23 Little Ways I'm Celebrating Turning 23 :: A Rainy Saturday In Napa Valley

I'm of the persuasion that each and every person deserves not a birth day, not a birth week, but a whole birth month! Now, c'mon, I realize that it's not realistic to wear a tiara and claim every night for a month to birthday bash it as one pleases, but I find that when April rolls around, I'm fully content with abiding by the "treat yoself" mentality. My wallet's looser, my thoughts lean a little more towards the 'yolo' end of the spectrum, and I zero in on getting to go on one adventure after another. My birthday is on Sunday, but I'll be celebrating from the 1st to the 31st, and I ain't even sorry about it!

23 little ways I'm celebrating turning 23:

1 / a rainy Saturday spent in Napa Valley. Although gray and dreary, Napa was still breathtaking: low-hanging clouds misting through the rolling hills, the vineyards so lush and green. Leah and I tagged along with my roommate Susan, her boyfriend, and their friends and took advantage of their wine club memberships at Hill Family Estates, Clif Family Winery, Peju [with its Tuscany vibes and Dr. Seuss landscaping], and Robert Mondavi, and begged for a pitstop to see the Parent Trap house. A weekend well spent!

2 / getting to watch Quantico live.

3 / happy hour with coworker-friends.

4 / Coldstone Sweet Cream flavored coffee creamer, what.

5 / Booking a flight home to Houston to celebrate my actual birthday. I'm giddy with excitement at the thought of hugging my parents and my sister and slurping up some birthday noodles!

6 / Booking a trip to LA for the end of the month where yes, I'm going straight to Harry Potter World LA from the airport.

7 / Booking a flight to Paso Robles next month for more wine-tasting.

8 / Beyonce tickets!

9 / Listening to Anna Faris's Unqualified podcast on the train as opposed to doing work or Instagramming. 

10 / Spur of the moment Target runs where Hanna and I spent a combined ... well, I'm electing not to share the final price but just know it was an exorbitant number ... on mostly food...

11 / Including 10 boxes of mac and cheese. Annie's as per usual, and also Pirate's Booty in an effort to branch out.

12 / Plus giving in to our urge and finding ourselves at Taco Bell Cantina (the fancy Taco Bell) for dinner. Oh, how happily stuffed were we with our standard order of two Doritos Locos Tacos Cheesy Gordita Crunch, Fiery!

13 / Lattes, whenever I crave them. (Or playing with our Aeropress!)

14 / Parks and Rec episodes before bed.

15 / Deciding on new skills to learn (or to improve) – top choices are: a new language, photography, or hand-lettering. Or latte art. Ideally all of the above, but I'm no Renaissance woman.

16 / Tons of early evenings spent at softball games and enjoying beautiful sunsets, baby giggles, and some of my favorite people.

17 / Planning for when my best friend flies up to SF in a couple of weeks... So far, our options already include a Giant's game, a comedy show, and a favorite pizza place in Berkeley.

18 / Being so full one night that I had to unbuckle my pants... and then going for Pinkberry for a second dinner. Yep. With my pants unbuttoned. I've reached a new low.

19 / A new book!

20 / Lots of time spent petting our office dogs.

21 / Saying 'yes' to whatever non-salad option we have at lunch. Plus Coca Cola. Plus taking all of the goodness to eat outside on our new sundeck at the office!

22 / Scheming up ways to pull the "birthday month" card and guilt Cassandra into taking me to Shake Shack and Jeni's Ice Cream when I'm down in LA.

23 / Playing Taylor Swift's "22" one last time, pouring a glass of bubbly, and calling it a month. 

Do you believe in birthday months? How did you celebrate your birthday the last go around?