Happy Friday y’all! I’m so glad the weekend is here. The other day I shared my March 2019 Favorites. One of the highlights of every March is that it’s my birthday month! So I thought I needed to do a separate posts sharing some of the things I did to celebrate my birthday throughout the month. To be completely honest, I have mixed feelings around my birthday every year. On one hand, I enjoy the outpouring of sweet messages and well-wishes from friends & family, freebies and discounts from some of my favorite places, and an excuse to get together with friends and eat cake. However, on the other hand I struggle with growing another year older, and still wrestling with certain unfulfilled dreams. Even though I did struggle with the reality that I’m not where I thought I would be at this point in my life, I’m thankful that I can rest in God’s sovereignty. He knows the desires of my heart, and His plan and timing is PERFECT. Okay, now that I got that out of the way, here’s some of the different ways I celebrated my birthday!
Free Starbucks
Do I really need to say anything else? I look forward to free Starbs on my birthday every year. I started the day with a free venti nonfat latte, which is my drink of choice if it’s not pumpkin spice or gingerbread latte season.
Discount Kendra Scott
One of the best parts of my birthday month is getting to pick out one piece of jewelry at Kendra Scott for 50% off! Although Kendra Scott has great sales throughout the year, none are quite as good as the birthday discount. This is actually a genius marketing strategy to get you hooked, which is what happened to me last year! My trip to Kendra Scott to pick up my birthday piece was actually a couple weeks prior to my birthday, but of course I still consider it part of the celebration. To see what I got, check out this post.
Midnight Mickey Bar
I was still up at midnight on my birthday, and really needed a snack/hadn’t had dessert yet. What better way to get the party started than with a Mickey Bar (originally introduced in my February 2019 Favorites post.) I’m so thankful Disney is putting the Mickey Mouse ice cream bars in stores to celebrate Mickey’s 90th birthday. This way, I can enjoy one on my birthday even if I’m not at Disney World that day! Of course I was extra and wore my rose gold Minnie ears (details on where you can buy them in this post).
Cake & Ice Cream with Friends
My bestie wanted to plan a get-together with friends for my birthday. I decided the best way to celebrate and make sure I didn’t miss any March Madness games was to have a low-key get-together at my apartment. I invited a handful of my local friends I know through various church groups and activities over the past five years in Raleigh/Durham, as well as one of my best friends from childhood who lives nearby. We ate cake and ice cream and watched basketball. It was a very chill and special gathering. I absolutely love bakery sheet cake from Harris Teeter. My bestie surprised me my getting them to put this picture of me with UNC’s mascots, Rameses and Rameses Jr, on it.
Cupcakes at Bible Study Fellowship (BSF)
If you’ve been following my blog or Instagram for a bit, then you know my Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) group has been a HUGE blessing to me over the past seven months. It’s hard to believe just a short while ago I barely knew these girls. Thanks to our Tuesday nights together, they quickly became dear friends. One of my good friends in BSF has a birthday just two days before mine. So the next week, we had cupcakes after BSF for a little dual birthday celebration.
More Restaurant Freebies
A few more restaurants (including a couple of my faves) have awesome birthday freebies you get for downloading their app and/or being part of their rewards program. I enjoyed soaking these up the week of my birthday too!
Chick-fil-a Birthday Cookie
If you have the Chick-fil-a One App, they will give you a reward for a free chocolate chunk cookie, which is good for a week or so following your birthday.
Moe’s Birthday Burrito
I absolutely love Moe’s and think it’s far superior to Chipotle. Moe’s gives you a free burrito for your birthday if you have their app, and it’s good for one week following your birthday. It comes with their delicious chips and salsa too, and I like that I can make multiple meals out of it.
Panera Birthday Pastry
I also cashed it my reward for a free birthday pastry from Panera, since I’m part of their rewards program too. I went for their coffee cake!
Sometimes it’s just the little things in life that bring you joy, like random freebies around your birthday.
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I hope you enjoyed my 2019 Birthday Celebration Recap. As always, thanks for reading. I will also do something in the next couple weeks to have a belated celebration with my family, which will probably include my dad’s grilled pizza and more cake! Thanks again to everyone who helped make my birthday special!
And if you find yourself experiencing bittersweet emotions around your birthday because you’re at a different place in life than you thought you would be, take comfort in this quote by John Piper:
“Occasionally, weep deeply over the life you hoped would be. Grieve the losses. Then wash your face. Trust God. And embrace the life you have.”
What are some of your favorite traditions to celebrate your birthday?
-xoxo Liz
