21... With Some Experience....

Yesterday was my birthday! A real lady never reveals her age, so I will say that I am 21... with some experience!

I was at home, having been booked off from work with a mild upper respiratory tract infection. I spent all of Tuesday sleeping, and then decided that on Wednesday, being my birthday, I would actually get up out of bed. My phone had starting beeping with Facebook notifications some time during the night and I eventually gave up on sleep at around 8am. I received so many birthday wishes from friends and family all over the world!

My dad came back to the house on the way to a meeting and that's when he and my mom gave me their gift. A lovely knitted cardigan and a gift voucher from Woolies... My favourite place to shop!!!

My dad left the car at home when he went off to the meeting so I went off to Centurion to renew my driver's license. I was in and out of there in less than 2 hours! It may not be the nicest thing to do on one's birthday, or the nicest place to go on one's birthday, but I at least I can say that I accomplished something.... I am finally driving legally again!!

I had booked a table at my favourite Greek restaurant, Mythos, in Brooklyn Design Square. I had invited my bestest Dee to come along (with her babydaddy, obviously) but they couldn't make it. So it was me and my family. I saw my sister for the first time that day, and she showered me with lots of little presents! She got me two DVD's.... The Notebook and Edward Scissorhands. She also got me a cute bookmark and Chocomania lip butter from The Body Shop. Yummy!!!

We had arrived in Brooklyn a little early because the Exclusive Books sale started that same day and my mom wanted to have a look. And so I ended up buying myself some books, including a book on Frida Kahlo, Ozzy Osbourne's autobiography, a novel based on the life of Catherine de Medici, Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories and a little book on writing tips. Kind of my birthday present to myself. And then we noticed that Woolies had some sales going on, so I got myself two sweaters from there, a red one and an orange one. More birthday presents to myself!

Dinner was really good. We ordered two meze platters, one with meat and one vegetarian. They were delicious! Because of the anti-biotics I was on, I couldn't really have a cocktail, so I only had one glass of wine. I kept trying to make it last longer by adding more ice! And it made me very, very tipsy! By the time I got home, I was exhausted and I just fell into bed!

This morning was a struggle, as usualy, to get out of bed. And even though I was feeling somewhat better yesterday, I am back to feeling like I was on the wrong end of a fist fight while asleep last night. My brain is barely functioning... So much so that I forget that my nose is blocked and end up almost passing out when trying to inhale through my nose! Yes, it's that bad!

To wrap up, I want to thank everyone that played a part in my birthday yesterday. From my amazing family, to me dear, dear friends, both near and far, to the little old Chinese man who took such stunning ID photos of me, to the friendly old man looking after cars and the guy taking fingerprints at the Centurion testing centre, to the friendly cashier at the KFC drive-through window and the excellent waiter at Mythos. Everyone that I came into contact with yesterday helped to make my day perfect. I think that for the first time in my life, I experienced a true birthday, one of those days where everything just goes right.

I think back to last year and I can see such an overwhelming difference in my life. A year ago, on my birthday, I was so scared, so uncertain and very, very sad. I had dinner at a fancy restaurant with the ex (a few days before he became my ex) and we barely spoke. I hated every second of it. I didn't want yesterday to end.... It really was the perfect day. And it's only just hit me now.... As I've typed this, I realised that I am happy. I really am. And it's wonderful!

And now, let's do the Happy Dance!!