birthdays are something that i have grown to appreciate, love and enjoy very much - especially over the last five years ago. many people have a favorite holiday, and if i had to choose one, i am sure that i could after some contemplation, but the best days of the year are people's birthday that you love & your own birthday of course. i feel like people forget what holidays are really about, like how people go into debt after christmas, a day that essentially has nothing to do with them. a birthday is the day to really go all out for because it is a day especially for you. i was fortunate to celebrate by 19th birthday this past friday, the 13th. i don't really expect much on my birthday, it is just the one day during the year that i do whatever it is that i want to do - so i decided to stay in. most people question why, but i was so exhausted from the week that nothing sounded more appealing than resting in my bed while watching movies & having people come to pay me visits. i thought my birthday had reached its peak around 8pm on friday, but i was wrong.
one thing that made my day great were the phone calls i received. anyone can send a text message, a facebook/myspace comment, an email - but it takes more time, effort and energy to just pick up the phone. to those that called me or physically came by my room - thank you for making my day so special. and for those that mailed me something, especially my parents and grandparents, i am so blessed to have family like them. anyhow, as the night went on, more and more people started to pour into my room. some came with happy birthday wishes, others with cards, some with baked goods, others with gifts for me, some with no idea that it was my birthday (which i didn't mind, i just like company), but the best is when the majority of my closest friends from santa clara stopped by - those 'ride or die' type of friends. the friends that are there for you through thick and thin. now right now, we are in the middle of midterms, so i know it has been a hell of a week. i was not expecting big, extravagant gifts from anyone, but leave it to my friends to go beyond what is expected. these girls, specifically brittany, holly, leslie, teki and even one of my residents, sara made me feel like february 13 was the most important day that has taken place all year long. i finally went to bed around 4 am and i couldn't have asked for more.
saturday was valentine's day. and oddly enough, whether or not i have a valentine does not determine my feelings regarding the day itself. the beginning of the day was a lazy one, i didn't leave my building until 7pm, and it was nice to just be. i went to chipotle with leslie and teki & it was splendid as always. then we came on back, got ready and went out. the first party we went to was decent but the second one was much better. holly, theo & roni came along. it was nice to go out, have a few drinks, dance and just have a good time in general. i honestly believe that i could have some sort of sleeping disorder. i can essentially go to sleep anywhere regardless of the noise level, as i did saturday night in a huge arm chair at this extremely loud house. oh me, oh my.
sunday was more relaxing than anything else. i had made plans to go out to lunch or something of that nature with brittany, who i often refer to as 'budoop'. now my budoop is not really like most teens in terms of how obsessed teens seem to be with having their phones glued to their hands. she is more of the - check my phone every other hour type, even though she is popular enough to check her phone at least every five minutes. so just as i thought my weekend was going perfectly, her roommate who is also one of my close friends named holly comes over and is frantic. when i say frantic i mean looks like she is going to lose it. she goes on to tell me this story about how brittany got home at 5am [which shouldn't have been the case seeing as how she was supposed to be gone for the entire night for valentine's day] and she was soaked from being in the rain, she was crying & she couldn't even undress herself. holly told me that brittany cried herself to sleep. did not want to talk about it, woke up at 4pm sunday and was just crying and sleeping all day. as brittany's best friend, this shook me up - brittany is not the crying type, so if she is hysterical the way holly was describing it, something terrible must have happened. so we decided we would all go out to dinner to change up brittany's environment. we decided that we would leave around 7-7:15ish and i told them that teki and i would drive over to pick up leslie, holly and brittany. when i got inside of campisi [holly and brittany's building], i was so worried about what it was that i was going to say to brittany to ease her pain and let her know that i am here for her no matter what. none of that was necessary since all of it was a lie/plot to surprise me. they opened the door, more specifically, brittany opened the door, fully dressed and happy. there were over 20 balloons, a cake with a candle and some of the best girls in the world in there. i was overwhelmed to say the least. they then tell me that i have been tricked [duh, haha] and that we have reservations at this restaurant called 'straits' at santana row. it was wonderful, everyone enjoyed their meal, and i enjoyed their company. elisa had the idea for everyone to go around and say their favorite memory of me - this touched me deeply. it is weird to see and hear how close you are to someone, and going around the table showed me how close i am to each and every single one of those girls. we went back to brittany and holly's room where they proceeded to sing to me, we ate cake, elisa had to leave, but the rest of stayed and had talks about life in general. those five girls [brittany, holly, leslie, teki & sara] really know how to make me laugh...i will leave it at that. anyway, i have never been that surprised regarding birthday plans, the gifts that i received that were so specific to me, and the even better gifts were the friendships that i have built with these girls.
monday, i went shopping at the gilroy outlets. anyone that knows me knows that i love to shop. since alan and juan were the ones that told me about these outlets, they had to come. leslie and teki are my shopping buddies and they came as well. it was so nice to get off campus and be in a different environment. we all found some great deals, we got to eat at sonic which is one of my favorite places. leslie had never been, so i was happy she finally got to go. we got back to campus. i got a call from my friend meghan, she is also a cf in sobrato. she wanted to stop by & when she did, she gave me this beautiful gift, the best card and the warmest of hugs. it really finished off my weekend on a high note. i had to do a social for my residents, and afterwards, we all convened in my room. i like to proofread leslie's & she seems to do well when i do. alan and i have become progressively closer over the last couple of weeks so we like to have discussions about life. joe came back from san diego, and i realized something - he is one of my best friends sand knows me like the back of his hand. i missed two people a lot this weekend from santa clara, both him and ajaya. i realized that when we leave santa clara, i won't see them as often, and that really made me sad, but at the same time, it made me treasure our friendships now & how close we have become in such a short period of time. anyway, alex, sara & alan were in my room until after 3 but i enjoy every second of it. and to all of you that have not seen four brothers, watch it immediately.
my weekend was magnificent from start to finish. the people that i would like to thank from home/not from santa clara: my grandparents, parents, brother, godsister, godmother, roomie, jessica, valerie, carolynn, audrey, old friends from grammar and high school & cousins as well; from santa clara, i would like to thank: teki, leslie, brittany, holly, ajaya, joe, meghan, elisa & sara.
i couldn't have asked for a better birthday or better friends & family.
