Champagne Birthday

Welp, today’s the day. I’ve officially hopped right over the fence and into my late twenties; hellooooo, twenty-eight. The fact that it’s my champagne birthday takes the edge off a little. and so does the champagne that I’ll be enjoying later!

I actually didn’t hear the term ‘champagne birthday’ until I was twenty-two or so — which makes sense, if you think about it. Turning twelve on the twelfth wouldn’t really warrant a champagne-filled celebration, now would it? The lucky few are those people whose birthdays fall near the end of the month – like me!

Birthdays are a funny thing. Everyone approaches them differently, accepts them as best they can, and celebrates in their own way – but no matter what, all birthdays have a common thread: the realization that life ain’t stopping for anyone. We’re all getting older, every minute of every day. All that matters is how you approach it and what you choose to take away.

I usually find that birthdays are the perfect time to step back and reflect upon the past year of your life: have you enjoyed yourself? Have you grown? Have you lived up to your own expectations? Upon my own reflection, I realized that I haven’t been doing a very good job of living. You know – really, truly enjoying life for everything it’s worth; appreciating all the wonderful people I have around me; learning from my mistakes and growing in the process. Lately, more often than not I’ve just been… existing. Rushing through my days and weeks, going through the motions, not really thinking critically about my actions (and any unintended consequences). And I think it’s time to take charge and reevaluate. I’m twenty-eight, for crying out loud. It’s about time that I get my act together; don’t you think? After all, we only have so much time to live — you have to make every second count.

My champagne birthday should be filled with friends, family, good food & drink and – of course – plenty of champagne. I’m sure there will be time for all of that later, but for now my family and I are taking time to celebrate someone else: my cousin, Anthony. We’re celebrating his life – a life that was ended far too early. After a brief and sudden illness, he passed away last weekend, leaving us all in a state of sadness and shock. It’s an unfortunate reminder that life is altogether too short and, at times, completely out of our control. As incredibly cliché as this may be, it truly helps to remember the great times we had with Anthony, to picture the smile he was always wearing, and to find comfort in the company of family.

We love & miss you so much, Anthony.

I know, I know – birthdays are supposed to be happy occasions! We’ll get there, I promise. I apologize for my somber tone today, but — I’m sure you understand why.

That being said, I probably won’t have time to enjoy birthday cake until later this weekend [or even next]. So we alllll know that I’m going to spend the next however-many-days on pinterest, desperately trying to find the “perfect cake” to bake. In real life though, it’s my birthday; can’t I just make them all? I WANT THEM ALL.

I promise, I’ve [sort of] narrowed it down. Here’s a few that are on my list… help me choose?

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I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: funfetti must be present at every celebration, especially birthdays.

This is like a ‘choose-the-ending’ Goosebumps book – except instead of your options being ‘scary ending’ or ‘scarier ending’, the choice then becomes: how many layers of chocolate chip cookies + frosting do you want for your giant layered cookie cake? (okay, so analogies were never my thing; another twenty-eight years isn’t going to change that)

S’mores + brownie + pie? Sally, you are a GENIUS.

This is very Thanksgiving of me, but I can’t say no to a pecan pie – especially when it’s trashed up with booze.

I’m not even a fan of chocolate cake, but this chocolate mocha cake looks heavenly.

And another exception to my “no chocolate cake” rule? When dark chocolate & Guinness are involved.

Baklava, in cake form?! Pure brilliance, I tell you.

One word: sprinkles.

And hands down, without question, my favorite birthday dessert is… drumroll please (ahem, Peter)… cookie cake! I blame my sister, who introduced it to me at an early age – it’s been a downward spiral ever since. and this homemade version looks…. wow. Ladies and gents, we might have a birthday winner.

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Enjoy some cake today, friends – and even a little champagne! Start celebrating life – and never, ever stop.