A Very Merry Unbirthday!

So, I'll fully admit that I was figuring that my 24th birthday was definitely going to suck. It was the first birthday I've ever celebrated without my twin sister, and frankly, Ariel was always the one guarantee I had that a crappy day could be made fun. Last year, despite losing my thesis (and retyping it in one night), not washing off the previous night's makeup or taking a shower, looking like crap, giving my final presentation with little preparation, and forgetting to buy one another gifts, Ariel and I had one of the most fun birthdays imaginable. A trip to Starbucks, Lush, and buying lots of pretty makeup softened the blow of having looked like the creature from the black lagoon for the majority of the day. Sushi and drinks made it even better. Getting smashed at the Alibi (arguably my favorite Tiki bark EVER), too much karaoke, and being told by all-too-adorable roller derby girls that WE were cool didn't hurt things one bit.

Cue exactly a year later...and I was sitting in a small town (2 hours away from anything remotely cool), with my husband off flying into the wild blue yonder, and wondering exactly how I was going to celebrate my birthday without a twin. Luckily, I made a Skype call to home, and I was soon face to face with Ariel, and the realization that for the first time in my life I was going to be a DAY older than my twin sister. In fact, she's celebrating HER birthday as I'm writing this now...

Ariel and I had made a pact to open our presents to one another over Skype, and we did. My family blew me away with the creativity and love that went into the package they sent me (reminder to dear readers, never announce excitedly to your cousin 'look at my box!' it sounds wrong). Anyhow, I was greeted with card after card from loved ones, (and TRULY generous donations for new outfits- you won't be disappointed with what I'm getting!). I got a book on making desserts and crafts with marshmallow Peeps (Peeps Crepes anyone?), as well as Peeps I could decorate myself. Sprinkles Red Velvet cupcake mix literally made me scream. It probably doesn't come as a shock that I'm a bit of a cupcake aficionado these days, and really miss the gourmet bakeries around Seattle and Portland- having a chance to make Sprinkles-quality red velvets without having to buy uber-expensive ingredients is SUCH a treat. Also included was a box of Moonstruck Mexican Hot Chocolate (yet another treat I *really* miss from America). Mom and Dad sent me money for a lovely birthday dinner (you'll find out why we chose to save that money for a dinner in Perth later), as well as for some wardrobe revamping. (Whirling Turban, here I come! And ladies, if you don't know what Whirling Turban is yet...seriously, check it out-pure eye candy).  Ariel knocked my socks off with a blue box. 

Yes ladies and gentlemen, if you had a twin, you too could be spoiled with Tiffany & Co. by someone other than your significant other! Seriously, I don't think I've been so surprised since Vaughan asked me to marry him. I am the current and fiercely proud owner of a beautiful starfish pendant that I wouldn't trade for the world (or even diamonds...yes world, that's right, you come second to diamonds). I'll probably end up wearing this  little baby nearly as much as my wedding ring. It's completely 100% me- one of those things that you see, and suddenly realize whoever got it for you knows you completely (but I guess that shouldn't be a surprise coming from a twin)!

After getting to chat for nearly 4 hours to my family (including grandparents!) I went for a run around town. It was actually incredibly relaxing, and I'm glad I went. I saw my first flock of black cockatoos as well. There's an aboriginal legend that rain follows black cockatoos, and I'm happy to report that so far, in my eyes, that legend holds true. It rained all night last night, and most of this morning!

Back from the run, I showered, got pretty, and waited for Vaughan, who surprised me with an "indoor picnic" of cheese and vegemite sandwiches, grapes, mint chip ice cream bars, and champagne! He also got me a new iPod nano- and I am so obsessed with this adorable mint green guy. (Can you believe it- he even got the perfect color!) What can I say, I am one spoiled wife, daughter, grand-daughter, and sister!

After a considerable amount of time lounging around watching bad movies , including "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein," and "The Ninth Gate" with Johnny Depp (who couldn't save the movie, no matter how hard he tried...in fact I'm not even sure he tried...) we decided to hit the town in search of a nice birthday dinner. My first mistake was wearing something other than jeans and perhaps a nice shirt...

I chose a halter dress (with a cardigan even!!) and some nice heels. In this town, this apparently marked me as THE WOMAN to watch out for, because I spent the rest of the night getting the evil eye from every person with two x chromosomes, and even hearing some of their snide remarks. For crying out loud, I don't care where we are, I'm not doing "ugly" for my birthday just to appease the townsfolk. Seriously, I felt like Belle in Beauty in the Beast. Nobody understood her desire to read books. Well nobody in said town understood my need to wear heels. Slightly less academic, I know, but you get my point. Even Belle had a *bit* of a heel to her shoes. 

We tried our luck at the pub (which actually has some pretty good food), but it was standing room only. We ended up going across the street to another pub, which had far fewer patrons...for a reason.

Lets just say, that honey chili chicken there tasted more like "rice covered in Dayquil with chili flakes." Not quite what we had in mind for a romantic meal, but for $16 between the two of us, we shouldn't have been too surprised. The good news is, on a hunch, we decided to save the birthday money from Mom and Dad for a truly good meal in Perth, and are now greedily trying to decide between risotto at Coco's (the site of our Australian engagement dinner), or some knockout pizza at a little Italian place we've been dying to try. I'm now counting down the days until we can head back to Perth for a great meal.

Anyhow, what I originally thought was going to be a bust of a birthday was in fact, a rather fun, silly day, and I was spoiled rotten by family and friends near and far. Thank you all for making it wonderful- I can't wait to celebrate with you in person next year!