The Cosmopolitan Blog

I just turned 33. And I just had the best birthday week i could have hoped for. See, when you’re 33, birthdays are just another day, I don’t necessarily care that i’m at work that day or that i won’t end up drunk and passed out somewhere by the end of the night. Apparently, in your 30s, you also realize that whether or not you actually get drunk is not the deciding factor on whether you had a nice evening or not.

So this year, i decided to leave it to the Gods. I made no plans, had no expectations, didn’t pre-warm anyone that this day was coming up, and even had a laundry list of errands that i was perfectly willing to run on my birthday weekend. And you know what? When you have no expectations, it’s amazing, because ANYTHING that happens is a bonus. Seriously.

For starters, there’s facebook (hahaha, that’s funny… it’s my birthday post and i’m commenting on how awesome a piece of technology is… *sigh* there really is no hope for geeks like me). Anyway, as one of my friends posted on my wall, “facebook means never missing another birthday”. Because there’s this little thing on the right sidebar that tells you a days in advance when someone’s birthday is. So all these people i connected with wrote on my wall, sent me free gifts, remembered to send me e-greetings, it was all very um… e-fun! Ok, so the number of physical birthday cards (you know, those that you can actually touch and that you receive through your mailbox, you know, the mailbox outside your house, remember that one?) decreases a little, but it’s ok, i’m in my 30s, which means that people of my generation actually still know what they are (phew, there is still hope for the world) and i still got a few.

ok, so my morning (at work, may i remind you) was filled with birthday calls, birthday wall postings and birthday e-cards. I imagined that was going to be the most fun i was gonna get that day, but then, 5 of my colleagues (remember, this is a company where no one does anything for anyone’s birthday apart from sign a card that always ends up on your desk a couple days late anyway) got together to buy me a cake and left it on my desk for me to find when i got back from lunch. So i invited them all to tea and cake in the company kitchen, it was lovely. Meanwhile, all my college friends from Boston called me, one at a time, so we got to catch up on a whole lot of gossip. Of course, by then, i had done NO work whatsoever… ssshhh, don’t tell anyone. So then, 2 other colleagues bought me candy from the local store downstairs, and if that wasn’t enough, the owner gave me a 3rd one free after realizing it was my birthday.

So after i had put on 10lbs in one afternoon, i went home and vegged. It was Thursday, so i knew that nothing would happen until the next evening. The good thing about having family in town is that, if they love you just a little, in theory, they’re gonna do SOMEthing, even tiny. So, i just assumed my sister would get me a cake, invite cousins over and that would be that. But no, somehow, this wasn’t the case. And it was awesome, because i didn’t expect it. She picked a new place, a Brazilian restaurant i will review shortly, planned everything from the guestlist to the transportation to…. yep, coordinating the surprise arrival of my best friend and her hubby, all the way from Ottawa. It was awesome, we were all at the restaurant already when the surprise guests showed up, and i was totally not expecting it. I got some awesome gifts, my uncle was even considerate enough to throw in a couple toys for my cat!

Saturday, i had a potluck brunch with all my girlfriends, where i was showered with even more gifts and cards, and then went out for drinks in the evening with a couple other people. I spend Sunday seeing other friends and spending a leisurely afternoon in the sunny Old Port of Montreal.

So i want to thank everyone who made my birthday so special.

Too often, we assume that because it’s a birthday, or it’s New Years Eve, or it’s Valentine’s Day, then something special HAS to happen. We put so much pressure on ourselves! Instead, relax! Why not just go in with no expectations, seriously, try it, I highly recommend it. Any event then takes on a whole new dimension of awesome!