Birthday in the Burbs

I'm a big holiday person. I love any reason to celebrate with good food and drinks, to dress up and decorate and I consider myself an excellent gift giver. So I'm naturally also a big birthday person. But I've noticed as I've gotten older how much we as a society shame women when it comes to their birthdays.

First, we tend to hype up "the big 3-0" in a woman's life negatively. We make it seem like life is ending at 30 and the remaining 40+ years of your life don't matter. Women don't get older and wiser like men; we get older and less desirable. And for that reason, as you age, celebrating your birthday becomes a faux pas. Anything that draws attention to the fact that you got older is inappropriate or childish "for a woman your age".

But I believe birthdays are a day you should feel special and celebrate, regardless of how old you are turning. In fact, I kind of feel like the older you get, all the more reason to celebrate! Getting to grow old is a blessing not everyone gets. So even though I was turning a shameful 31 years old, we still loudly and proudly celebrated.

Birthdays during a pandemic can obviously be challenging, and especially since I'm currently living in my parents basement in the middle of the burbs during a kitchen renovation - LOL. I'm extremely lucky to have a creative partner who enjoys the silliness just as much as I do. In fact, he came up with the very silly and ridiculous theme of not remembering what order the numbers went in: was I turning 13 or 31? So, on brand, I started my morning with birthday hat and crown smashing up a Harry Potter pinata filled with candy, lottery tickets and little nips of booze plus some bath bombs and chapsticks. He had decorated our bedroom and living area with teenage girl party decorations and he created a selfie station in the bathroom! 13 or 31? You tell me.

We spent the day outside hiking in a local state park.

Seriously, check out that view. It was gorgeous and we only saw a few people around the trail. It was wonderful.

But that wasn't the only view - obviously with a kitchen renovation, we've been doing mostly microwave dinners on TV stands but we wanted to be a little more celebratory than that. We found Stella New Hope on Trip Advisor as a restaurant with a heated outdoor dining area so we could feel safe dining out. This was the table they gave us.

I couldn't believe the view. We dined around 5pm and got to watch the sun set over the river. They had heat lamps in addition to an outdoor fireplace. It was warm, cozy and gorgeous. Not to mention the FOOD, y'all. Ho-ly CRAP. We had the plates cleared in record-breaking time.

We toasted the evening with a sparkling rose (my love of pink knows no bounds) and they brought out a free little ice cream treat with a candle at the end.

And we finished the evening at home with presents and an ice cream cake - because what other way would you end a 13th birthday party then a double serving of ice cream?

If y'all are in the Greater Philadelphia area, I cannot recommend Stella New Hope enough. The view, the ambiance, the safety, the staff, the food - it was all top notch. It almost made me want to live in the burbs. ;)

And women, if you want to celebrate yourself on your birthday - DO IT. Forget what other people may say. It is YOUR day and you deserve to feel your happiest on your birthday. <3