Thursday, January 16, 2014

My perfect birthday party.

So, I've got a birthday coming up.

Something I've always struggled with, when it comes to birthdays, is this conflict of desires about how to celebrate. I have this serious inner conflict because of two things:

1. An aversion to a very large gathering at which I am the center of attention and must be on my A-game and engage all people in the room and make sure they are having a good time and accept a lot of hugs from a lot of people.

2. An inability to leave people off the invite list. Like, I really struggle planning anything for a group of 5 without it turning into a group of 50. A friend once complimented me in high school and said that I was always good at making sure everyone got invited to things. I think it's a blessing and a curse.

So then I had this hilarious realization about my perfect birthday scenario.

It would be a party where everyone I know could be invited, no one is left out, and everyone feels welcome....but I'm allowed to hang out by the food table or in a corner and just watch other people mingle and have a good time. In other words, I think I'd get perfect, genuine enjoyment out of being a wallflower at my own birthday party. Ha. So basically we've established that I'm a little weird about parties.

...anyone feel me? What's your perfect birthday scenario? 


(Truthfully I usually try and travel on my birthday but it wasn't in the cards this year!)

8 comments:

Brittany said...

I love your blog! Its adorable! Happy Early Birthday!
-Brittany
http://pittsburghglamour.blogspot.com/

Alicia Snow said...

"Everything you just said, is MY favorite thing to do, every day!" Please tell me you get that reference. But seriously, that is me to the T. Wallflowers unite, but in our own corners.

K&R said...

hmmm so as a christmas eve baby, my birthdays are really hard. so every year its just me and my fam. which is fun. but i feel ya, i guess i like my events to be centered around food and cake. so as long as i get the food and cake i want then i'm happy. sooo i would say we should meet up and just eat food together, ya?

val of the south said...

For my big birthday last year, I had an 80's dance party, with a DJ. I invited a ton of people and I danced the night away, only really interacting if they came over to dance with me...it was the best birthday party ever...it could work for you :)

Chantel said...

ah ha!! I am with you 100% Invite EVERYONE, so you can observe your presence, and they will leave you in the quiet solitude of your mind - even though you should be the main focus. Yep, I'm all with you.

Chantel said...

observe *THEIR presence I mean. Proof-reading is a good thing, I guess.

Melanie said...

Several years ago I established a birthday tradition of making my own birthday cake. While I love to bake, I usually hate cutting and serving cake. However, last year I decided that I would serve the cake because it ensured that I would get a chance to talk to everyone, plus it gave me something to do (because I also hate being that person who is awkwardly at the center of attention).

Wandering Justin said...

I once had a birthday on a bus going from Nelson, New Zealand, to Franz Josef Glacier. That's pretty ridiculously perfect.

And last month, my wife celebrated her birthday. The day before, we were about to board a plane headed to Tokyo and the flight attendants gave her a bag of truffles and a note wishing her a happy birthday. And I woke her up to say "happy birthday" as we crossed the International Date Line. I don't think I'll ever get another chance to do that again.