Hey everyone!

Birthdays. We all celebrate birthdays in one way or another. Whether it be with others or (hopefully not) alone. Birthday wishes, birthday cake, birthday presents. We usually associate birthdays as a happy occasion. Yet, like most things there are two sides to it; we just usually focus more on the good and push away the bad. Birthdays are amazing, yet stressful occasions.

My free birthday drink from Starbucks! I ordered a triple venti 3 pump white mocha 3 pump pumpkin spice soy light whip pumpkin spice latte. Yep, it sure is a mouthful! But I had to take advantage of the free drink, ya know what I mean? (even though I work there and technically get free drinks a lot already, but that's besides the point!)

After watching Lilly Singh's (also known as iisuperwomanii) video on youtube, I realized just how much agree with her. And how much I wanted to speak of this topic. Birthdays can be very stressful because there is so much that goes along with it.

Recently, I celebrated my own birthday. I had fun with my close friends and family. It was nice. But it also made me feel kind of sad. I always start feeling sort of sad and depressed around this time of year. It's also my favorite time of year though, ironically. This is when school starts again, when the weather changes, when the holidays are fast approaching right around the corner. It is a wonderful and beautiful time of year. But because it is also when my birthday falls, it also makes me sad.

Birthdays always make me think about growing older and about the future. It makes me reminisce on the past and fear of the future. Birthdays mean growing older, which reminds me of time passing and of change. get anxiety thinking about how to celebrate my birthday. Who should I celebrate it with? How should I celebrate it? What should we do? What should we eat? It is all such an exhausting idea to me. It makes my blood pressure rise.

Not only that, but also there is the whole thing with birthday gifts. This is the moment of truth; when you find out just whom in your life truly know you. Similar to what Lilly said in her video, there are those friends who would get you gifts that just make you wonder if they even know you at all. They aren't even gifts exactly; they are more like a filler. I really hate when people go last minute gift shopping and get random stuff like that. At the same time, I admit I am guilty of doing that exact thing at times because I can't think of what to get. Don't lie to yourself. I know you guys out there do that as well. We are just hypocrites like that.

Yeah, there is alot that goes on in my mind because of birthdays. I am an irritating ass like that, a huge killjoy. But to be honest, I'm sure there's a part of all of us that feels this way as well, to some extent. Lemme know in the comments below how you feel about birthdays.

With all that said, I did enjoy my birthday this year. Birthdays can be stressful, but they are a load of fun with the right people. I guess it really is more of the buildup leading to the day itself that is the mood killer. I mean, the anticipation can be the fun part, but it can also be the most dreadful time.

For my birthday this year, I got some amazing gifts. I also got the weekend off from work, and my birthday was fun and relaxing. I eat a gluten-free diet, and my parents surprised me by getting some gluten-free treats from a local gluten-free bakery. They were SO good!

The delicious gluten-free treats from the bakery.

Gluten-free desserts

They tasted very good, and looked amazing. I couldn't resist, and had to take many pictures to document the moment. The only gluten-free treats I ever eat are ones I make myself. I am a pretty good baker, if I do say so myself (*pat self on back*), but there are times when you don't feel like going through all that effort.

Pumpkin spice muffin

Gluten-free pecan bar

Flourless hazelnut brownie

I had a lot of good food for my birthday. The pad thai, these gluten-free treats. We also had homemade sushi and went to this restaurant for Korean BBQ. My sister also bought me some Sour Patch Watermelon, which is definitely hands-down the better of the Sour Patch candies. It is my birthday, and hell, it only comes once a year, so I might as well make the most of it, right? It definitely wasn't all in one day; we spread it out over the weekend, so it ended up being more like a birth-weekend celebration.

Birthdays are not all it's cracked up to be. To me, it's all an attempt to uphold what society says is normal. But, despite all that, birthdays can still be fun. I had fun celebrating my birthday this year. I guess, it is all a matter of perspective. Expect a little less and don't let the stress get to you. If you stop trying to make it something that it's not, it usually ends up better than you anticipated.

How do you celebrate your birthday? What do you like/dislike about birthdays? Share your thoughts in the comments below. I am curious to find out what you guys have to say!

Til next time,
~A