the Maine get-a-way...