Birthday Week, Birthday Week!!

I love birthdays. I have never understood people who want to pretend their birthday isn't happening. No matter how old you are, I think your birthday is worth celebrating. You made it another year, you're more than likely another 365 days smarter, better looking, and more awesome, so what's not to celebrate?! I have always loved birthdays, whether they be mine, a family member's, or a friend's. I just love them. I like to get presents, I love to give presents, and I enjoy the whole concept of celebrating another year of life with the people who like you the best.

Earlier this year, Rachel and I developed what we like to call Birthday Week. Basically what it means is, your day is just not enough time to celebrate you and your awesomeness. We think you need a week. The entire week leading up to your big day should be all about you and celebrating your life - because we're all just SO happy you were born! We even made up a chant. And a dance. We danced the birthday week dance in the parking lot at the airport (yes, really), and at several stores and restaurants, and we taught it to other people. This birthday week thing is for real.

I had my first birthday week this summer, with my friends joining me in Las Vegas for 4 days of fun, after I spent 3 days in Arizona, basking in sunshine and cocktails. It was amazing. Celebrating your own week? Yes please! Rachel and I spread the birthday week chant and dance all weekend; we taught it to the other girls, we did it in the pool, and it was witnessed in more than one casino.

Today is my friend Jeremy's birthday, and I got to experience giving someone else a birthday week when they least expected it. Day one of birthday week, before he even knew what birthday week was, Jeremy came home from work to a half rack on his front porch. Who wouldn't love that, I tell ya?! You people who don't love your birthday just have never had anyone celebrate you the right way.

Birthday week doesn't have to be expensive, like a trip to Vegas...I did Jeremy's birthday week for about 50 bucks, and he got a present every day. I didn't go to the store and think oh hey, today I'll buy a jersey, tomorrow I'll buy a hoodie...uh, no. I did like $5 a day items that were still really fun. Half the fun of getting a gift every day is not knowing when its coming or where it'll be. Some days I left it on the porch during a work shift, other days I came over to hang out and arrived with gift in tow. Birthday week doesn't have to be a big, money-sucking event; the point is to make sure someone knows you've spent 7 days thinking about them and their birthday, and how happy you are that they are on the world to be celebrated.

Anyways, so last night was the conclusion of birthday week for Jeremy, and before I would give him the last of his gift-a-day bags, I made him do the birthday week dance...after drinking a bottle of wine. This made birthday week a hit for me as well, because seriously who doesn't want to see your guy friends do a ridiculous dance in the living room for presents? We were sitting on the couch, talking about his general birthday awesomeness, and he said, I think I'm gonna pay it forward...birthday week is pretty cool.

And that, my dear friends, is how birthday week will become tradition.