The Perks of Being a Year Older

So I turned 29 and that's cool, but turning a year older is generally just great - you get gifts and special treatment from friends, family and sometimes co-workers.  Take a look at all my lovely friends who came to my pizza party, treated me (!), AND played with old-school toys and wore pizza hats!!!

I also love the special treatment that companies are showing their customers.  I received special birthday greetings from Coldstone Creamery, Sephora, Dave & Buster's, Uno's Chicago Pizzeria and Carnival.  Thank you random companies for my automated birthday greeting.

I especially thank those companies that gave me something for free.  I got $10 in free game play from my fave place Dave & Buster's aka adult Chuck E. Cheese, three mini lip glosses from Sephora, a free entree coupon from Uno's and my favorite freebie - a "Like It" with a free mix-in from Coldstone Creamery.  At one time, Coldstone was looser with its freebies and coupons, sadly, no longer.  So I have to take advantage of the free ice cream, even if it is only once a year, and I did!

BEHOLD...cinnamon ice cream with pecans and coconut.  They didn't even charge me for my second mix-in and they sang to me.

In preparation for the 3-0, I must join more of these birthday clubs...it's these little perks that make aging so much better.

Being 29 is very much like being 28

Let me tell you, being 29 is just like being 28.  LOL  I didn't expect things to change over night, but I certainly didn't think I would be reliving summer 2009. What do I mean by that?  Well, you'll see.

As I was pin curling my hair before bed, something flew toward my face.  I brushed it out the way (assuming it was a fruit fly) then I laid myself down to sleep and prayed the Lord my soul to keep.

So I'm sleeping and I'm dreaming (I can't remember what about) and then I heard..."Wheeeeeee...wheeeee..." I don't know if you understand what I'm describing, but my friends it's the sound of a mosquito buzzing in my ear. NOOOOOO!  I had been tormented by these rotten insects for most of the summer.  I threw my covers off and sat up in bed and thought, "At least I'm waking up right before I have to get up."  I looked at the clock and it said 2:36AM!!!  I guess this was Ms. Mosquito's way of saying "Happy Birthday Shay!" 

I looked around for my Cutter repellent wipes, which thankfully (and unfortunately) were still nearby and I wiped down my face, and attempted to sleep again.  It worked until again I heard ""Wheeeeeee...wheeeee..." in my ear. This time around 5AM!!! *sigh* At least it was only an hour before I had to be up.  Anyway, I did fall back asleep and still got up in time to carry on my normal routine - Catch Train, Go to Gym, Go to Work.

Here I am at work taking care of business on the phone (it was an actual phone call, not a staged picture) and in the next minute taking a "Surprise!" picture of myself.

Basically, work proceeded as normal and I had an enjoyable day that, shockingly, was very much like the day before...when I was 28. *shaking head* I thought things would be different...jk jk. :P