Happy Birthday to Me.

I weighed the pros and cons of writing a birthday entry. It seems so tacky. But then again, I am the person who has a blog solely so that she can talk about how great her life is. That's pretty tacky in itself. A birthday entry is almost required. 

Well if you insist.

I picked up my beautiful cake on Wednesday around 3. 3 is basically the latest you can leave the area and not get caught in rush hour traffic. With a 50 minute ride home, I always aim to be in my front door by 4. After that all hell breaks loose. That is, if hell hasn't already broken loose. I get on the highway by 3:10 and am immediately met with traffic. I saw some road work signs and assumed everything would pass quickly. After a half hour of inching down 476 and realizing that it isn't going to get better I turn on the radio to see if I can get any more news. Apparently a tractor trailer had crashed right at the entrance to the PA Turnpike. Oh that's so not clearing up any time soon. So I pull off at the Conshohocken/Norristown/whatever suburban wasteland exit and attempt a turn around. They've thought ahead for people doing this and make you complete a series of turnarounds, stoplights, trivia questions and dizzy bat derbies before you reach southbound 476 again. I should mention that I stopped at Wawa and got a medium sized Diet Coke for the ride. Remember that, that's crucial information. Now heading southbound, I (safely) jet my way down to 95. This move is risky. It's going to add a fairly good portion of time to my trip and could end in traffic hell, but it was clear that my usual option was not an option today. Any sign of a slow down gets me panicking. Somehow I make it to 95, things slow down a little by the airport, I realize that drinking a diet coke before the ride was a bad idea. Panic sets in. Things speed up. Hooray. We're gonna make it. If I can just get out of the Philly metropolitan area I can pull off at a Dunken Donuts. We're quickly approaching 4 o clock here and people are starting to sneak out of work. Almost. Home. Free. When...BALLS! I forgot about the permanent 24/7 traffic jam near the Vine St expressway. Stopped. After inching my way through about a mile of traffic, stuck behind a Poland Spring delivery truck (NOT HELPING MY SITUATION!) it begins to ease up. I have a specific Dunken Donuts in mind that i am aiming for. Perhaps I know where all possible Dunken Donuts on the way home from school are, don't judge me. After going through a series of false alarm traffic jams I spot my pull off. Race into the DD, take care of things, and get myself an iced coffee. 1. I don't learn from my mistakes 2. I have guilt issues and hate using fast food places without purchasing something. They way the counter people look at you, as if you just stole their puppy. After this I was home free and stumbled into my house at 6 PM. Yes. I left BMC at 3. I hate my life. HOWEVER! Now my birthday could begin! 

Mom made dinner and we decided to not even wait until my actual birthday to have cake. Best decision we could ever make. Sweet, sweet, delicious Bakery House cake. We then all retreated to our separate areas to watch the Phillies. Mom and Dad have the plague and think it's best if they avoid each other so as to not make each other sicker. Instead of consolidating the plague, they are simply bringing it to every part of the house so that it's pretty much a given that in two days, I will be dying. Thanks. Thanks guys. I love the Phillies this year. Having a major problem that the Phils might meet the Sox in the series, which would be both the best and worst thing ever. But since the Sox weren't playing tonight, I could root for the Phils. They looked great. I missed the end of the game though because I went into Princeton at 11 to meet Ch'nel and head to our favorite bar, the Ivy. Perfect place to ring in a birthday, ahahah. It was as if summer never ended. We walked in and all of our favorite summer characters...still there. Karaoke blasting, JL Ivy guy wandering around, Lauren's cousin doing bad karaoke, life was good. When word spread that the Phillies had won I knew that this was going to be a good birthday and it had only just started. 

My actual birthday was lovely and relaxing. I watched some Office, then went into the office. See, I made a pun. Everyone was all well and good there. Demanding to know where my cake was. Apparently some people assume that I want to share my cake. That's funny. They in turn gave me the best birthday present, 4 hours of them listening to me talk about myself. That's all I ask for in life. 

I then met my mom for some mother daughter pampering. Afterwards OMP met us for delicious, delicious dinner. The restaurant advertised the "best pork chop on the planet"...it was pretty damn good. We noticed at the bar that the Red Sox were losing pretty badly. Oh well, at least I won't have to worry about splitting my love for the Phils and the Sox. So I thought. Laying around at about 11:30 I notice one of my friends put up an away message that simply said "GET IT TOGETHER RAYS!" wait....that means...I check ESPN.com and see that the Sox have tied it up. I race downstairs to turn on the tv and watch the final inning. I pump my fist into the air as JD Drew hits it to the outfield and the Sox win. These are the Red Sox I root for. I take a moment for some contemplation. I can't root against the Sox, I can't do it. But I really. really. want a parade for Philly. I might have a problem.