Golden Birthday Extravaganza

I am twenty-three years old.  I know, I know; 23 is not that old.  It's just strange to think about having been alive for 23 years.  I can literally remember things from when I was still in single digits as if they were last month.  Alas, I think I have officially crossed over into adulthood.  Groooooossss.  Can we at least call it "young" adulthood?  Because I certainly do not feel like I am an adult.  Ask my friends, I'm fighting the whole growing-up thing like the Bubonic plague.  Becoming an adult just seems terrifyingly overwhelming; too many responsibilities and not enough fun.  I prefer to think of myself as a "big kid."  Again, ask my friends, that label fits me much better.

My birthday weekend was quite swell!  Friday night I had a delicious Thai dinner at Basil with two of my friends... Let's call them LuAnimal and P3 for now ;)  I had the pad thai, which is amazing! Then we of course had to get dessert, so we went to Kaminsky's, where I indulged in a spectacular chocolate-chip cookie sundae.  Once finished, we rolled ourselves back to the car and went to see Friends with Benefits!  It was a pretty typical romantic comedy, but those are my favorite so I was very pleased!  There were a lot of really funny scenes and hilarious pop-culture references.  I think Mila Kunis is one of the coolest chicks out there, and Justin Timberlake still has me hooked from his NSYNC days.  My favorite quote might be from the beginning when Emma Stone's character tells JT, "It's not you, it's me. I just don't like you anymore." Love it.  After the movie we went over to P3's apartment to hang until the clock struck 12am, at which time we had an impromptu dance party to celebrate the official beginning of my birthday. And yes, we danced to 50 Cent's "In Da Club" because we wanted to party like it was my birthday.

Saturday morning I got up and went downtown with my mom to try to catch a flash mob.  Unfortunately, it was a no show :(  Sad.  Next, we went to the Farmer's Market to check out the local goodies. The food looked really tasty and there were a lot of really talented artists with jewelry, photography and lots more.  I could have easily spent a lot of money!  We then walked down to Urban Outfitters to look around for a bit.  Our last errand was to go to a few furniture stores in Mt. Pleasant.  I need to find bedroom furniture, because I'm moving in a couple weeks, but everything I like is too expensive.  Shocker.  After a lovely nap (maybe I am getting old...) I went to dinner with my parents and brothers at Red's on Shem Creek.  (My sister was in Miami to see the Britney Spears concert. Yeah, would've been nice of her to take me for my birthday, huh?)  I had a yummy crab cake sandwich and key lime pie. The plan for after dinner was to meet P3 and LuAnimal and go out downtown, but when I got to P3's place, they were more in the mood for movies and hanging out.  So we had a little champagne (I had like 4 sips... I'm a terrible drinker), opened presents and watched Just Go With It.  I started falling asleep during our second movie (How to Train Your Dragon, which I'll have to rewatch), so I finally went home around 3am.

Sunday was fabulous, as well!  My BFF (we'll call her, "C-Love") came into town and we headed out with P3 and LuAnimal for a day of kayaking.  I have my own kayak (last year's birthday present), but my friends don't so we had to go somewhere they could get rentals.  We wanted to try a new place on Wadmalaw, but nobody seemed to be working there and it was a bit sketchy.  So we drove out to John's Island, but those places either needed reservations or only did tours.  We finally made our way to Folly Beach, where there are a few places that do walk-up rentals.  We stopped for lunch at The Drop In Deli, and then four hours after leaving home we were finally on the water!  Because it just wouldn't be any fun without some ridiculousness (and taking 4 hours to get started just wasn't enough), I'll share a few funnies from our paddling session.  First, I discovered that my paddle was broken.  It's in two pieces for storage, but the button that secures the pieces together has gone missing.  Luckily I was able to use an extra paddle from the rental place.  So we're paddling and paddling, having a blast, when we eventually pull up to some pluff mud.  Being the big kid that I am, I decided I needed some war paint.  Cut to 15 minutes later, when we are all covered in mud.  I jumped in the water to clean off my body art and then spent about 5 or 10 minutes trying to get back on my kayak, all the while entertaining my friends with my lack of grace.  The best part might have been seeing a family of dolphins on our way back to the put-in.  There were even a few babies!  We had another delicious meal at Athen's (we obviously don't miss any meals) and then went to P3's to watch I Love You, Man.  Again, I fell asleep during the movie and had to drag myself home around 3am.

Clearly, I had a spectacular birthday weekend!  And I got some really great gifts, too: a new bicycle and cute peace sign Tervis cup from my parents; some really cool disco-ball rhinestone-y stud earrings from my brother; a super cute peacock mug, Piggly Wiggly shirt, iTunes gift card and Target gift card from P3; some sexy sweatbands and a private lesson with a tennis pro from LuAnimal; and C-Love got me a bathtub book tray, earrings, a gift card to Bed, Bath and Beyond, M&M's and a book I can't wait to start called, Man Down: Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt That Women Are Better Cops, Drivers, Gamblers, Spies, World Leaders, Beer Tasters, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About Everything Else by Dan Abrams.

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday wonderful!  I am so excited about my golden year!!

A few photos from the weekend...

Here are some of my lovely gifts :)

Finally kayaking!

C-Love's war paint

LuAnimal and P3

My pluff mud body scrub

Keep Calm and Carry On!

Katie Mc