I celebrated my birthday last weekend.  Birthdays used to give me a tremendous amount of anxiety.  I started my own personal life performance review about a month before.  There was some, a lot of crying,  soul searching and angst.  A lot of that had to do with where I was in life in terms of marriage and children (and the lack thereof) through most of my thirties.  I met my husband ten years ago about a month before my birthday.  He definitely witnessed a few crazy tears leading up to my birthday and he did not run for the hills.  He planned a nice dinner and showed up with flowers and a great gift.  It was a great birthday then.

This year was also a great birthday.  I started the celebration with my son and my parents in San Diego with breakfast (and a fun dinner with a view the night before).  My son and I went to visit them as soon as school got out.  We drove back to Los Angeles and arrived home to a decorated house with flowers, balloons, a lovely lunch of my favorite gourmet sandwich,  Harry’s Berries, mini cupcakes and cards laid out.

After this celebration that my husband planned so that our son would not feel left out when the babysitter (yes, babysitter!) arrived.  We headed out for one of my favorite activities,  you guessed it, shopping. We went to Calypso and he took a comfortable seat while I tried on a bunch of new arrivals. I bought a couple of dresses and even wore one out of the store.

A friend had recently celebrated her birthday at Capo in Santa Monica. I mentioned it to my husband and, to my surprise, he was able to get a reservation. But first, margaritas at Casa Del Mar (where we had our first date). The margaritas were house made and delicious.

Capo exceeded our expectations from the great service to the amazing dinner and decadent chocolate soufflé. I had calamari al forno and an amazing pasta sampler.

Best of all, no tears – well almost.  There were a couple of tears of joy and gratitude.  I am lucky to have a husband who makes me feel so special on my birthday. I also appreciate having each birthday. Life is short and precious. It is a privilege to get older and one that I do not take for granted.

Outfit details:

Calypso Dress

Calypso Clutch (similar here)

J. Crew Shoes

Here is to the privilege of getting older.

XO,

JAE