Johanna's Birthday

 What a wonderful birthday week - thank you to my friends and family and James for making it extra special this year!

Those of you who know me well know that my birthday is a trigger after many years of being made to feel like it was a pain in the ass and inconvenient and thus not receiving gifts, appreciation or special affection on this day. For the past five years, I've realized that if I wanted anything special for my birthday, I'd have to plan it myself - ditto if I wanted any gifts. I'd have to either get them for myself or give the kids money to buy me gifts and tell them what I wanted. LOL. And while this sounds terrible, it wasn't that bad - it made to be really honest with myself about my needs and what I wanted and not feel ashamed to make it happen (an important life lesson). Each year my friends and family were game and I've been having great birthdays.

This year, however, was a total 180 from the past. On my actual birthday, James had a giant bouquet of flowers delivered to work (like a ridiculously large bouquet), and then planned a fancy dinner for us at a Middle Eastern Restaurant on Cap. Hill followed by a comedy show in Belltown. I was a little skeptical about the comedy show until I learned that it was an all-female line up... at that point I could relax and knew I would be able to relate to the stories shared instead of feeling like the punchline of mansplaining or the tired tropes of alpha male jokes. I also learned that I had to let go of the control and be open to someone else planning the night... and once I was able to do that, I had a fantastic time. In addition to last week's dinner with Rachelle and Rebecca , this weekend featured a super rocking 90s-2000s dance party at McMenamins with Jess and Marissa that included a boy-band tribute from "All 4doras," who claimed to be "Bothell's Baddest Boys around". It was ridiculous and so much fun. The finale was a special birthday brunch at Portage Bay Cafe with the kids on Sunday. I feel so loved!