Life, Love and Birthday Trips
I am a birthday person through and through, I love when people make me feel special on my day and I love making others feel special on theirs. I will shamelessly start dropping hints on ideas for presents when the month of my birth is nigh and I keep an active list year round where I take note of the items my close friends mention they might want for their birthdays. Or maybe not even specifically for their birthdays, they just mention this item/experience is something they want and I keep an eye out to see if they purchase and/or receive it at any point before their day. If not, I get it for them! As such, I like to think of myself as the present whisperer, though I have to admit I don’t always nail it, I would say I have a 80% success rate and I will call that a win. It’s more about the thoughtfulness of a gift than the price tag for me, something that shows you are paying attention. Like when someone mentions a place being their favorite restaurant, get them a gift card there or take them to that spot for their birthday meal — to me, showing you were listening is the best gift you can give.
On the flip side, when I have to give a gift to someone I am not sure about or don’t know as well, one trick I like is the ole theme gift. A movie night basket for example, with popcorn, candy, a beverage, and a DVD or movie gift card. I also like the spa package with lotions, masks, and other good smelling things. Who doesn’t like a good movie night at home or a home spa day? Think things people wouldn’t get for themselves, but would inevitably enjoy. Ever unsure what to get me? Wine is allllways fine, [wink].
Another gambit that I enforce almost every year for my birthday is a birthday trip. COVID be damned, this year was no exception. I rounded up 4 of my fearless femmes and gathered us all down in Fort Lauderdale, FL. We rented a beautiful little AirBnB that was canal side in Wilton Manors with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and a pool. It was perfect. One of my loves decorated the house from floor to ceiling in birthday decorations: signs and balloons and streamers and other fun girlie decor. She also brought party favors in the form of hilarious sunglasses and delightful pool floaties; there were even floating koozies! My personal favorite was the watermelon floating kooze. Because of the pool and the amazing floating friends, we honestly spent more time at that house than probably anywhere else in Ft. Lauderdale. Now I know for next year that all I really need to be happy is a house with a pool by the water and I am set! We played board games, card games, and drinking games both in and outside the house. The featured games included Cards Against Humanity, What Do You Meme, Dominoes, Kings, and a new game for me called 5 Second Rule. We sunned ourselves and floated around the pool with spiked seltzers, enjoying the sunshine and each other’s company. Turns out location is really not that important when you are surrounded by the people you love.
I have a friend that lives down in Fort Laudy, which weighed into my birthday trip location selection, and she joined us Friday night for an evening of shenanigans. The night began with an amazing dinner at one of her favorite restaurants, Casablanca, down by the beach. Home to dueling pianos, which entertained us throughout our meal, and creative American/Mediterranean cuisine, I couldn’t have been happier with the selection. We dined on delicious steak and seafood; the wine was flowing and the food was phenomenal. I had the grouper with shrimp, mussels, and coconut curry rice — ahmazing. Two bottles of wine and some happy tastebuds later, we wandered down waterside to a dive bar called Blondie’s… and I did not want to visit another bar again that weekend. It was as though COVID was not still a thing, no one was wearing masks, groups were interacting with one another, the bar was crowded — well the whole place was crowded really — and you could smoke. It was a recipe for disaster in my opinion and it overwhelmed me. I am glad for the experience though and towards the beginning of the trip because it made me enjoy all the time in the house with my best gals that much more. I am grateful that my ladies are low key and could get down with playing games night after night because the not-so-inner child in me would be happy to have game night every night. The adult in me was also very happy to not return to that bar scene.
Though we did not return to the bars again that trip after Blondie’s, we did go out for food five times in total and I loved every bite of it; seafood seafood seafood for this girl. Oysters, ahi tuna, grouper, smoked fish dip, fish tacos, mussels, shrimp, spicy tuna poke, I had it all. Living in Denver has made me relish when I have access to fresh seafood. While Denver does better than you’d think at having decent seafood, there is just something about having seafood when you are by the water. I swear it just tastes better, a little bit of that sweet sweet ocean in every bite. The oysters we had were probably my favorite fishy snack, which I slurped down on my last night in town at a place called Even Keel. They were not cheap but I will throw down dollars for some fresh, raw oysters. And for only $5 more, they came with a Chambong, which you know I had to do #birthdaygirl.
Five days and four nights in sunny Florida made it very hard for me to return to “normal” life in Denver. I am starting to sense a theme that warm weather and water = happy Chelsea and cold weather and not near water = not quite as happy Chelsea. I love Denver and I’ve only been here 2 years so I want to stay a bit longer but my travels this year have really made me ponder whether or not Colorado is my forever home. I just love water and warm weather, what can I say. When (okay maybe if) I retire, just call me a turtle and put me down by the beach, I think it’s where I belong. I look forward to next year’s birthday trip with, as Zac Brown Band says, ‘my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, and a cold beer in my hand’.
