Birthday Busts

I love my birthday. It falls in September, the most perfect month of the year when the chill settles into the night air, and sun fights for its last powerful days. The day is the 4th, and there is something just ideal about the combination of September and 4. I'll show you: September 4th. See?

I used to also like my birthday for other reasons: the gifts, the parties, the warm wishes. But lately, my birthday seems to be jinxed. Let's walk down memory lane...

23rd birthday: See (Honey, Don't) entry

24th birthday: I rented out part of the bar in Murray Hill. The bartender told me there was a $700 minimum I needed to hit- no problem I thought. Boy was I wrong. Sure, I had lots of friends there, but as the event was on a Wednesday night, no one drank. By 11pm I was in tears. I had $500 heading straight to my credit card. I literally had to run around the bar and ask the people at the upstairs bar to buy drinks at my bar. I cried my eyes out. Never again would I rent anything.

25th birthday: This was the year where my friends decided to throw each other a fun surprise party. By the time September rolled around, bowling and a picnic in the park had been done. My friends thought karaoke was just the ticket. Nope. The place they planned was, to be PC, not for us. We couldn't go in. We had to go somewhere else and everyone got split up. My shoes broke.

29th birthday: I was layed off the next day at work. I had worked there almost 5 years. Oh, and 9/11 was less than a week later.

30th birthday: I thought this one was fun. US Open Semi-finals, scavenger hunt, party at a bar. I'm surprised my friends still talk to me though after the scavenger hunt. 2 hours of running around the east village. Oh, and the dinner my sister planned at Gonzalez y Gonzalez was probably the worst meal of my life. Loud music, awful atmosphere.

31st birthday: My cousin's rehearsal dinner happen to fall the night of my birthday. I got to spend 3 hours of my birthday, single, and watching videos of my cousin in love. I was one of the only single people there. I cried.

32nd birthday: You are going to see a theme here. I cried. Actually, the birthday was ideal. I was in Colorado and was treated to a wonderful romantic dinner, a match of tennis, the most expensive brunch of my life, and a massage. But yet, I managed to sneak in a cry the last 20 minutes of the day. I was drunk and emotional. Typical chick.

So all I can say is thank god my birthday is not for another 361 days.