One Year Older and Wiser Too....maybe

I feel like the perfect prelude to my birthday is this article I found in BBC News this week. (Please note, in my blog when I refer to "this" or "that", you can 90% of the time click on the word and it will take you to a link of exactly what I'm talking about. For example, if you click in the phrase "this article" it will take you to said article) So this article talks about a new terminology in China, which translates to "leftover women" in English. It's a little sad, but I feel like this article is my friend. I showed my Chinese co-worker this article and he laughed, knowing exactly what it was talking about when I pointed to the word "sheng nu". He told me, "You have a few more years, but maybe you should ask for a boyfriend for your birthday". lol. Thanks Jimmy. Thanks. I know you are thinking, "wow, it's your birthday. why are you bringing up the topic of boys?" I bring up this topic to let the world know, I am happy! Please. I don't need you to tell me "you're so wonderful, smart, and pretty. I don't know why you don't have a boyfriend" or "guys are crazy to not be after you". People are always asking me about my relationship status, and you know what? I don't define my happiness on whether or not I'm dating anyone. Please don't apologize. Don't say anything. If I become a leftover woman, at least I know I will be in good company. For now, I'm going to keep living my life the best way I know how, and enjoying every moment of it: the good and the bad.

And now, the tale of my big birthday weekend!

I drove home after work and waited for Saryah before starting the drive to San Antonio. At the mid-point, we, of course, stopped at Bucee's for an energy boost. We got to San Antonio and checked into the Crowne Plaza. I was not impressed. You have to pay for parking. Who does that? And pay for internet. What kind of hotel does that in this day and age? #dumbdumb Anyway, we relax in the hotel until it is time to go pick up bff Erica, who was flying in from Arizona, from the airport. YAY! (best birthday ever!) I pick her up and the night is still young, so we go to Mi Tierra for a nighttime snack. It was funny because Erica was freaking out from excitement. I thought she was going to topple over.

We got some Mexican hot chocolate and it was soooo tastey. I also go myself a virgin margarita because, hey, gotta enjoy the nightlife :) After our midnight snack, we went back to the car, where erica was really excited to give me my gift and her excitement was contagious. First she gave me the birthday card. 1. it was in spanish. 2. it was a twilight card. lol. 3. there was a surprise note on the back from ben! Really, it was a perfect birthday card. Then for the gift! She got me a SNUGGIE! And not just any snuggie....a zebra print snuggie. If you're going to get a snuggie, you cannot be serious about it. Go crazy. I'm so excited to use it! After our adventure, we had to sneak back to our room and be very quiet because mom and saryah were fast asleep  even though my mom woke up when Erica and I were whispering together before sleeping and startled us by speaking. lol. Funny mommy.

Saturday morning started off with 4 females trying to get ready with only one bathroom. lol. Magically, it happened without major incident and we're all still friends. We went to Mi Guadalajara near gma's house for breakfast and met up with Jax and Davy. It was a fun breakfast which ended with us heading to get some yummy pan dulce!

Oh it was a great morning of mexican food and sharing stories. We then dropped of mom to start getting ready for the party as Erica, Saryah, and I went down to the riverwalk to take a stroll in the sun and see the Alamo. There was a long line to go inside, so we just settled on taking pictures! yay!

We then walked back along the river on the opposite side we walked on before, only to discover that on the side of the river we were on, didn't have an exit at the same place we entered. Uh oh. Luckily, we eventually escaped our entrapment on the river bank.  We then travelled to an HEB to pick up some flowers for my gma who LOVES flowers. We arrived and all my siblings where there. #bestfamilyever

The party, of course, was hip and happening. Everyone was there. We laughed, we ate, we talked to everyone. Then the mariachi band showed up. It was great. I love mariachis. They sang happy birthday to me and my grandma. They serenaded us, and it was great to finally understand what they were singing. #spanishpower It was great until they announced they were going to sing the last 2 songs. Then they turned to each other and started whispering, glancing at me, and pointing at me. Then I started to get nervous, because I new something was coming. They proceeded to sing to me exactly like this:

Ok. So maybe it wasn't exactly like this, Julia Stiles reacted a lot more gracefully than I did, but they sang the song. They started singing to me, and everyone stopped to stare at me. People even came in from outside just to stare at me. I laughed and hid my face. I started laughing so hard, I almost cried. aka i was feeling so awkward and overwhelmed, I almost cried. I didn't know how to react with so many eyes on me. I was just a hot mess of crazy. Oh well. It was something I will never forget. A memorable birthday indeed. They then sang gma a song and Ron asked her to dance. It was so cute. I have the coolest gma ever. The party didn't last long after that, as we all had the cops called on us. We're that crazy. #truestory

We inhaled helium, spoke in funny voices, cleaned up the room, and then only a few of us ended up going to the after-party in gma's apartment as she (really me) got to open her presents. She's a classy lady. People getting her purses and clothes. Eventually, it was time to head out for my party. So mom, saryah, erica, uncle john, headed to the other side of town to eat at The Magic Time Machine, except we weren't all that hungry. So we got seated, noticed they didn't have any good apetizers and were deciding if we wanted to stay and eat here. Then some teen girl  with a backpack came up to our table and was like "Hello!" in a really obnoxious voice. All I could think of was 'why are you here? go sit down with your family like a good girl'. Only to discover she is our waitress and is dressed as Dora the Explorer. Oh goodness. We all kinda just paused awkwardly and looked at each other. Luckily, Uncle John took the reigns and asked for a few more minutes, and we left the restaurant to go to a mexican place across the street. You cannot go wrong with mexican food in San Antonio. It's all good. We then drove to the Majestic Theatre to see the 2010 Tony winner for Best Musical, "Memphis". My review: It was wonderful! The music reverberated through your soul and the dancing was spectacular. It made you want to get up and dance with them. The plot was adorable, but the ending was not what I was hoping. However, the actors were phenomenal, and I want to some of the songs from the soundtrack. After the show, we were all wiped out. I couldn't have gone out after that even if I wanted to. T'was a wonderful birthday, and I couldn't have asked for a better day.

Sunday morning was sad because I had to drive Erica back to the airport to see her off. :( But I got to go back to bed afterwards, so that was a plus. Mom, Saryah, and I went to get some breakfast and more pan dulce. Then we went over to gma's to say goodbye  and pick up Saryah's sweater that got left behind before starting our drive home. Long drive when everyone falls asleep. So i just turned up my music and sang along for 3 hours. When we got back, it was a lazy day of reading and cleaning a bit more. (I'm in the process of cleaning our my room at home still) Then I went to my place at night to watch the Oscars and angst over my new facebook profile picture #firstworldproblems. I loved the ode to musicals, because I love musicals. and i love that Jennifer Lawrence won an oscar. She's legit.

Now as an end to my birthday tale, I will leave you all with the encouraging words I received from Jimmy on Monday morning after we talked about my birthday weekend. "Don't worry. You are not 'sheng nu' yet"
  lol
Thank you to everyone who sent birthday wishes. Y'all were blowing up my phone all day with facebook alerts and texts. :)