I am 37!!
Holy cow. I cannot believe I am so close to 40. (I still can’t believe I’ve made it this long without Botox, what is going on!?)
I have always loved my birthday ever since I was a little kid. My parents did a great job of always making us feel special and enjoying our day (month!)
I remember growing up I’d request my mom’s Stuffed Shells and a homemade German Chocolate Cake. Sometimes we’d go out for Mexican too!
This year we were supposed to go to an outside twinkling lights fancy dinner put on by one of our favorite local restaurants, Good Luck. Unfortunately, as beautiful as a Summer that we have had, it was predicted to rain 7/24, the night of the dinner. We were both really looking forward to it, and hope that we can try it again sometime!
We still kept our sitter and decided to hit up my favorite restaurant, The Revelry. We go there a lot and love the staff, the food and the ambiance is always fun. As soon as they heard we were celebrating my birthday, out came two glasses of complimentary bubbly.
Cheers to that!
We started with the oysters (obvi!) and I went with the burger which did not disappoint! Joe usually get Duck, but there wasn’t one on the summer menu so he enjoyed a pork chop.
We kept laughing and saying, “it better rain if our other dinner got cancelled!” and rain it did. Just drizzle, but still it wouldn’t have been enjoyable to sit in and try to dine on a wine pairing & 6 course meal outside!
We went for a little drive around the lake and honestly listened to this Jim Rohn recording. It’s a 20 minute listen and totally worth every minute!
I kept tearing up thinking how happy we were, how good our business is going and life is just getting better. We reflected on my 36th year and the challenges we faced and how good it felt to be on the other side…
On my actual birthday, my sneaky hubby set up a sitter and sent me to the spa for the day! It was a really relaxing time away to recharge and spend time alone.
He arranged to get out of work early and had fancy dinner plans with my family, but things happened and we ended up heading to Mexican & Margs.
My sister was able to join us still and we made the most of it, because what else can you do when life throws curve balls?
Both kids got a kick out of the Spanish “Happy Birthday” song and the sombrero they brought over.
Not to mention the ice cream that accompanied the song and hat!
I’m not going to lie, I was on quite a “high” and so excited to turn 37. I had this feeling of, “I can do anything and all things, and this will be an amazing year–nothing bad will happen and life is perfect–!”
But reality is, life is never perfect. I will have moments of joy, sheer bliss, and bubbles of perfection, but rolling into my 37th year, literally on the day, we’ve experienced bumps in the road. And while I thought I had my semi-perfectionist ways under control, I’m once again being put in my place, humbled and always continuing my learning and growth.
I have noticed that I have been severely hard on myself lately and I’m working through that; I’m leaning back into some meditations, breathing exercises, yoga practices & listening to my personal mentors, especially Gabby Bernstein. I need to not judge myself for every imperfection, and go back to my ‘word of the year,’–
BE.
I believe that we are taught lessons over and over (and possibly over) again until we learn them. So I will brush myself off, and get back up again. “The enemy attacks those who are next in line for a promotion…”
So for 37, my major goals are to
- live in the present
- forgive (myself & others) quickly
- stop comparing
- be more grateful
- stop complaining
- be happy
- rest, but don’t quit
- work on my writing
- nourish my body with food that is good for me
- sweat daily
- spend quality time with my children
- continue working on myself
- work on our real estate business
- wake up early
- stay connected, calm & centered
- get outside in nature, daily, no matter what!