Ways to celebrate YOUR birthday!

Irrespective whether today or tomorrow is your birthday, go ahead and read my list and if you do one or more of the suggestions just because I believe in celebrating EVERY day as it it were your birthday, that is perfectly wonderful too!

If today isn’t your birthday, put a reminder in your calendar to read this post again the day before your next birthday (and hey, why not make it a recurring note and read it every year) . . .

Perhaps you don’t celebrate your birthday :::gasp::: Perhaps your birthday is your favorite day of the year and I hope it IS because it is the one day of the year that is OUR day - all to ourselves to celebrate and be queen or king for the day and we should absolutely make magical memories on OUR day!

If you are a birthday lover – this will give you more reasons to love your day. If you aren’t a birthday fan (it just reminds you that “I’m a year older today”), this article will give you a completely different focus for this day.

This is twelve ways to celebrate YOUR birthday. Not your husband’s birthday, or your son’s or daughter’s birthday. YOUR birthday. Make YOUR day special in its own right k?

Eat your favorite food. It’s your day – you deserve it. Even if your favorite foods don’t “go together,” they do today. Enjoy! And if you are a sparker and our new lifestyle doesn’t quite meld with your current favorite food; consider it deKalorized but have just enough to sate your appetite - not the WHOLE Cheesecake Factory cheesecake or German Chocolate cake!

Do a favorite childhood activity. Take that brand new box of 64 Crayola crayons and color up a storm. Did you buy a new Precious Moments coloring book to go with it? Maybe it was a board game, or playing hide and seek or reading in the hay barn. Whatever it was, do it in some way today! Do it as a way to reignite your inner child and your creativity. Do it for the pure enjoyment. You will be amazed at how it will make you feel.

Remember your favorite birthday. If you have a particular birthday that sticks out to you, spend time thinking about it and reveling in those memories. I am looking at the gum ball machine I was given for my 30th birthday. It was a FUNderful surprise party and I will never forget it. I think it was the only surprise party I was ever given that I WAS truly and giddily surprised!

Laugh out loud. Do something that makes you laugh with delight! Laughter feels good and is good for you. Perhaps one of the other ideas on this list will make you laugh out loud – if so, great!

Give a gift to someone else. We all know it feels better to give than receive, so why not give gifts to others on our birthday? Consider starting with your mother – after all she had a more memorable day when you were born than you did! This was the gift I made for my Mom's birthday - a Pumpkin Patch of velvet pumpkins - one representing her and each of her five children. We used to love going to the pumpkin patch with her! They are all nestled in their box waiting to be shipped off to her in Charleston for her 73rd birthday today!



Give your day away! You don’t have to give a physical gift, you can give your time – to someone you love, to a charity or whatever you wish! Make your day a gift to someone else. Have you ever heard of thebdayproject.com? Tomorrow I am going to do 56 random acts of kindness RAOK). I have posted on my facebook asking my friends, family and loved ones to do the same in my honor/name. I cannot think of a better party to have than this! I am absolutely thrilled to get started!

Give yourself the gift of time. Sometimes our days are so packed with events and tasks that we don’t have time for ourselves. Consider giving yourself the gift of time for your own rest and relaxation (or the time to do another item on this list!).  It doesn’t have to be a long time – think about the rule about the best gifts come in small packages. How about a gift of 10-15 minutes of time each day for YOU?

Send yourself a card. A few days or weeks before your birthday find a card you love, sign it and write yourself a note. Then address and stamp the envelope and ask someone to mail it to you a couple of days before your birthday. This is a great way to guarantee a card, and I promise it will make you smile.

Spend time with someone you love. This might overlap with a couple of other ideas on the list – but that’s OK. What could make for a better day than spending time with those you care about the most?

Make a memory. Challenge yourself to create memories today that will last a lifetime.
Reflect on the last year. Your birthday is a milestone, so it can be a great day to review your results and actions of the past year to see how you have done and determine what is working – and what isn’t!

My Fall bucket list was such a fun event that I am going to do a long term bucket list this week - a 60th birthday milestone bucket list! See below!

Set some new goals. Today is a perfect day to look forward, to project into the future, to set goals for the next twelve months. If you don’t have written goals, today is a perfect day to create them!

You’ll notice this isn’t like some lists you read that make you think you should try all of the ideas. It wouldn’t be possible to do all of these things in one day. The ideas fall into a focus on your past, present or future – and all of them are about you.

The key is to pick one that feels right to you and add it to your celebration. It is your day after all!

Oh, and one last thing. You don’t have to wait for your birthday to do any of these things. You are alive and you can celebrate for that reason using any of these ideas you’d like.

“Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!” Amanda Bradley

60th Birthday Bucket List (Call yours your Milestone Bucketlist)

Rent a convertible, blare music and head down the 101. ALL the way down the 101 and maybe back up again!

Getaway with all of my girlfriends for a loooong weekend. Antiquing, the beach, wine country....

Gather the entire family and rent a house on a beach somewhere.

Gather the entire family farfetched as they may be and celebrate a Thanksgiving dinner in memory of and honor of our Grandmother who used to do it every year.

Give myself a birthday party Kal style.

Do something I’ve always wanted to but haven’t - probably because I put someone else's needs first.

Have a grown up girls’ slumber party with food, drinks, laughter and conversation. Start over again and do it again!

Do a girlfriends’ spa day with pedis, manis, massages -- the works!
Finally go up in a hot air balloon over the water at sunset in Del Mar Beach or through Temecula wine country.

Go on retreat. Give yourself time to connect with yourself.

Throw yourself a weekend-long birthday party with your dearest friends, some of whom haven’t yet met but have heard about each other for years.

Get a fresh new look. Any or all of these could do it: a new haircut or hair color, a trip to a make-up artist, an appointment with an image consultant, or a visit with a free personal shopper for new clothes.

Challenge myself physically in some new way - walk another marathon.

Do something you’ve never done before.

Host an “opening the door to a new decade” catered dinner at your home.

Throw a 60′s dance party

ALWAYS, ALWAYS, CELEBRATE AND BE THANKFUL FOR LIVING AND LIVE LARGE!