Birthday Resolutions: Act Like You Care

Celebrate with vodka (or your drink of choice)! photo from Flickr

One week from today I celebrate my birthday! You can send all gifts to...just kidding, but cheers to all the fellow Virgos out there! 

For a few years now, I've planned birthday resolutions to kick my "new year" off right. Similar to the popular New Year's resolutions or vision boards, the birthday resolutions are meant to create a change that will last longer than your temporary gym membership. 

What's the point of birthday resolutions, you ask? If you're anything like me, you get stuck in ruts. You have lofty ideas of the kind of life you would like to live and the types of things you would like to do and then you wake up and a year has gone by, two years, a decade, you get the picture. 

When Sally laments about turning 40, I am of the same age to feel the same way. (Go to 1:49 of the clip to hear her exasperation)




Honestly though, I am not that worried about getting older. That "oh shit" feeling has yet to hit me and hopefully it never will. I actively pursue ways to lead the kind of life I want. I don't just say, "Welp, too old to do that. Oh, well." 

Birthday resolutions give you a chance to make changes, big or small, that will bring your more adventure, and ultimately, happiness and sense of accomplishment to your life.

It's not something to set you up for failure, but rather to keep you on track for future goals, so that you don't let them slip away. 

I haven't created my full list, but I know this year I will attempt to once more to finish a novel (or at least a collection of short stories) within 30 days for NaNoMo. 

International travel, exploring new cities, more consistent creative writing (rather than just writing for work) are all also on the list. I have already taken active steps to make sure that these resolutions come to fruition.

Don't act like you have reached a point in your life where this is always how it's going to be. Don't just accept a way of living because you don't want to make an effort to change or improve or take a different path than someone else (including your old self) has set out for you.

Give yourself the proper attention you deserve. Take care of business. Have this year be a little better than last. Celebrate.

Do you make birthday resolutions? Care to share?

Cheers to the Patron life!

Once upon a time, Patron Social Club asked, "Hey, would you like to be our Secret Dining Society guest and eat and drink to your heart's content while you get a sweet beach buzz?" To which I quickly replied, "Um, YEAH!"

On a perfect August evening, M and I enjoyed a culinary adventure courtesy of Patron and their traveling dining crew. When they host these dinners for an exclusive 50+ guests, it is an EVENT. 

I read that when they stopped in St. Louis, it was held at Busch Stadium, an experience M would have loved being from STL and a tried and true Cardinals' fan. However, our San Diego experience on Silver Strand Beach was none too shabby. 

Here are some photos of the fun-filled evening if you didn't catch me posting minute-to-minute updates on Instagram. I also rehashed the whole beautiful thing for Examiner, complete with food menu created by one my favorite Top Chef alum, Richard Sweeney, for your reading (and drooling) pleasure. 

If you had seen me eat this, it would confirm my lack of elegance, mainly in dining situations. I first attempted to nibble it from the side and then just chomped it from the top. 

It's like we were crashing someone's beautiful beach wedding. Hey, Patron, can I just hire you to cater my upcoming nuptials? 

I don't have a bad tequila story. You know those stories you hear about people falling off curbs and vomiting in gutters, never had that. Talk to me about vodka, different story altogether. Wouldn't it be insane if Absolut had a secret dining society. Who can I start a petition to for this cause? 

I forgive whomever made up these menus for misspelling "dessert" because they were probably drunk off Patron. Hey, shit happens.