24 on the 13

The lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. I finished the Twilight series. But it came with a cost. Now I am fully used to staying awake until wee hours of the morning. It's been a full week of this including the weekend. Which means, I am accustomed to the cycle. Which means, when I tired to get to sleep as early as midnight last night (yeah I know...early), I had a lot, lot, lot of trouble. Not cool. Twilight will be the death of me.
As I have mentioned before, I was worried about this birthday. This was my first birthday away from family and away from John. The beginning of November hit me like a truck and it was hard getting through those first two weeks with any hint of happiness. I couldn't even really explain why other than loneliness and anger (I've had anger issues lately). Kate Nash and Lily Allen were true to their word and kept me afloat along with lots of prayer and mom-talks. By the time Thursday (the day before my birthday) rolled around, I was feeling brighter. I got my hair dyed, something I've been considering for awhile. I just needed a change and it turned out awesome. I left the salon feeling like a smoldering rockstar minus the crowds and drama (most of the time at least). I like to think I have a slight idea of what it feels like to be a celebrity. Try growing up in a city of several million that have never seen a 4 year old blond Caucasian before and you'll know what I mean.
Thursday night my friend Katie that lived in China with me arrived for her weekend visit. I can't even explain how awesome it was to see her and catch up. Talking to her on the phone is really what got my head in the right place: I WAS excited about my birthday. I really was. And I was excited to see her and reminisce about the good ol' days. We talked on the phone until she pulled into my driveway and then squealed with excitement and stayed up until 4am talking and catching up. It had been 5 years since we saw each other last. The next day was my birthday. Friday the 13th. We slept in and stayed in our pajamas until around 3 in the afternoon. We got to talk to John and I opened my gift from him (that I already peeked at...tsk tsk). He got me a pearl necklace and a silver bracelet from Greece when they stopped there on their way to Iraq. He had kept it a secret and it was burning a hole in his pocket. He couldn't wait anymore and so he decided my birthday would be the perfect occasion. I'm still beside myself with how wonderful this man is and how well he gets me.
We got ready mid-afternoon and I realized to my horror that my clocks were off (I had lost power and thought I had set them back to the right time but they were off by about 10 minutes) and we were already late for my OWN birthday party. We rushed over (after finishing getting dolled up of course) and started painting pottery at The Accidental Artist. I made a trivet out of a sort of cheese/bread board thing made out of ceramic. It didn't turn out exactly as I was imagining but I still dig it. We ended up changing our reservation at the restaurant because we were running late (guilty, I know). We finally finished up and headed over to The Chelsea. My favorite place ever. Fab food. I've never been disappointed there.
An unexpected birthday surprise waited until the end of the meal to reveal itself. We were all contemplating getting the bill when our waitress appeared and said 'I understand there's a birthday tonight?' I smile and nodded and said it was me. She replied 'Well I have a complimentary cheesecake and glass of wine for you from Gretchen!' I froze. What? Gretchen? But she's in Washington! I ended up having the waitress repeat herself because I thought I had heard wrong. But sure enough. Gretchen had gotten me a slice of cheesecake and a glass of wine for my birthday! Then the waitress informed Monique that she also got a glass of wine (since she was in on the scheming) as a thank-you. As small as a gesture, it seriously made my entire day and weekend. I was stuffed to the brim but I forced myself to enjoy the cake and wine and let the rest of the table try it. Thank you again, Jee Vee! You are seriously one of the sweetest most caring people I know. Your texts and kindness made this birthday very memorable.
After dinner, Katie and I had been talking about going to a bar to sing karaoke (we were the only people 1. up to it and 2. not pregnant...and 3. not a pregnant vampire...Thankfully). We originally planned to all go to a movie but since painting went late and as a result dinner went late, all the latest movies had already started. We sat in my wee little car and thought aloud and I suddenly realized...you know what, self? I really don't feel like getting drunk and smelling like smoke tonight. I just want to go home. Maybe it was just the "24" coming out in me ALREADY...but it just was not what I wanted to do. I checked and double-checked with Katie to make sure she was cool with it. So we headed home and decided we would make our OWN karaoke party. At my computer. Yes. Nerds. The best kind ever. The rest of the night I'm sure I made a few enemies among my neighbors (sorry guys). Unless my walls are even better insulated than I thought. We stayed up until at least 2am singing our little hearts out and recording several "performances." No I won't share. I haven't laughed this much in quite awhile, I must say. Most of what we did was duets and I forgot how much I enjoyed singing with Katie. Our voices really blend.
And despite being Friday the 13th, NOTHING bad happened. It was an awesome day.
The next day felt like Sunday. But thankfully it was only Saturday. Still a whole day to hangout and be silly. We had planned to get tattoos on my birthday but due to staying in PJ's all day and sleeping in, it just didn't happen. So Saturday it was doomed/destined to happen. We headed to Greenville early afternoon and after being turned away from the first tattoo place, we made an appointment and found an Indian place a few doors down. Unfortunately it was closed. But fortunately it was opening in like...half an hour. So we spent half an hour playing Tetris and Bejeweled in my car and then dashed to the door as soon as 5pm hit. Still locked. Finally after a few minutes they let us in (rolling their eyes) and we feasted upon Chicken Tikki Masala and Naan and wonderfulness. After that we headed to the tattoo place and chilled until it was time. Katie's tattoo took about 5 minutes. It was crazy how fast he was. Then it was my turn with the other artist and mine took a bit longer since it was larger and a little more detailed in the font style. Both turned out awesome. I'm stoked.So result? I had a great birthday. Definitely different than what I expected. But great nonetheless. One of the biggest gifts was being able to talk to John on my birthday. I honestly was not sure if that would work out. But it did thankfully. And the love I got on facebook and in emails was overwhelming. Monday morning, my manager Jenn IM'ed me that there was a last minute conference call I needed to be on and to please call in. I did and as soon as I said hello, I was graced with the voices of all my coworkers in the office singing me happy birthday. *Tear!* I heart you guys. I guess 24 isn't all that bad.