Happy Birthday to Me! (Part 1)

New birthday haircut

Today is a 'special' day. Not only is it my birthday, but I have been alive now for 55 years which makes me officially a young senior, at least in my part of the world. ;) Hmmm, too bad I can't get senior discounts, yet! ;)

Over the years, many tell me that they cannot believe my age. If you think I look young(er), you should see my mother who has an amazing complexion with surprisingly few(er) wrinkles than most people her age. I must have gotten my good looks/youth from her! ;)

However, this could also be because I am and oftentimes feel young at heart: I have a strong inner child who loves to play and have fun, though you don't always see/get that sense about me due to my usual serious non-fiction posts; however, you will catch a glimpse occasionally through my writings such as this one on (The) Rainbow Connection)...or when I wink, like this: ;) (I love to cyber wink!)

And my dear readers, I am here to inform you that you are only as old as you think. My gift for you today is this, not only this post, but a 'secret' - ;) - people generally live longer if they think/believe they are young! :) Now that doesn't necessarily mean you can/should behave in a reckless manner like an invincible youth! ;) (Ideally, you will live to enjoy and experience as many birthdays as you can as healthily as possible.)

My birthday card from my work colleagues declares: "Birthdays aren't about counting candles, but about counting every happiness in your life." Well, I did that today.

Though the day didn't flow smoothly this morning nor part of this afternoon, I was still able to enjoy it. Firstly, I got my hair cut. Different from my usual bob cut as I wanted a change. Though I know a bob suits me well, whether cut straight at the ends or slanted, shorter in the back and longer in the front, I wanted and thought it was high time for a transformation or in this case, a transformative image. It was time for a change!

After all 'transformation' was the word I chose, rather it chose me as the word to act as a theme and focus for the year. Read more about this here.

Secondly, I spontaneously walked by my favourite restaurant (that is from looking in from the outside) to finally entering it and dining there. I initially asked for my favourite, Earl Grey tea (to make a long story short without all the details), as I just wanted to experience Water St. Cafe on this cobble-stoned street in Gastown: to be able to sit in the corner table with two windows on either side – that spot was taken – to looking outside, to feeling what it felt like to dine in a classy place, etc.

In another spontaneous move, I asked the men "And what about me? It’s my birthday today!" in a teasing tone after the two women on my left thanked the men to my right for their wine; I was flanked in a table between them. Thus, I ended up getting a free glass of the finest smooth red wine – and I rarely drink, yet alone red wine – which I have ever tasted. The server said "velvet" or "velvety" similar to my "smooth" as in "silky smooth.

After the men had left, I lingered awhile after my tea and tiramisu (so I wouldn’t get tipsy on the wine - I had a very light breakfast and no lunch as my day happened to go), savouring this delectable wine."

Tea, tiramisu, and wine: what a combo!

And I discovered later that this particular wine was Amarone, an Italian wine that is "$70 in the liquor store" according to a server: WOW! ;) Definitely worth a taste! ;) And for you wine lovers out there, here is a gift for you. ;) (My apologies for all these winks today, but I just can’t help it, and it’s NOT the wine!)

At Water St. Cafe

And the evening ended with heart-to-heart chats with one of my sisters and later my Mom, the latter in part about my (dead) twin sister and my birth. More about that tomorrow!

I did think originally that I preferred to have a more spontaneous day rather than a planned one, so I would say it ended up pretty good after all, somewhat like an old wine perhaps for a 'senior' albeit a young one like me! ;)

By the way, the title is sung to the tune of the popular Happy Birthday song! ;)

Do you celebrate YOUR day, your day of birth? And if so, how? Do you or does your day express the essence of you?