29 is oh so fine…..

Birthdays are mega important to me.  We must celebrate those we love.  I firmly believe in loving with all I have, and letting people love me back.  Show each other off!  Celebrate your friends!  (It’s really nice when the person being celebrated is me!)

*kevin's rose/cake contribution

My birthday began a few weeks back, with a quick trip to Traverse City, the wonderful snow covered land where I spent the last two years of my life.  My friends there are truly magic.  Katy and I decided we wanted a shared bash, themed RoseCake (our two nicknames), full of booze, food, and good friends.  Intimacy was extremely important.  Keep ‘em close, keep ‘em good.  Rose and her love just moved in to a great little place, perfect for tacos and the limbo.  The night included several piles of giggling woman on the

*limbo champs

floor, laughing too hard to stand.  Dream.

The next day was Sparkling Sunday, a tradition in the Isruhl home.  Katy, Shadow and I trekked three miles through the snow, which was sometimes up to our thighs, sharing secrets only capable of being shared in the woods.  Kevin and Hannah’s home is one of the safest places to be.

*sparkling sunday spread

The door opens, and we are greeted with homemade Mexican hot cocoa and fresh popped corn.  Dinner is slow-cooked beans and roots.  We taste three sparkling wines, and in the end, Kevin’s is the best, and we aren’t just saying that.  Deep, personal, kind conversation filled the room, along with dogs and Arcade Fire.  It was all my favorite memories of the last two years distilled into 36 hours.

On my way out of town, I stopped to see Ivy and baby Wren!  They were the only thing missing from the previous days.  The last time I saw Wren he was six DAYS old.  He’s only four months now, but what a difference that makes!  Crawling all over the place, laughing and oh so happy.  Just thinking about Ivy makes my heart fill with such joy.  I am truly lucky to have the friends I do, and I don’t ever forget it.  I can’t even think about her wedding this summer, for fear the anticipation will kill me.

My next trip was to Chicago, a quick one right before the actual day.  My bestie Nick lives there, and it just so happens my good friend Willy was playing some music in Chi my birthday weekend.

*The Great Blizzard aftermath

The Great Blizzard of ’11 happened the day before my scheduled departure, and thankfully didn’t cause any hiccups in my fun.  We saw “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” at the Steppenwolf Theatre (Nick’s place of work) the night I got in.  There are no words for how amazing this production was.  It restored my faith in American theatre and all that shit.  But, like, for real.  Friday was William Tyler/Yo La Tengo at the Metro.  Willy’s music is so beautiful, watching him was a real treat.  Yo La…..they’re so weird and amazing.  For their first set, they read an entire episode of Seinfeld.  The whole thing.  On stage.  No musical instruments were touched until the second set.  By that point, the bourbon had gotten the better of me.  The night ended less than gracefully, but I still had one hell of a good time.  Nick’s love for me is so deep, I feel happy whenever he is around.  Saturday included brunch at Svea, a great neighborhood Swedish joint, with an Annemarie thrown in for comedic relief.  Jane came over to Nick’s place, which was a real treat.  I am so lucky to have her in my life in an active way again.  Jane was the first person in my life who told me I was worth it.  She was my first real friend, and without her, none of the relationships I have now would be possible.  I’m so glad I was able to tell her this a while back, and even more glad we can be together 15 years later and it is exactly the same.

 

*Picture of a picture of me

Saturday night, my dear love picked me up from the train station in Ann Arbor.  He’d driven from Ohio for my birthday, and we both felt very grown up about the whole thing.  Securing cheap wine and a less cheap hotel room, we settled in for a deep winter’s night.  The actual day of my birth began with me giving him a tour of Pinckney, where I grew up.  Our walk down my memory lane filled him with palpable joy.  We walked out on lakes Strawberry and Cordley, his first and second times on frozen water.

*Strawberry Lake Bix/Pats

I was able to show him the places where so much of my life happened.  It was awesome.  Truly.

“Dinner” was at Pizzeria Biga, in Southfield.  All Southeast Michigan members of my family were present, and it was so much fun!  We were nearly the only people there, we shared plates of delicious food, ate amazing pizza.  Everyone was upbeat and laughing, and I felt so full of love.  Jojo made angel food cupcakes with lemon glaze, and they were perfect.  Mini Eddie led the singing, and blew out most of my candles for me.  My heart nearly exploded.

 

*Jojo Cupcakes

The night ended at home, Bixby and Mini making music together like they’d been doing it forever.

I hope everyone gets to experience love the way I do.  My birthday lasted nearly three weeks, and I am not ashamed of this.  I embrace it!  It was wonderful, and never ever felt gratuitous.

*Home Alone Double

Please, everyone, love yourselves.  Love your friends.  Love.