How to Have a Great Birthday

Birthdays have always been my absolute favorite! Not only do you get gifts (love that), but I seriously loveeeeee hanging out with my family and friends (prolly my fav part). Sometimes birthdays do kinda suck though. It's easy to get your hopes up about the day and then have those hopes crushed by how normal it is hahahah. On the other hand, I feel like people have super eventful days, but not in a positive way. I've cried on soooooo many birthdays because I expect everything to be perfect. It usually ends up being really fun either way, but putting that much pressure on one day just isn't reasonable.

Last year my birthday was uneventful. I'm obviously so so so thankful for all that people did for me, but I didn't make any big plans for it and it seemed like any old day. I honestly can't even remember what I did on that day. I think I did this purposely so I wouldn't have high expectations and end up being disappointed (like mentioned above). But, I don't think this is the way to go either. This year, I've decided to take a different approach. I'm going to be way more intentional this year, but I'm not going to convince myself that everything will be perfect.

Sooooo I've been thinking of some little ideas that I'll share with y'all and maybe you can use them on your birthday!

My birthday was on a Monday this year, so I wasn’t able to do much on the actual day. On Saturday I went out to eat with my family at one of my FAV Italian restaurants. Then, on Sunday morning family surprised me with a little birthday breakfast ( probably because I told them they better wow me hahahahaha).

Another way I celebrated is by taking advantage of all of the birthday offers available. I looked up several lists of birthday freebies and I found so many great ones! As a little fun thing I can do by myself, I went to each one of the places that offer freebies to get one. My favorite retail stores to get birthday freebies are sephora, ulta, and kendra scott. Sephora and Ulta give out mini makeup items, and Kendra Scott gives you 50% off during your birthday month! On my actual birthday I had class, so I did my normal Monday schedule and then went out on the town to get the freebies. I planned on doing this probably a week before my actual birthday and I wasn’t able to get some of the birthday offers because I made my account too late, but I did get free makeup from Ulta and Sephora and free food from Krispy Kreme, Auntie Anne’s, Great American Cookie, and Panera. It was amazing and I ate so many sweets.

I know when I was a kid I LOVED birthday parties. I would plan them months in advance and obsess over every last detail. I've had a birthday party each year of my life except last year; this year I'm bringing back the tradition. I decided to have a birthday sleepover just like in the 5th grade hahaha. I even went and bought these cute little unicorn invitations to give to my friends. Since my mom isn't going to plan me a birthday party anymore (how rude), I've decided to take it upon myself. If you don't like a lot of commotion about your birthday, this may not be for you. But personally, I love celebrating my birthday and I want to do it with my friends, some food, and some fun times.

We had cake, pizza, chips, and a fruit tray as the grand feast. I'm totally extra so I went and bought little decorations and put them up in the kitchen hahah. I went to the dollar tree for the decorations and I got the pizza with my leftover flex points (go cards), so overall I didn't spend very much on the party. Some of my bestie girls came over and we took pics (for way too long LOL), played card games, and had a good ole hangout time. It was really fun and I got to eat good food, so I'd say is was a successful party.

On your birthday or any regular day, the most important thing to remember is that you can't control everything, but you can control your attitude. Almost all situations can be good if you have a positive attitude and it can make a huge impact..

Also, thanks a million to everyone who made turning 20 amazing for me!!! Now only 10 years till I'm 30 *cries*

Thanks for reading!

-CDH