Smiling on My 25th Birthday

Today I turned a quarter of a century. My dad has been cracking jokes to make me sweat about aging, but don’t worry – I just laugh along. No panicked botox appointments in my immediate future. He turned 50 last August, so he keeps telling me that I’m officially now half his age. He also enjoys, “You’re 1/10 as old as the United States!”

birthday

Here are some highlights:

On Saturday, we went out dancing. Well, we tried. 3 different clubs, downtown DC, 3-day weekend, but no crowd to be found!? So we made our own dance party.
On Sunday, Sara’s family came down from New England to visit with us and we had a wonderful dinner.
Yesterday, Obama acknowledged gay rights and equality in his inauguration speech.
Yesterday was “National Hugging Day” and today is “National answer your cat’s question day” (yes, seriously). If you know me, you’ll realize the appropriateness of both.
Social media has dramatically increased the number of people sending me well wishes for the day. I don’t care if they got reminders online; it’s nice to be thought of!
Despite meeting me only a week ago, my awesome coworkers want to do happy hour.
Tonight my best friend is coming to visit me, along with her husband (also my friend) who is usually MIA for social calls.
Thursday, a friend who couldn’t make it to my Saturday night on the town insists on a small dinner gathering, complete with cake.
Overall, I’m in a great place. I’ve worked hard on self-improvement since last June, especially from November forward. It’s starting to really pay off.