It's BIRTHDAY TIMEEEE
Well, as predicted, I was unable to write a proper post yesterday, as I spent the day reveling in my Sometimes Healthy Hangover and eating ridiculous amounts of fro yo and pretzels and cream cheese. Luckily, I did take lots of pictures of Saturday’s Birthday Fiesta to ensure that I’d be able to recap all of the fun with minimal words.
Birthday Fiesta in Numbers
1 Spaghetti Squash Pre-Game Disaster
All I wanted was to enjoy a little snack while getting ready for the fiesta..
Now that's what I call starting the birthday off with a bang...spaghetti squash explosion! At least I cleaned it up...it wasn't my kitchen. Oops.
6 Shots of Pre-Game Reddi Whip
Now THIS is how your pregame 😉
5 Special Friends at Birthday Dinner + 1 Amazing Brother
How lucky am I?
3 Delicious Taco Spreads for the Table
Steak, Chicken and CRISPY FISH. YUM
Crispy Fish Tecos = Bliss
Favorite appetizer: grilled corn with chili and limon!
7 Times I Thanked the Waitress for my Birthday Taco Sundae
For me?? Really!? But my birthday's not REALLY 'til Thursday
Close-up shot. She's a beauty!
3 Times We Played Taylor Swift..for my Brother
DJ Anjelica
12 Times I told my friends, “Uh Oh, I’m a little tipsy.”
Good friends
More good friends...and a birthday hat.
Even MORE good friends and 2 bunny ears 😉
10 Birthday Shots that Never Should Have Been Poured…
I'm too old for this...no seriously, I'm LITERALLY too old for this
15 Times I Said, “I need a picture…FOR MY BLOG!”
Oh...hello world.
In short, the night was everything I hoped for and more! I may live in NYC, but I’m not a fan of the whole glam scene. A night spent with good friends consuming lots of quality Mexican food and some adult beverages is what I call a perfect faux birthday celebration (faux because technically my birthday isn’t until Thursday, but I don’t have time to celebrate that day).
And Then Morning Comes
If you can judge the success rate of a night by how many of the attendees nurse hangovers the next day, then my b-day fiesta was most certainly a raging success. I received confirmation of no less than 5 hangovers the next day, and this Sometimes Healthy Girl was certainly part of the club. I’m not a huge drinker, so when I do knock em’ down, I tend to suffer the harsh consequences the next day.
Something about the “vulnerability” of being in a hungover state makes me feel the need to be surrounded by people all day. Therefore, I spent Sunday roaming around NYC with my BFF Michelle and her sister why I made my way through the “phases” of a Sometimes Healthy Hangover:
Phase 1: Hopelessly Oblivious
9 AM the next day. Feelin' like a million bucks...or so I thought.
Phase 1 is characterized by an awareness that something is off, but not being quite sure of how bad it is. You’re blissfully unaware of how sick you may feel later in the day because, well, frankly, it appears the alcohol has not completely left your system (Dear Mom: I know you will call me later in the day to lecture me about still being drunk at 9am, but I had to be honest with the readers – you know I’m about “keeping it real“)
Phase 2: The Refueling Process
Coffees all around!
The body just needs some donut holes!
Nothing like a good ol' fashioned New York bagel after a night on the town.
Cooking mac while watching youtube on a cell phone. we are special.
In Phase II, your body insists you need to refuel ASAP. You may have only gone to bed 5 hours earlier. You may have even eaten right before you went to bed. You may feel like your head weighs 50 pounds. But it doesn’t matter, you will get your food. And you will get exactly what you want. For some, it’s your favorite fast food breakfast (admit it, sometimes nothing tastes better than some BK French Toast Sticks). For others, it’s pancakes in bed. For New Yorkers who can’t make it out to the traditional Sunday brunch because they are too hungover, it’s bagels. Others prefer mac n’ cheese.
Phase III – The Wall
Hangover + Golf = Out like a light
During this phase, the mind finally connects with the body, thus realizing you feel like crap. A nap in front of the television usually follows. This is much easier to accomplish when your best friend’s boyfriend is watching golf on tv.
Phase IV: Turning a Corner
I think I've found the cure...
Fro yo makes everything better
All gone 🙁
Maybe a little sunshine will make us feel better?
Some trashy magazines...
Maybe a little rooftop shower?
In Phase IV, your hungover mind finally realizes that venturing out of the apartment/home might not be such a bad idea. So you throw down a couple of Advil and use frozen yogurt as motivation to get your Sometimes Lazy butt out of the door. While finishing the giant frozen yogurt is extremely disappointing, you’ll easily recover with a little bit of sunshine, some gossip magazines and a super-cool rooftop.
So there ya have it! Recap of the Fiesta and breakdown of a Sometimes Healthy hangover. While I might have been just fine with a few less beers Saturday night, I think it’s A-OK to let loose every now and then. I mean a girl really only almost turns 28 once in her life.
Off to bed! Busy but fun week of work ahead. Happy Almost Tuesday!
Question:
What’s your ideal birthday celebration?
Are you a beer, wine, liquor or mock-tail girl/guy? What’s your favorite drink?
So glad you had a fun night! You looked gorgeous–I loved your hair and from what I could see, your dress was really cute!!
Thank you! That’s so sweet of you to say! I actually had my hair cut that day…thus it looked extra nice. Never looks quite as good when I do it myself 🙂
sad i missed it — sounds like a PERFECT sometimes healthy bday, which you absolutely deserve!!!
I’d have to say mocktails. And my ideal birthday celebration involves amazingly good food, friends and family (last year I hosted my own birthday dinner party…so fun!). Annnnd…>I WANT A TACO SUNDAE!
I have been brainstorming ways to recreate this delightful treat, healthified, of course. So stay tuned!! And it was every bit as delish as it looked 🙂
Good call on the DD munchkins, I snacked on those today as well!
In response to your pregame whipped cream shots: did you know they actually MAKE alcohol-infused whipped cream?? How genius can you get?
Happy early birthday, and congrats on conquering that hangover!
As a matter of fact, I DID know that. Why I haven’t tried one of those babies is beyond you and me. But I must say, my first thought when I heard of that product was simple: GENIUS. Perhaps I’ll post a review when I finally try it!
I honestly can’t choose between wine, beer, AND cocktails! I LOVE them all!
Your celebration looked so fun! The birthday taco looked amazing! I forget how much I cant handle alcohol and always regret it the next day.
AHH it looks like you had so much fun! Well worth the hangover. 🙂
When I go out and know I’ll be drinking a considerable amount, I usually drink vodka and soda waters. The soda water helps me stay hydrated, because I always forget to drink water. I ALWAYS end up doing a number of tequila shots though…and it usually ends up being a bad idea. 😉
I do love to go out and have a few glasses of good wine — but those are usually more laid back occasions.
Yes tequila is usually bad news bears for this Sometimes Healthy Girl…but paired with a birthday taco, perhaps it’s not so bad?? 😉
I love this recap, it looks like you had such a fun night and you looked gorgeous 🙂 Well worth the hangover if you ask me!
I also don’t drink too often so I tend to really make it worth my while when I do…aka I wake up feeling like doom. I like your methods for dealing with a hangover. I always take a walk to get some fresh air and pound down water like no one’s business!
I’m totally a beer chick. If you ply me with a good IPA, I’ll declare you my BFF. Haha. I’m not sure what my ideal bday celebration would be. I love to dance, so clearly something involving that, but the last few years my bdays have been low key or lame. Perhaps 29 will be a big extravaganza to make up for it. 🙂 Happy early birthday!
Yeah, why not? Go big or go home? It’s your last party before the the big 30 so perhaps you could do a “party like you’re 21” theme. And you could do all things you used to do when you were 21. If you ask me, that’s a great to ring in the last birthday of your 20’s 🙂 I hope to read about it!!
Never thought I’d hear “healthy” and “hangover” in the same sentence!
I’m with you on not being all about glam – my ideal birthday is just some good friends & good drinks in a place where I can actually see & hear my friends when they talk to me. My drink of choice changes with the weather… beer in the summer, wine in the winter, and liquor if I don’t want to move for the next week. Happy Birthday 🙂
hahaha “beer in the summer, wine in the winter and liquor if I don’t want to move for the next week” This made me smile 🙂 You can always put “healthy” and “hangover” in the same sentence if you add a “sometimes” before it 😉
Loved your recap – looks like you had lots of fun. You even made your hangover look fun!
Happy Belated Birthday 🙂
oh man, I must be a talented lady if I can make hangovers feel fun…although, I do feel that for the first portion of the day, until the wall hits, they are kind of a good time 😉 I certainly wasn’t complaining when I was downing Munchkins like they were tiny little peanut m&m’s 😉
Happy (early!) Birthday!!! I love your hangover stages- I totally relate to waking up early feeling like a million bucks then slowly going downhill..bahaha. That corn looks AMAZING- mexican is my favorite. I am a beer and wine girl but enjoy cocktails too.. I guess I like em all. 😉
This is my first time visiting this blog, and I must say I love it! Your hangover-recovery is completely relatable! So glad you had a good birthday celebration!
Thanks for visiting and glad you enjoyed the bday hangover recap. Hope to see you around these parts again 🙂
I’m a liquor girl. Specifically I can knock back tequila and whiskey like it’s going out of style. Margaritas are my one true drinking love, but I tend to only drink them on special occasions.
My birthdays are always the exact same. A mini-celebration with my family because I was born on my parents’ anniversary. 🙂
awwww that is so precious. You gave your parents the best anniversary present of their lives! 🙂
Okay that taco sundae needs to be introduced to my life ASAP!
Happy almost birthday – looks like it was bumpinnn!! I actually nursed my weekend hangover the exact same way.
(Ooh I just realized that while I’ve been reading along for awhile, I don’t think I’ve ever commented! So hiii Jamie, your “sometimes healthy” life sounds perf to me!!)
AW thanks so much for the comment. Glad to hear we have similar hangover coping mechanisms. And thank you so much for commenting! My life is certainly far from perfect but it is full of laughs 😉
haha, it looks like you had an awesome birthday celebration! And omg, taco sundae! Looks amazing. My ideal bday celebration is a bit low key, since I’m a huge lightweight. Nice dinner with friends, good wine. That’s all I really need!
Well, fellow New Yorker, if you’re itching for a taco sundae, just head over to Diablo Royale and pretend it’s your birfday 🙂
Looks like you had a great birthday!
My ideal birthday celebration looks pretty similar to yours – any kind of great food and drink, and time spent with great friends, makes me happy!
I drink mostly beer and wine – but I do enjoy the occasional liquor type cocktail!
this is the BEST post!! I love it. all I need is mexican and too many shots… I mean adult beverages… for my birthday too. I love the “mind finally connects with the body” nap part because it is SO TRUE. happy actual birthday in 5 hours!!!
-courtney
Thanks for the bday wishes Courtney – ugh, that wall is the worst part of the hangover for sure..I experienced it this past Saturday after my impromptu beach day. oooops.
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