Welcome to birthday week. Yep, you guessed it, my birthday is this week and I’m all about celebrating. If you find yourself just sitting around asking “What to do on my birthday this year?” then this post is for you.
My family thinks I‘m a little nutty when it comes to my birthday. I not only celebrate my actual birthday, I also celebrate birthday week and birthday month. Now let me clarify one thing. I don’t have a big party every single day. Instead, I just find little ways to celebrate myself throughout the month. I have done this for a few years now and I think that everyone should adopt this philosophy.
Funny side story, when I was a child, we didn’t always celebrate on my actual birthday, which was fine by the way.
Here is the funny part – I can laugh about it now. Back then, not so much.
I loathe liver in the strongest possible way. It is vile and if it was the last thing on earth to eat, I would probably starve to death. My parents, on the other hand, love liver and my mom would fix it for dinner occasionally. Now my dad is kind of a clean plate guy, and when I was little, we had to eat what my mom fixed. No picky eaters at our house.
You can probably guess where this is heading.
Yes, you are right, I came home from school one year on my birthday to discover that my mom was preparing liver for dinner. I pleaded with my dad to let me skip it this time because it was my birthday, but no dice. Yuck, there is not enough flavored liquid to wash down the nasty stuff.
Now if you like liver, I apologize for my diatribe. I’m sure that there is something that I really like that you don’t. That’s what makes us unique.
Anyway, because others sometimes don’t remember my birthday (which is ok) I decided that I would celebrate myself. This is how I arrived at the birthday month idea.
So, if you are not a member of the celebrate your birthday in the month, week, or day here are a few tips that you can use to make your next birthday and every birthday after that fantastic. The following what to do on my birthday ideas should get your creative juices flowing:
Give yourself permission to do something extra nice for yourself during birthday month. Some examples include:
- Flowers – if you really like fresh cut flowers buy yourself a bouquet or two throughout the month.
- If you like to read – plan a couple of days to go and linger at your favorite library branch or bookstore. (Give yourself permission to buy or check out a new book. If you need some inspiration, click here for some suggestions.)
- If you like movies – grab your family or friends, or go by yourself and head to the theater.
- Perhaps you like to go to lunch and never find the time – plan to do this sometime in your birthday month.
- Plan a month of meals that include your favorite foods.
- Treat yourself to some spa days. Check this post out for some ideas.
- Give yourself permission to watch your favorite TV programs.
Birthdays are special and they should be remembered. It is the day that wonderful you came into this world. Birthday week is a great way to ease into a splendid birthday day. If you are still wondering “what to do on my birthday” here are some simple ideas to make birthday week awesome.
- Take yourself out for breakfast. If you like a certain food such as donuts or cinnamon rolls, and you restrict yourself throughout the year, birthday week is the time that you should give yourself permission to splurge.
- Buy yourself a new article of clothing. It is surprising how great a new pair of jeans or top can make you feel. If you like to shop at thrift stores, maybe you could permit yourself to purchase two new items.
- Attend a live event, such as a play or concert.
- Discover a new hobby. Is there something that you have always wanted to try? Birthday week is the time to give it a whirl.
What to Do on My Birthday
Now comes the big day. Celebrate your birthday doing only the things that you love. (If you are a single parent or have very young children, you might need to enlist the help of family and friends on this day. Perhaps that can be their gift to you.)
On my birthday I do exactly what I want, when I want, and how I want. This means no chores, no cooking, no errands, and definitely no exercising.
This year I have decided that I am going to go out for breakfast with my family, possibly attempt an escape room (I love these, future post about escape rooms coming), and my husband and I are going to create a progressive dinner experience.
By progressive dinner experience I mean we are going to go to the restaurant that has my favorite appetizer, then to another restaurant for my favorite main dish, followed by a trip to another restaurant for my favorite dessert. We are going to start early so that we can take in a movie at my favorite theater afterward.
If you need or want some more ideas or inspiration for what to do on my birthday, check out this post.
Birthdays are a time to celebrate all that is unique and wonderful about you. It’s a time to reflect on the year gone by and look forward to the year ahead. So go ahead and take the time to celebrate you this year. Plan something special for your birthday month, week, or day. It can be as simple as taking yourself out to dinner or reserving a spot on that yoga retreat you’ve been eyeing. The key is to do something that makes you feel special and celebrates all the wonderful things about you.
I hope these tips have given you some ideas on how you can make your birthday celebration special this year. How will you be celebrating? Make a plan and let me know in the comments below!
Thanks for reading.
xooxoo
Julie
