my birthday was earlier this week and i was on the road teaching. i was staying in a little mountain town by myself. the day started off a bit sad, with mediocre pancakes at a highway diner (and not a highway diner that in any way begs for its photograph to be taken). with some encouragement from instagram and facebook friends, i made a conscious effort to improve the day. and it worked.
here is what happened:
- i discovered that the person i was working with that day (which is totally a random assignment) had their birthday the exact same day.
- i played sirius xm 1st wave all day long and it was like hearing the soundtrack to my life. i was lost in remembering beautiful moments and people who helped make me who i am.
- also, i still know all the words to all the songs! and i sang loudly and badly because i was in the car by myself. i'm pretty proud of this.
- a strawberry birthday cupcake with a candle to blow out after my wish.
- a little bag of confetti at the bottom of my purse (inspired by hulaseventy). it was thrown.
- i left hotel housekeeping a big tip because i got a bit carried away with the confetti enthusiasm. it was everywhere. i know it must have sucked to have to vacuum it up, but i also hope it made her smile momentarily.
- a girl on the street told me i looked like carrie brownstein on portlandia. thank you very much.
- i went for a walk in the tiny downtown beautifully lit up for christmas. i stumbled across the greatest little dress shop with colorful stars that hung from the ceiling and the best music playing.
- while in the shop i was quietly singing along to the smiths when a total stranger began singing too. we both looked at each other and smiled and continued to sing the rest of the song together. it was awesome.
- i got an early gift from mr. parks and they are the best birthday gift ever: vintage floral dr. martens. it's good to be known.
