It’s that time of year again.
BIRTHDAY MONTH!!!

For those of you who don’t know, every year for the last few years, I’ve celebrated my birthday month.
Not the day.
Not the week.
The whole entire month!

:: The Premise ::

For 31 days leading up to my birthday – I do one thing, each day, to celebrate myself.

I started this little yearly practice because I’d realized that over the years my birthday had become less and less of an important date. Even though I don’t have specific anxiety around getting older, I definitely had noticed that my own celebrations had become rather lackluster. And when I looked around me, at most of my family and friends – it was the same for them.

What I discovered is that by the end of the 31 days, which culminates on my birthday itself, I felt connected, proud, sparkly, sexy, grounded, alive, important and worthy of a big celebration!
And then I began to wonder, why doesn’t everyone do this?!

As adults I think we get really wrapped up in work, life and getting by. We have families, kids, illness, financial pressures among a million other things on our plates. So celebrating our birthday seems, well, a bit much. We’re either too tired, not in the mood, don’t feel like it, don’t want to make it a “big deal”, hate surprises, or we hate getting older so why celebrate at all?
Sound familiar?

But here’s the thing.
I know you want to celebrate
I know you want a proper party.
I know you want cake. Sparkles. Presents. Hugs. Kisses. Unicorns.
Ok, maybe not unicorns. That might just be me.

You want the feeling of having everyone around you, celebrating YOU.
The kind of feeling you may have had at birthday parties growing up.
A palpable excitement.
Joy to the power of a million!

So it’s time to get back to that kind of celebrating.
Wouldn’t you say?

Think about it, it’s your birthday.
The day you were born.
The day the world was made richer and more beautiful because of your presence.
I don’t know about you, but if that’s not a reason to celebrate, I don’t know what is!

To be honest though, this year, I haven’t felt like celebrating.
With my birthday right around the corner (April 29th), I’ve been feeling pretty bleh.
I’ve had health challenges.
Been battling depressive tendencies.
I’ve had two significant losses in my life since last year.
And now, my 96 year old grandmother, who means everything to me, is slowly losing her battle with cancer.
I’m hardly in the “party spirit”.
Yet the party spirit it EXACTLY what I need.

So, in an effort to get myself back in the celebratory saddle, I decided to put together a list of things that I can do for the next 31 days to celebrate my life. Clearly, I won’t get to all 121 things. But I can use the list to refer back to again and again if I’m ever needing a little “me time”.

The fact is, I’m lucky to be alive and healthy enough to enjoy the last 35 years. I am surrounded by people who will celebrate with me. Who care about me. Who see me. And who love me.
And so are you.

I hope this post inspires you to celebrate your own birthday month.
And to sit down and consciously create a list of fun, heart-opening, life affirming and downright awesome ways to celebrate your month.

And just in case you need a little nudge . . .
I’ve created a super, soulful, filled-with-fun, digital experience, that will help get you reconnect to your birthday and get you into the celebratory spirit! It’s called THE BIRTHDAY MONTH EXPERIENCE. And I hope you’ll check it out.

121 WAYS TO CELEBRATE MY BDAY MONTH IN 2013

Have a picnic at the beach
Go to DisneyWorld
Have a dinner at my favorite restaurant with friends
Go see a movie, solo
Buy myself a new book (fiction + fun)!
Get a mani-pedi at my favorite nail salon
Book a spa day
Play hooky from working and just read magazines and drink tea all day
Visit LACMA and explore
Take a SoulCycle class
Order a new movie on iTunes
Take a drive and explore a new neighborhood
Go for a hike in Runyon Canyon
Cook a gourmet meal at home
Make a celebration worthy cake
Get my bangs trimmed
Take a hip-hop dance class
Spend a day, cleaning + organizing my home office
Savor a chai latte at Intelligentsia
Take another SouCycle class
Take a digital sabbatical (no internet or tv) for the day
Find a pool and go for a swim
Take a photo walk around my neighborhood
Have breakfast for dinner
Have breakfast in bed
Watch The Goonies
Look back through old photos + albums, and reflect on just how much I’ve grown (up)!
Dress up (tiara not optional) and karaoke my heart out
Write a thank you note to my mom and dad
Spend the day with a friend who makes me laugh
Go to the farmer’s market and get some fresh spring produce
Hit the flower market and get a few bunches of blooms for the house
Soak in a piping hot, orange blossom + jasmine scented bath while listening to Mariah
Get those Dieppa Restrepo loafers I’ve been eyeballing
Have an ice cream party at my favorite creamery
Have dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant with my love
Give back with a loan to an entrepreneur on Kiva
Have a staycation and do nothing but indulge on yummy foods, explore the city and sleep-in as late as I want
Switch to Verizon (hallelujah!)
Have a bonfire on the beach
Go explore Chinatown
Eat at Din Tai Fung
Experiment making something fun with the Vitamix
Create a photo wall in my office
Take an overnight trip to Santa Barbara
Make a beautiful vision board
Have a tea date with a friend
Work at my fave co-working space
Roll out my yoga mat at home and do some restorative yoga
Rock out to my Tracy Anderson DVD’s
Buy myself a new perfume
Go see a show at the Upright Citizens Brigade
Go to the taping of a live TV show
Light the candles in the fireplace, make a cup of hot cocoa and read a good book
Sleep in until I wake up (no alarm!)
Take a trip to San Diego and explore
Check out Catalina Island
Take a meditation class at the Zen Center
Go to my favorite yoga studio and take a class
Sign-up for an improv class
Go on a shopping spree at Madewell
Have a themed dinner party at home
Go to a haunted house
Call my grandma and glean some of her 96 years of wisdom
Shoot a video diary of one day of my birthday month and post it on the blog
Have an extra long cuddle / play session with the kitties
Smile at every single person I see today
Get one of the extra special cuts of meat from our butcherettes
Buy myself a waffle maker
Make Cup4Cup waffles with yogurt and berries for lunch
Go see an indie band that I’ve never heard
Hang out with my friends’ kids and jump on the trampoline
Go to a movie at the Landmark Theater (my fave place)
Make art
Take a long weekend and fly to NYC to hang with my peeps
Take photos of people that inspire me
Writer a love letter to myself and then post it to myself, just because
Buy a new notebook or journal to write your dreams in for the next year
Get a puppy (tee hee)
Read The Alchemist (again)
Get a facial at Arcona
Have a Skype chat with a long-distance friend
Watch Punky Brewster
Do a girls night out with my ladies
Take a trip to wine country in NorCal
Subscribe to a new fashion magazine, just ’cause
Drive up to the Bay Area and visit all my favorite spots
Walk around 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, and window shop
Learn how to make olive oil
Say goodbye to cable TV once and for all
Meditate 1st thing in the morning
Practice doing The Work
Start working with a life coach again
Book a trip to see my sister and extended family
Check out Legoland
Go to Medieval Times
Buy myself a new bag of vanilla rooibos tea
Learn how to make something yummy with St. Germain
Ride a bike around Santa Monica & Venice beach
Get a new tattoo by my fave artist in Berkeley
Plan a romantic date night for me and my man
Get a membership to Spotify Premium
Make a bunch of fun playlists on Spotify
Get acupuncture
Get a massage
Spend time outlining and planning the feature film I want to make
Hang out with my film buddies and talk shop
Teach a workshop to film students
Refrain from eating sugar for the whole month (even though it contradicts several other things on this list)
Dress up all fancy-like during the day, just ’cause
Visit a local art gallery
See the LA Philharmonic perform
Take a cooking class
Buy myself a big new jasmine scented candle
Have a Harry Potter movie marathon
Take all of my unworn clothes to Crossroads + use the money to buy a new piece of clothing I’ve been wanting
Play mini-golf
Go rollerskating
Go bowling and stay until I get a strike!
Take a trapeze class
Release my 1st digital experience on The Girl Who Knows (yaaay!)

~

What’s on your celebration list?
xo