1.
Breakfast in Paris: chocolate croissants and café
au lait (even though normally I can't digest coffee. See how this works?!)
2.
2-hour hike in the Rockies along one of its
pristine lakes.
3.
Swimming and snorkeling off a remote beach in
Hawaii.
4.
3-hour road trip through the Sonoma Valley.
5.
Dinner at French Laundry with all my favourite
people (our treat).
6.
(okay, I’m cheating) Falling asleep on a
super-comfortable bed on a beach by the ocean under the stars and moon (no
bugs, no creatures to worry about).
Deb:
Thanks, Barb! Yay, it’s m’birthday. How I loves me birthday!
Okay
in my perfect world...
(I
actually did a perfect world birthday a few years back. Sat in a piazza in
Florence for lunch with husband and boy, watching people on a carousel as we
drank champagne and ate bread and cheese! It was like a glorious dream!)
1.
Waking up in a villa in Tuscany for a real
Italian breakfast on the patio with my husband, the boy and his girl.
2.
With money as no object, the afternoon would be
spent shopping. I would buy lovely things for me and gifts for Colin, boy, and
girl.
3.
Looking out the window of The Royal Scotsman
luxury train, with a glass of red wine in my hand, dressed to the nines, with
my vintage Louis Vuitton makeup bag by my side as the Scottish country side
drifts by us.
4.
High in the treetops in our Treehouse apartment
with the constellations above us and the ocean or lake below. Ahhhhhhh,
treehouse.
5.
Spending the day having one more moment each
with all the people I have loved and lost.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DEB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday Deb.
ReplyDeleteA gorgeous home on a lake on Lake Como.
A gorgeous man on a lake in Lake Como.
A wonderful massage on a cabin in Lake Como.
Sitting on a dock on Lake Como.
Drinking on Lake Como.
Okay, on any Lake in Europe with all the above.
And I'll take the gorgeous man's son!!.....IN LAKE COMO. Dont worry we wont bother you two ;)
DeleteAnd I'll take his other son! ;)
DeleteHa! You guys are cute. Ah, Lake Como, now that's on "the list"
DeleteFirst off, Happy Birthday Deb! :D
ReplyDeleteWell, on my next birthday I'll be 23. This is what I would like...
1. Waking up to a letter next to me saying all my student loans are paid off!!
2. Taking a cruise with Holly and my family. I'd like to go to the east or west coast since I've never been to either.
3. Finding a job in what I actually want to do (by my next birthday I'll have less than a month till I graduate)
4. Going to California and fulfilling my "actor friend" role (I mentioned this in an earlier post) :D
5. Flying back to Scotland and laying on the beach in St. Andrews.
Yay for "actor friend" dreams coming true!!
DeleteStudents loans, why didn't I think of that!
DeleteAnother laugh: love the "actor friend" running theme here! Out of curiosity, is the beach at St Andrews warm???
DeleteHAPPY BIRTHDAY DEB!!!!! Aww you gorgeous Girl!! HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU..:)
ReplyDeleteAnd about 5 crazy things... I am stealing all of yours... and :-
1. Waking up in big wonderful, comfy bed having the most amazing breakfast in bed in a wonderful Chateau somewhere in Ireland, and my room has a wonderful view of the mountains...covered with snow.
2. SHOPPING!!!! SHOPPING AND SHOPPING!!!! A lot... (The universe will pay for it!..ITS my birthday..I shouldn't pay)
3. Having a big party on a tropical Island with all of my loved ones!!
4. Having a wonderful and delicious dinner of SOME AWESOME JUNK FOOD!!!! like all the stuff I like!!!!
5. My exclusive session of Karaoke... Where I will sing the most randomest songs in my unique and GOOFY way! *Special performance of '500 miles' (IN MY SCOTTISH ACCENT...uniquely designed Scottish Accent) as requested by a dear friend... (HEY BARB!)*
NOW..!! BACK TO YOUR BIRTHDAY.....Girl you turned 58 today!!! You enjoy so so much and eat a lotta cake (for me too :D)....and Just wanted to tell you that your presence has made my life really wonderful...and I am so lucky to be friends with one of the nicest, sweetest, most talented women Ive met! I love you darling! Mwah!xoxo (and Colin, we are are counting on you for wonderful pictures!) And we wanna hear about EVERYTHING you did today!
My gift to you was well making you smile! And I got a haircut today..and I dedicated it TO YOU! Lame I know :P it doesnt look like your hair... but CLOSE ENOUGH! and heres an all time favourite song for M'girl !!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjF1bG5LUcs
Hey, I listened to the song while reading these posts -- good one, Shalaka!! And great pics re your day. (can't wait to her 500 Miles :) )
DeleteHAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEB!!!!!!! :D
ReplyDeleteSo I will be the slightly awkward age of 23 on my next b-day. This is what I would like:
1. Flying to Cali with sis and fulfilling the actor friend role. Coffee optional. ;)
2. Go back to England and run around London and stuff. With other friends.
3. Go to Scotland with Kelly. And other friends mentioned above.
4. Buy my mom her BMW convertible.
5. Sleep on the beach under the stars on an air mattress. Or no air mattress. Just sand. :)
And lots of food. :)
DeleteOh.... And I turn 20 next month!!
DeleteOh, thank god you added the food part, I was getting worried there :) And happy upcoming birthdays!!
DeleteWelcome to the 20 something club (soon)!!! :D I love being in my 20s.
DeleteWOOOOHOOOOOO...I bet I'LL LOVE IT TOO!!!!
DeleteHappy Birthday and many more!
ReplyDeleteBefore I type my 5, Deb said last night for me to post the link to the birthday card that I sent her. It's silly fun. Here it is:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jibjab.com/view/G6Yniur4RjJdoHiG
OMG THIS IS SO HILARIOUS!!!! LOL And I imagined Deb and Colin dancing like that too!!! :D
DeleteBAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
DeleteRigel!! This KILLED me!! Sooooooo funny (and addictively watchable. Colin's expression as he skates??!!)
DeleteHAPPY BIRTHDAY DEB!!!!
ReplyDeleteBefore I start, Rigel, your card was hysterical!!!!
1. Breakfast in Positano
2. Lunch in Greece, followed with a sail not unlike the one in "Shirley Valentine"
3. Dinner in Paris with the man I met in Greece
4. Being with my boys in Africa on Kuki Gallmunn's Ranch
5. A week in my old cottage on Lake Echo in Morin Heights with my boys and their partners
Soooo nice!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Deb! Hope it's an absolutely fabulous one!
ReplyDeleteWhat I want for my brithday this year is:
1)Be somewhere warm without snow. For some reason there always seems to be a blizzard on my birthday. I know December+Winnipeg what else should I expect.
2)Start the day with a perfect cup of coffee and a massage
3)Brunch with all of my family and friends
4)An afternoon spent in a tropical paradise swimming and playing with my girls
5)Go back in time to the early 40's with my husband and spend the night dancing the night away in a club with Sinatra singing live.
This is such a great list. And I forgot massage!! Yes, massages!
DeleteYay! Happy Birthday, Deb!!! :D
ReplyDeleteWell, I turn 34 next month (going on 70). If I had all the energy, time, and money in the world, my birthday would be spent like this:
1) Wake up in a tropical paradise and have breakfast with my husband and girls, looking out over crystal clear waters.
2) A morning stroll among the mountain gorillas in Africa.
3) Lunch in Canada, with my family and friends who live there. You're both invited, of course. ;)
4) Spend the afternoon shopping in New York and seeing the sights.
5) Dinner with my husband on a private yacht in the Pacific, under the stars, with music and dancing afterwards.
That would be perfect! :)
Mmmm, yeah, that sounds heavenly...
DeleteHappy Birthday Deb :)
ReplyDeleteI saw Colin's tweet earlier and asked him to say Happy Birthday to you...I highly doubt you got it, but now I've said it so~, just encase you didn't get it already here it is again.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Today is all about you!!! Just don't go crazy with power :P
Oh, I promise she'll get it, Garrett. But it's always good to leave your wishes in both places. (love your last line, btw!!)
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete^-^
DeleteHappy Birthday!!!
ReplyDeleteTomorrow is my 18th birthday (yikes!) so I've given my dream list much thought.
1. Breakfast at my favorite cafe with my best friend.
2. Lunch consisting of all things chocolate in a private jet while reading the latest William James biography.
3. Conversations with Paul Ekman, Ze Frank and William James (the last one might be tricky, speaking as James died in 1910...)
4. Two hours alone in the biggest Barnes & Noble in the world - one of the B&Ns with a Starbucks on the inside...okay, I actually might want a barista there, too. A girl has to have her over-caffinated nearly unpronouncable drink to focus!
Annnnnd 5. Having Bass Performance Hall to myself for the night, sitting in one of the overpriced box seats with an incredibly soft poofy blanket and one symphony after another going on until I fall asleep.
What is actually going to happen: I'm going to play chess with my mom and then babysit two of my favorite kiddos in the potential multiverse. ^_^
This was a lovely post, a fantastic idea. Really, I feel revived just writing all of the things that I want. :-D
Happy Birthday to you! 18 is a big one! Hope you have a fantastic one, Hannah-Elizabeth!
DeleteHannah-Elizabeth, we share the same birthday!! So happy early birthday to you!! I absolutely love this list. The cozy seat/symphony night is genius.
DeleteOh! Brilliant! :-D Happy early birthday to you too, Barbara!
DeleteHappiest of birthdays to you, beauty! We LoVe you xoxoxo
ReplyDelete1.) Being that my birthday is on Valentines Day I always celebrate my birthday for an entire month. We call it “The LoVe Month”… Soooo, on my birthday morning, I would like my sexy husband to wake me up with a morning cup of his sexy goodness… in the ultimate cabana in the Maldives!!! Followed by an afternoon delight, and a midnight snack! I would Like to be ravaged all month long. ;)
2.) Travel, shop, eat, sing, sexy times. With all our friends!
3.) Laugh until we cry & pee. Creating memories for a lifetime.
4.) Repeat every month for the year.
5.) End up in Paris, on Valentines day… and start all over again.
xoxox
Seana
Now why am I not surprised that your birthday is one Valentine's Day?! Lovely, lovely.
DeleteI was just thinking that, Steph. There is no better person in the world to exemplify the Valentine's Day spirit than our goddess Seana. Awesome list, baby!
DeleteA Valentine Birthday for a woman who personifies the meaning of love. Yep, that's how it should work. :)
DeleteAawwwww thank Gals!
DeleteXXOO Seana
Happy Special Memorable Birthday, Deb!! May the dreams and wishes you make today all come true!
ReplyDeleteHere I go:
1. Spend a peaceful night solo under the stars in the overwater bunagalow at the very end of the "pier" in Bora Bora. Fall asleep listening to the water lap against the supports. Wake up and go for an early swim. Have fresh strawberries, pineapple, melon, croissants, bagels, waiting for me on the table on the "deck." Time spending jet-skiing, then lounging on a catamaran sailing anywhere or nowhere. Souvenir shopping.
2. Pick up my daughter. Lots of shopping, then an authentic Greek lunch in an outdoor restaurant with an unblocked view overlooking the Aegean sea.
3. Para-sailing with my daughter in St. Thomas. Lots of shopping.
4. Ride elephants with my daughter in a Kenyan wildlife preserve and get up-close views of the other animals worry-free. Then lots of shopping. (Souvenirs from around the world. :)).
5. Shopping in Ireland, then hit the PERFECT Irish pub and celebrate in true Irish fashion with an enthusiastic crowd of the people who REALLY matter I trust implicitly, plus some locals who know what an Irish celebration is and help the atmosphere even more. (Rather like an Irish Cheers.)
I would like to do all of these activities in the perfect world where I don't need eyeglasses or sunscreen.
HA! I was going to mention the sunscreen thing too and forgot!! Great day, this is! Yes, I want Bora Bora and Kenya too.
DeleteHAPPY BIRTHDAY DEB!!!!xoxo
ReplyDelete1. Breakfast in Paris with my loved ones....and a tall, dark-haired man wearing a nice suit and an easy smile!
2. A day spent traveling the world, visiting the homes of some of my favorite authors (Mary Shelley, Jane Austen, Will Shakespeare, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and the Brontes just to name a few).
3. Shopping...lots of shopping. There would be buying of antique books (a hobby of mine) and many lovely things.
4. A meal in Vienna. Beautiful.
5. A night spent dancing and chatting with the man mentioned in #1.
Hope you have a wonderful, perfect birthday, Deb!! Love ya! xoxo
Oooh, I love the authors element!
DeleteHappy BDay Deb. Did Colin do anything special (I know, everyday is special).
ReplyDelete1. Breathe
2. Sleep in
3. Long walk at the cottage
4. Afternoon nap
5. Nice dinner
How boring? but a nice change to the hectic daily life.. Many more.... @edschonberger on twitter
I think these sound absolutely lovely, Ed. And I'm gonna wager that Deb is enjoying her perfect(ly do-able) day with Colin right now.
DeleteI've been thinking about this all day. My birthday is December 31. It's cold. Sometimes slushy, even. The roads aren't safe. Everyone's kinda still emotionally hungover from Christmas. Lots of people are still out of town. Lots of people get drunk and act like fools. It gets dark really early. Some places don't open, and others close early. It sucks.
ReplyDeleteSo, my perfect birthday? A Magnificent Loving Man would say to me in JUNE, "Sweetheart, we're gonna go ahead and celebrate your birthday all these months early. You get to have a summer birthday this year!!! I'm treating you to a week long birthday adventure on the other side of the calendar!!!"
1. Wake up in a buff, strong, powerful, size 8-10, healthy, vigorous body. With toned, muscular upper arms. No autoimmune thyroid disease and all the scary ickiness that comes with that. A heart that always beats correctly. No high blood pressure. No painfully screwed up disc in my lower back. No sinus problems. No migraines. A completely healthy body, trim and strong, full of energy. And, since this is my perfect birthday, I will most definitely NOT be on my period. Nor PMS'ing/spotting. Nothing annoyingly female will get in the way of this birthday! Wake up in this great body in a cottage on a long expanse of private beach with the whitest, softest sand on the Florida coast on the Gulf of Mexico, no air conditioning needed yet that day because it's early morning and we've got all the windows open to let a wonderful ocean breeze flow through the house. Seagulls squawking. Waves crashing. Wake up surprisingly very early (surprising because I'm a total night owl and not a morning person at all) because I've got to gobble up every possible second of every single hour of a very full perfect birthday. Wake up all refreshed after a blissful, solid night's sleep, filled with good dreams, feeling all safe and with no worries. We'll have arrived at the beach cottage the day before to begin Operation Awesome Summer Birthday Week. This first full day at the beach cottage has been designated my Official Unofficial Birthday. Wake up at that very early hour all cuddled up and spooning with Magnificent Loving Man. Who has very strong, skillful hands with long, skillful fingers. We both get up, brush teeth, pee, wash faces, etc. I braid my hair back. Then, we fall right back into the fluffy, soft queen size bed and start the day with an hour of slow, giggly, sweet, romantic, thorough, very detail oriented making love. Then, we hydrate and fuel up with light breakfast and head out!
2. It's low tide. We walk out of our cottage, down the short wooden boardwalk over the dunes and sea oats, to the water. We spend 2 - 3 hours of the morning outside on our private beach. And, because it's a perfect day, we are totally protected like SPF a bazillion so there'll be no sunburn. I've got on a tanktop/shorts style wetsuit (before y'all squawk, it's my perfect birthday, and I'd rather be in a wetsuit than a swimsuit! better for REAL swimming). I've got fins, mask, and snorkel with me! The nice, expensive kind of mask that has my glasses prescription ground into the lens and that has that really handy self-purge button. The beach and the shallows are strewn with gorgeous, intact, no longer occupied, perfect shells that we can collect. I snorkel among schools of fish. I play with the hermit crabs. I even get to swim along with a puffer fish and a sting ray. Magnificent Loving Man and I swim out to a sand bar, and facing the open ocean side of the sand bar, a pod of dolphins swims up close as they follow the fish in as the tide begins to turn. We hang out on the sand bar delighting in the dolphins before snorkeling slowly back to shore once the water begins to deepen over the sandbar. Then Magnificent Loving Man and I go back to the cottage, wash up, and change clothes. By now, it's getting close to 10am, and things will be beginning to hop in town.
To be continued...
Mmmm, this would make a great romantic novel...
DeleteHappy Birthday!
ReplyDelete1. Deb's #5
2. Breakfast with the fam on Kleine Knip beach back in Curacao. Ending the day looking like a prune from snorkeling all day
3. A day in cottage country north of To. with the family. Soon to be a reality :) No offense, Georgia...you're always "on my mind"
4. Taking my dear Open Hand friends out of their homes and to the ballpark...Go Braves!
5. Biking along the canals in Holland with husband and daughters, with a van carrying the luggage!
Oh, yeah, Arlene. Lovely.
DeleteAgain: Happy, happy Birthday, Deb! Hope you have a wonderful day, and enjoy every second of it! =) You are special. Love you. xxx
ReplyDeleteHmmm...my birthdays are rather boring, except for the Christmas fact. ;)
I don't really celebrate them, because I have no friends, with whom I can do something (not because it's christmas...because 99% of my friends live far away)...and my family becomes smaller and smaller every year. :(
What I would like (I pretent to not celebrate christmas the same day^^)....
1. My birthday is in December...and every day I want snow. So...looooaaaads of snow, so high, you cannot get out. I love snow!
2. Since I love the sea even more, I want to spend the day at the beach, in the sun, go swimming, find shells, and relax (oh and maybe some hot guys, who help me with the sun lotion ;)
3. I want to have a theme park for myself and my friends. And then I would try out every roller-coaster. I love roller-coasters.
4. Fly to Canada, visit Tim Horton's and eat as many donuts as I can. I miss donuts. :(
5. Take a horse and go for a ride...and end the day by relaxing with a cup of hot chocolate.
Roller Coasters! Snow that I don't have to shovel or clean off my car! Donuts! Horse-riding! I am SO there with you! We will celebrate your birthday BIG time!!!
DeleteI am so not a rollercoaster person, but I absolutely love this as a "perfect day" scenario!
DeleteA lot of folks are celebrating with guys. Love it! I'll take my dream guy along for the ride, holding hands and skipping, goofing off, being sickeningly cute and silly. Frosting fights, the works!
ReplyDeleteThe one exception is the para-sailing. That's for me and my daughter. I told her about this list and the five things in general. She really likes the para-sailing idea. The first thing on her list is a princess gown and tiara. First thing off the top of her head. And she's 17. I love my baby.
Dawn - Your daughter is so cool!
DeleteYeah, this is adorable. Both my daughters would be thoroughly impressed with her.
Deletecontinuing:
ReplyDelete3. Magnificent Loving Man and I hop into a 1962 Cadillac convertible (think Nick Knight's car on Forever Knight) that's painted kind of a lavender-y periwinkle and is decorated with big, supercute Hello Kitty car decals. Think about it: a huge, vintage land barge of a car decorated all KAWAII!!! Can you bear the cuteness?!? The top's down, and off we head to town! Magnificent Loving Man, who is tall, wiry/strong/lean with broad shoulders and sexy calves (obviously, he practices martial arts), and has a clean cut high and tight hair cut. And, smile crinkles in the corners of his eyes. And, excellent teeth. And, just to make sure we're very clear on this, he has large, strong, skillful hands with long, skillful fingers. He's wearing denim shorts (not tacky, crass, short cutoffs! nice, above the knee, crisp denim) and some sort of adorably geeky t-shirt (Firefly? Star Trek?). We are both wearing good quality, comfortable, sturdy hiking sandals. I have my hair twisted up and pinned in back loosely with a lovely, handmade, twisted wire hair pin (something like this but in a silvery tone: http://www.etsy.com/listing/94951259/bronze-celtic-knot-hair-pin-brooch-or?ref=sr_gallery_3&ga_search_query=celtic+knot+hair+wire&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_search_type=handmade ). I'm wearing a deep, rich green light weight, flowing, billow, cotton, tunic length tank top (remember: toned, muscular arms and trim body in this fantasy). My skirt is a billowy, purple, ethereal bohemian style peasant skirt. Something like this: http://www.etsy.com/listing/94951233/gypsy-skirt-long-purple-maxi-indian-boho?ref=sr_gallery_15&ga_search_query=peasant+skirt+purple&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_search_type=handmade . And, I'm wearing earrings like this: http://www.etsy.com/listing/98322224/sterling-silver-amethyst-sparkling?ref=sr_gallery_4&ga_search_query=amethyst+purple+earrings&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_search_type=vintage .
On the way in, we stop for blueberry/raspberry/strawberry/blackberry smoothies to help us pep back up after the long swim and hold us over till a late lunch. While we're waiting for our smoothies to be ready, we see the sign in front of the hotel across the street says that there'll be a coin show in the convention room 2 days later. Magnificent Loving Man asks, "Didn't you tell me that you used to really like to go to coin shows when you were a kid? That you like looking at really cold coins and coins from raw away?" And, I say, "Yes! But, it's been at least 20 years since I've done that." And, Magnificent Loving Man says, "Well, it's your birthday week! We'll be around for the rest of the week. I'll take you to the coin show day after tomorrow!" And, once we have our smoothies and continue our drive, we decide we'll pick out 10 very special coins, either by age, my exotic local, or by provenance, and have them properly mounted and framed when we get home, and that'll be our fancy, proper souvenir from the week.
And, best of all (aside from Magnificent Loving Man), guess what I bring along with me for the day's outing? A rocking awesome, fully tricked out, high quality, fully functional, fan-ta-bulous Canon DSLR camera!!! Because, how else could I have a birthday week adventure without taking a gazillion photographs?
...continued below...
#3 continued:
ReplyDeleteAs we ride along with the top down, I'm wearing vintage cat's eye sunglasses. I'll have bought vintage frames like this: http://www.etsy.com/listing/101848317/vintage-cat-eye-glasses-frames-black?ref=sr_gallery_6&ga_search_query=cat's+eye+glasses+frames&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=ZZ&ga_min=0&ga_max=0&ga_search_type=vintage off of etsy and had my prescription put in them in sunglass lenses form. I'll have tucked my regular glasses (no fantasy needed here --- I bought my dream glasses back in March! The purple frames!) in my camera case for later.
Whatever coastal town this is, it's not completely eaten up tourist-y, completely overrun with condos and snowbirds (no offense meant to this blog's Canadians). It certainly isn't overtaken by redneck college students. It's charming and quite engaging and fine as it is for the locals. Magnificent Loving Man drives us to a CRAFT FAIR on the town square!!! A huge extravaganza of the alternative culture DIY/Maker/Crafters. All hippies, Steampunk, artsy, freaks 'n' geeks, bubble blowers, jugglers, wooden swordplay, flame blowers, crunchy granola types, Goths, fairy believers ( http://www.faeriemagazine.com/festivals.html ), and all those who would defy simple labeling. BLISS!!! All the weird people, and they're all crafters and artists! MY TRIBE!!! There's an animal-friendly, guilt-free "Fiber Artist's Petting Zoo" with llamas, alpacas, cashmere goats, and angora rabbits. There's an adult sized ball pit ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_pit ), and Magnificent Loving Man and I jump in and have so much fun! There are demo booths for learning to spin roving into yarn with a drop spindle and a spinning wheel. There are tattoo artists' booths. There are booths for herbalists, soapmakers, batik artists, radical cross stitchers, silk painters, feminist embroidery artists, dollmakers, and everything else! There are jewelry makers , Chinese knot artists, milliners, and more! There are booths selling stuffies, art quilts, multimedia collages, art dolls, Prims, blown glass beads, polished stones for wire wrapping, all sorts of semi precious gems and minerals. There's a Celtic band playing, people dancing. When that band takes a break, the punk rock accordion band plays. Or, the bagpipers. Or, the local area's version of the Extra Action Marching Band ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrWgO6Tft3E&feature=relmfu ). There're henna booths. There are booths with designer/seamstresses selling exquisite bohemian style clothing, especially lots of skirts. Long, Turkish vests. Retro aprons. Silk patchwork harem pants. There are hair painting booths and body piercing booths. I take my hair down and have purple streaks painted in. I get a green glitter dragonfly painted on my left cheek. Tibetan prayer flags and wind socks flutter from the trees. Stained glass wind chimes sing from the corners of booth shade covering. There are booths to buy handmade elf slippers, hand sewn sequin-y drapo Vodou, rice bag purses, and sooooooo much more.
And, as we walk along and explore, Magnificent Loving Man holds my hand.
...#3 continued below...
#3, final portion:
ReplyDeleteIt's the ultimate craft festival of my fantasies. And, I gobble it up! I try every demo! I buy lots and lots of stuff, putting some in the trunk of the car (remember: Nick Knight drove that '62 Caddie because it had the largest trunk space) and arranging to have some of it (INCLUDING MY VERY OWN SPINNING WHEEL!) delivered. I buy bags and bags of hand dyed roving. I get contact info for small families farms from which I can buy raw fleece. I buy cards for combing fleece into roving. I buy all sorts of organic, homemade, herbal luxuries for the body -- anything peppermint or lavender or rosemary I desire! I buy yards and yards of painted silk and batik. I buy colorful glass beads and prismatic, crystal beads by the pound. Stones by the pound. All the shiny things that can be made into jewelry, I pillage! There's a glitter-by-the-pound booth with an amazing rainbow of colors available. An abundance of sparkly MUST come home with me! I pick out a beautiful art doll. I pick out a pair of Prims. I cuddle an armful of stuffies that I'll spend the rest of the day thinking up names for! My ears will have a new pair of earrings every day for weeks! The necklaces! The pendants! Lots of gorgeous new baubles to dangle between my boobs!
I buy a fabulous, funky, wide brimmed summer hat AND a fabulous, funky, wide brimmed winter hat!
The ultimate, epic, best ever craft festival of the whole universe. And, I get to be immersed in it for like 4 hours. With a Magnificent Loving Man. Rapture and bliss. After already having been in the ocean for hours earlier in the day. And, having already gotten laid for the first time of the day. Pretty much the be all and end all of GREAT for me!
...#4 and #5 to follow...
Oh, yeah, I can see it, baby...
DeleteHappy birthday to you!! We lost our power in the storm that hit the eastern US last Friday. To escape the insane heat, I left town and drove 15 hours to see my amazing sister. My internet connection is quite limited. Tomorrow I head home as power was restored yesterday. Anyway, it has been quite crazy. So a big wonderful happy birthday.
ReplyDeleteI'm hearing about this, Molly! Sooooo sorry. It must be awful. Thanks so much for the birthday wishes. Good luck!!
Deletela briethe shona Deb , thats happy birthday in the Irish language should you need to know ! may you have many more of them and may they all be happy .
ReplyDeletemy big birthday wish list is as follows :
1: a rail tour round Ireland with my fella , mike he lives in the Uk i would love him to come over .
2: a trip to manchester in England to see one of the bands that I like or to see a game of football being played by manchester united at old trafford or the small non leauge team i follow FC united of Manchester at gigg lane in bury .
3: to go to HMV in henry street and blow a fortune on DVD's and music .
4: failing the above someone to buy me some credits for the shop on web site of the band marillion or even a large i tunes voucher . i could spend a fortune in both places !
5: for my parents to be well again .
Your last one killed me, sweetie. It would be great to see a soccer tourney in real life, wouldn't it???
Deletei agree with you barbara . it is heart breaking that i have to make a with for my parents return to full health . especially as with my dads dementia it is unlikely to come true .
Deleteas to the football luckily enough i have been to see both teams play . dad and mom gave me a present of a trip to old trafford for my 21st birthday in 1996. I went over with dad and we had a fantastic time . mom dad and I went once a season until 2001 when mom had her first run in with cancer . dad was born in manchester , he and all my Manchester family are united fans . i could support no other team !
i went to see fc united in 2010 when I went to manchester to see a comedy show . they are a small community team set up by ex manchester united fans disillusioned by the then new mega bucks owners of manchester united and the way that big business has got in the way of the relationship between those who run manchester united and it's fans . I knew very little about the team before I went but I had a fantastic time .
Such a sweet story. Thank you xo
DeleteI love Manchester! :D
DeleteBut I've already told you that...
4. At around 2pm, recognizing that we've been out in the sun for many hours in the day and that the smoothies have long been metabolized and we are HUNGRY, Magnificent Loving Man and I climb back into the Kawaii Caddie. Top down, 80's New Wave blasting on the radio, blissfully happy, I ride along wondering what magic Magnificent Loving Man has planned next.
ReplyDeleteSee, that's the best part of this whole fantasy perfect Unofficial Official Birthday adventure. Magnificent Loving Man is someone I can TRUST. Even hyper detail oriented, control freak, scared all the time, uber-planner, no-loose-ends-tolerated me is secure, comfortable, and safe enough with Magnificent Loving Man that I'm OK with being swept along in the adventure. He has proven trustworthy and honorable enough that I can (and, yes, I cringe a little in real life over typing these next words) give myself over to him. The whole birthday week will be an exercise in me believing that he has the best of intentions and will not hurt me.
The mind boggles.
Obviously, this is a total fantasy.
Anyway, #4 covers 2pm-9pm of the perfect fantasy Unofficial Official Birthday adventure of my dreams. Magnificent Loving Man drives away from town center and back toward the water, toward the public beach, marina, and pier. We park in public parking near the pier and go to eat lunch at a wonderful little mom and pop seafood shack restaurant. With a Cajun band playing! The seafood is fresh caught that morning, bought off the boat, and cooked for us that lunch. Knowing that we'll be swimming a lot that week, calories are NOT a factor. We savor bowl after platter, sharing from each other's plates. Fish, boiled shrimp, broiled shrimp, fried shrimp, fried oysters, raw oysters, broiled scallops. Farm fresh corn on the cob from a local, organic grower. Thick slices of fresh picked tomato from the same. We moan in gleeful gluttony as we consume the ocean. And, then? Fresh key lime pie for dessert! All accompanied by iced Coca-Cola drunk from Mason jars.
Waddling from the restaurant like grinning penguins, we, of course, decide to walk off lunch a bit. So, we walk to the pier and walk the length of the pier out over the water. And, we get a to witness a special treat like this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6POpa3r_KA8
Because, with all my heart, I have invited my ocean friends to my birthday. Wishing I had Aquaman's marine telepathic abilities.
...#4 continued below...
#4 continued:
ReplyDeleteWe leave the pier and walk a couple of blocks inland. There, we enter a charming, musty, 2 story book collector's store. This is no ordinary bookshop. This is 2 overstuffed, heaping floors of floor to ceiling shelves of magical treasures. Magnificent Loving Man and I agree in silent accord that we will be staying until closing time! And, yay!, the bookshop has a pair of bookstore cats. So, as Magnificent Loving Man and I explore the stacks, each pulling a bundle of old and rare finds to devour with our eyes and minds, we are accompanied by furry, purring bundles of bibliophilic feline love. In between pulling piles of awesomeness, Magnificent Loving Man and I settle into snuggly, overstuffed, threadbare chintz arm chairs next to each other and dive into our chapters of delight, each with a kitty in our lap. Gradually, stacks appear by our chairs. Reshelve. Definitely buy. Maybe buy. The stacks grow larger. We know that we'll end up having boxes of books shipped home! But, who could resist? Dusty travel logs of visits to countries that no longer exist, black and white pictures honoring the ghosts of cultures past. Vintage 1950's-1960's fashion and design books in French. Vintage CRAFT BOOKS from the 1800's - 1950's. First person missionary accounts from the early 1900's. Anthropology texts from the 1930's. First edition Maya Daran _Divine Horseman_ --- SIGNED! Pre-1947 Zionist texts. Exquisitely illustrated Victorian books of Irish fairy tales. A complete, mint condition set of 1st edition Foxfire books. Old cookbooks from the Great Depression, the WWII home front. First hand accounts of women who homesteaded on the western frontier in the 1800's. Antique books of "true" pirate stories/legends of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Collections of regional "true" ghost stories. Delicate, crumbling, antique folios of klezmer sheet music. Vintage, first edition Star Trek paperbacks from the late 60's - early 70's. Antique book of haiku and senryu in Japanese, illustrated with gorgeous Japanese artwork. Antique books about silent film stars written contemporary to their careers.
And, the be all and end all, the ultimate:
a Corrie ten Boom book
signed by Corrie
Now, I'm not Catholic. Actually, I'm about as staunchly Protestant as a Christian chic can be. So, I don't do saints, relics, and all that.
But... but, but, but...
To hold a book that Corrie ten Boom had held. To slide my fingers across a page that she had signed, knowing that she had slid her hand across that page.
That would be a kind of Second Class Relic to me.
5:30 comes, and it's time to make our purchases before 6pm closing. We keep with us 1 box of books to savor during the remainder of birthday week at the beach cottage. The other boxes of at least 200 books, we arrange to have shipped and waiting for us when we get home.
:)
Magnificent Loving Man drives us back to the beach cottage. We empty the Kawaii Caddie. Then we strip to our undies and snuggle into the bed for a couple of hours' nap to recharge for the night ahead.
Magnificent Loving Man wakes me up at about 8:15. We quickly pull ourselves back together, including me scrubbing the remains of the glittery green paint dragonfly off my face. We get into the Kawaii Caddie and head toward the marina. Magnificent Loving Man says, "We have to be there by 9." What does he have up his sleeve?
...to be continued with #5 later...
5. Magnificent Loving Man parks the Kawaii Caddie in the marina parking lot. Taking my hand, he walks me down to one of the docks, and we board a yacht for a moonlight blues cruise! A dessert and drinks, moonlight on the water, blues music cruise.
ReplyDeleteBlues music.
On a boat.
On salt water.
OH yeah, Magnificent Loving Man is definitely lobbying for lots more sex.
The deck beneath our feet throbs as the boat's motor surges and we push away from the dock. A really, really good blues band starts playing. Occasionally, we wander below deck to the dance floor and dining area in order to pick up another cupcake, berry tart, or other sweet treat. Mostly, we stay up on deck, standing at the railing, watching the water flow by glimmering in the moonlight. And, kissing.
Now, to be clear, we don't get all nasty and inappropriate for public. But, it's some intense, breath taking kissing. Full on, go for the tonsils, oh wow this man's tongue is talented, kissing. We're not like all feeling each other up or anything else we shouldn't be doing on a public boat, but the kisses are definitely a glimpse of things to come (pun fully intended).
The moonlight blues cruise lasts an hour. We get back in the Kawaii Caddie, top still down, and head back to the beach cottage. Now, we've both got our seatbelts on, and I'm not trying to make Magnificent Loving Man wreck the car or anything, but let's just say that, as we're driving along, I make him quite eager to be back at the cottage. I let my fingers do the walking, and perhaps he breaks the speed limit a little.
We get back to the cottage, strip naked, and begin the grand finale of my birthday!
Now, before y'all even begin to think "sex on the beach" - NO. Even in a perfect fantasy day, let's just all acknowledge the fact that sand gets everywhere and is abrasive. There are places on the human body where nothing abrasive ever belongs. In no shape form or fashion are the words "scratchy" and "abrasive" EVER to apply to inserting Tab A into Slot B.
But, the beach cottage has a deck! So, we spread blankets out on the deck, and have a nice, long session of sweet love making capped off with a delightfully strenuous stretch of rutting like animals.
:)
Then, after cuddling for a few minutes, Magnificent Loving Man stands up, takes my hand and pulls me up, and says, "Come on inside for something to drink and to rinse off. I've got one more birthday gift for you."
After we've rehydrated and are snuggling in bed, he hands me a wrapped box the size of a jewelry box. But, when I unwrap it, what's inside is FAR, FAR better than ANY jewelry. It's a tightly folded up envelope with a letter in it. The letter is from the nearest US Coast Guard Air Station. The next afternoon, Magnificent Loving Man and I get to tour the USCG Air Station, and then I get to fly in an MH-65 Dolphin out over the Gulf, be hoisted down with the rescue swimmer, detach, and then hoist back up and fly back.
Best. Gift. Ever.
EVER.
...continued below...
Dang it! I wish Deb would check in. I can't wait to hear about her birthday!!!
ReplyDeleteI'll finish typing out #5 later tonight. Supper, laundry, etc. call. Ugh! Mundanity seriously sucks after writing paragraphs upon paragraphs of fantasy.
Hopefully, we'll hear from Deb soon?!?!? I bet Colin spoiled her fabulously rotten! He'd better have!!!
Wow, Shade of Rigel, anyone??? Hot, baby! What a great day.
DeleteRe Deb, I'm going to take a very wild but probably accurate guess and say she won't check in here again till tomorrow. As lovely as the blog is, nothing breaks the mood quite so quickly as one half a couple cracking open the computer :)
Well, if you approve of me finishing the last half of #5, it's going to be a rather dark shade of gray. Along the lines of charcoal gray. (But, R. Certainly not NC-17.)
ReplyDelete*grumbles* Back to cleaning the kitchen.
Real life sucks!
Ugh had a rough day. Recovering from pinics much? LOL but it all gets better because.....HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEB!!! woooooooo!!!! sending some virtual balloons : )
ReplyDeleteok my top 5 birthday list..
1.Rent the zoo for the day. Close it to all other visitors and just let me get all kinds of behind the scenes treatment with the animals.
2. Have a personal chef cook me a wonderfull yummy vegetarian meal
3. Have access to a jet, just in case I want to travel around during the day.
4. Get a new tattoo. ( the last two birthdays I have been able to get a tattoo as a gift from my parents )
5. Ability for all the family to be with me for the day.
Sorry you had a rough day, Kelly :( Love your list though!
DeleteA very Happy Birthday to you both! :)
ReplyDeleteRigel, boy do you have a wonderfully detailed imagination. Loved reading about all of your activities and with links, no less.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the birthday wishes, everyone!! xoxo
ReplyDelete...And the great "day" lists. I turned this one into a dinner party convo, made everyone make a list on the spot. Was so much fun!
ReplyDelete