I have been learning Spanish via the Duolingo app, thanks to the encouragement of my younger son, who is using that app to learn Japanese. My goal is to become semi-conversational, and I was practicing phrases the other morning when everyone was in and out of the kitchen, making their breakfasts and getting ready for the day ahead. Imagine, if you will, a perky, I’ve-Been-Awake-For-Hours Nicole, trying out Spanish phrases on her Just-Woke-Up-Don’t-Talk-To-Me family. “Tu quiero un jugo de naranja?” I said to my older son as he, bleary-eyed, poured himself some orange juice. “Yo bebo cafe!” I said happily. “Tu quiero el pan?” I asked my husband as he opened the fridge to grab the rye bread. He looked at me blankly and then said “Si, senorita.”
Oooh, senorita! Is he trying to court me? My son asked what was the difference anyway, between senorita and senora, which led me into a long diatribe about the world in which we live in, where men go their whole lives being senors or sirs, and women get demarcated into ma’ams or senoras at a certain age to indicate their mature status, at which point he said, “Well, you’re always talking about how GREAT aging is and how AMAZING it is to get old, and how you’re so LUCKY to be able to be old, so you should be really be excited to be a senora.” Then he raised his eyebrows, with a half-smile, in the way someone would while laying down a royal flush, just before scooping a huge pile of chips towards them.
Well, he’s right. And today is my birthday! If you know me at all you know a) I love birthdays, b) I think everyone should be treated like a queen or similar on their birthday, and c) I especially love MY birthday. Although I’ve been married to one for over twenty years, I don’t really understand people who go about their birthday like it’s just another day, and are completely quiet on the subject. If it were socially acceptable to walk around with a tiara and a sandwich board proclaiming It’s My Birthday, I would. Alas, it isn’t.
But it’s my blog and I Do What I Want. It’s a Thursday, which may not be the Prime Day for a birthday, but means I can really spread out the celebration over two weekends. It also means that I can give you a Nicole’s Favourite Things!
I don’t know about you, but the number 47 is one that I use conversationally in a hyperbolic way to indicate something that is scrambled or chaotic: I feel like I’m being pulled in 47 different directions, I have 47 different things on my plate right now, all I wanted was a coffee and there were 47 things on the menu and none of them were coffee. Do I feel, on my 47th birthday, like I’m scrambled or chaotic? Not really, but I thought it would be fun to list out 47 things I love on my 47th birthday.
Nicole’s Favourite Things: The 47th Birthday Edition
- Coffee coffee coffee.
- Early morning yoga in a silent, sleeping house.
- Watching the night sky lighten into dawn.
- Sunrises.
- Holding my breath as I put away my thick, heavy, cute sweaters and take out my lighter, spring-weight cute sweaters.
- At-home hair colour.
- Books books books.
- The library! I love you, library. You are so good at sharing.
- Having teenage boys and all the great conversations that we have, including but not limited to: The Girl From Ipanema is a stalker song, how Shakespeare lacked originality in naming characters in Macbeth, and Brezhnev’s eyebrows.
- CAKE! All kinds, but especially BIRTHDAY cake!
- Red red wine, you make me feel so fine, even if you give me hot flashes. It’s worth it!
- Dr. Jen Gunter and The Menopause Manifesto, for normalizing things like hot flashes.
- Sunday morning walks with my Shmoopy.
- My Garmin watch, which praises me for moving. Thanks, Garmin, I DO deserve a “mic drop” for getting my steps in.
- Friends I get to see in real life, even if it’s not often, and friends I never get to see in real life, but connect with often.
- My chosen sisters – you know who you are!
- Visiting my parents at the lake.
- Wrinkle cream and serums! God bless.
- Mascara!
- Lipstick and lip gloss for those times I don’t need a mask. Is there anything more transformative and life-affirming than a good lip colour?
- Yoga pants.
- Yoga pants that look like regular pants – it’s sorcery!
- Greek salad and hummus on Friday nights.
- My piano.
- Spotify, what an age we live in that I can just listen to whatever I want whenever I want ALL THE DAMN TIME, even when it’s something completely random.
- Podcasts! Especially Gen X This Is Why, By The Book, Jiffy Pop Culture, and We Didn’t Start The Fire – my current favourites.
- Modern medicine: thank you, modern medicine, for being awesome and saving lives.
- Little green shoots in my garden, that are currently under a thick blanket of snow, but I know they are there!
- Barkley! My puppers.
- My home gym, specifically my Peloton, and, even more specifically, Leanne Hainsby’s classes. I was saving her latest Disco Ride for this morning, and – this has never happened before – it disappeared. DISAPPEARED. I wanted disco, so I did an old Disco Ride, which was great, and I was number one on the leaderboard (out of one, that’s how old the ride was). Still, I will be singing Ring My Bell all day today.
- Popcorn. It was back at Superstore, and I may or may not have completely stocked up and I may or may not look like I’m hoarding popcorn.
- Berry season! Bring on the berries!
- Salvadore, my garden gnome, who is not yet in the garden but has been moved every night after I go to bed. It’s like my own, non-holiday version of Elf in the Shelf.
- Puzzles, but not ones that are too challenging.
- Desiderata, which belonged to my grandma and has meant something special to me since I was a kid, and now hangs, reframed, beside my piano. I read it every day.
- My yoga students; past and current. I love them all. One of them brought me peppermint bars today!
- Mint chocolate; whoever first put that combination together deserves accolades.
- Nuts; every day I am grateful there are no nut allergies in our house.
- Speaking of nuts, peanut butter and chocolate. Now there’s a delicious combination.
- Memories of long-ago spring break beach vacations, and dreams of future ones. There are going to be future ones, right?
- Cutting into the perfect avocado.
- Sunshine and mild spring temperatures, hopefully they are coming.
- Running in the fresh air.
- Our proximity to the Rocky Mountains and my ability to hike in those mountains.
- Cute pajamas.
- Green smoothies, every day.
- All of my wonderful blog friends. Some of you have been with me since 2008, some of you are more recent friends, and I appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you for being here, thank you for taking this journey with me. We are better together. xo
Happy birthday!
I love the the elephant cake next to Little Nicole.
Señorito is a word for a young man, but it’s not often used and has connotations of a wealthy, spoiled kid, sort of like calling a boy Master First Name in English. In college I tried to convince a Spanish friend it should be used for all unmarried men, like señorita is for women, and I got nowhere.
Oh I had no idea! That is really interesting, I have never heard that before.
Thanks – I guess I’ve always loved elephants!
Happy birthday!! Today is my tenth wedding anniversary and I think it’s fun having celebratory days in common with people!
Oh lovely! Happy day! I hope you have a wonderful anniversary!! Number ten is a big one – are you celebrating in a special way?
Happy Birthday!! You should be a queen on your birthday!
Strong agree! Thank you!
Happy Birthday! I hope you have a bottle of the Snoop wine and some very delicious cake today. I think that 47 is such a cool age and I plan on trying it out for myself very soon;-)
Oooh twinsies! Snoop wine and cake are definitely on tap!
Well aren’t you adorable! I love this post – it’s very effervescent! I love birthdays, too, but especially other people’s because I can be a little shy about celebrating mine. When people complain about aging I think – but isn’t it better than the alternative??!? So you might as well live it up and celebrate! I hope you have a wonderful day and get spoiled by your boys!
Also, I am just imaging the groans I would get from my husband if I tried to practice Spanish in the morning. He is decidedly NOT a morning person. The 4yo can be on some days, some days he basically screams if you say good morning to him when he’s not ready to be spoken to you… But this is inspiring me to check out duo lingo. Our kids go to Spanish immersion daycare and I speak very very little. It would be handy to speak a bit more!
Aging is much better than DEATH! I mean, how many people pass before their time, you know? So yay for birthdays!
Maybe I would be able to talk to your sons in Spanish! But they might surpass me.
I LOVE THIS!!
My birthday is also one of my favorite days of the year. It is a wonderful excuse to celebrate yourself. Enjoy your day, friend. I’m so grateful I’ve had the opportunity to get to know you this year. You have been a gift to me. Xoxo
I knew we came into each other’s lives for a reason! Yay for birthdays! Thank you, Kari xoxoxo
Oh, how I love this post. Your son and his royal-flush like smile as he attempted to school you on embracing aging, etc – made me chuckle. My favorite is yoga pants that don’t look like yoga pants – it’s sorcery! I have a new favorite pair of pants and Mini likes to remark each time I wear them that I’m waring them ‘AGAIN.’ Not sure they are yoga, but outdoor-ish? Anyway, they look like they are real pants and could be dressed up or worn for a walk. Sorcery indeed.
Birthdays were never a huge deal when I was growing up, or mine was lost in the holiday shuffle, and I found it strange to have friends who thought they were a big deal. I’m ready to undo that mentality and CELEBRATE.
Have a wonderful, queen-like day and well done on learning Spanish. I salute you, as a person who I believe is ill-equipped to learn another language.
Yes, it’s a day just to celebrate YOU and I think you should!!!
(yoga pants that look like pants are the best)
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET NICOLE! You were as adorable then as you are now!
And I love that Salvadore is quietly popping up in different places every morning, so fun.
It’s so fun, Gigi! And thank you!
Happy birthday! I too love to celebrate mine, and I enjoyed reading your list.
Thanks so much!
Happy birthday my dear friend! *cheers to 47 years*
I love that you are learning Spanish! Laughing at your son’s comments about you loving getting older; he’s a smarty pants.
“If it were socially acceptable to walk around with a tiara and a sandwich board proclaiming It’s My Birthday, I would.” ME TOO!
And my husband could care less about his. What is wrong with our men?
I love your list; so much to be thankful for! seeing that you stocked up on popcorn made me feel that all is right in the world.
Have a great birthday weekend. XO
OMG SUZ TIARAS FOR ALL!!! My son is a smarty pants for sure, he cracks me up.
**Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear NIiiiccccooollleeee (sung in 3-part harmony, of course), Happy Birthday to you. And many more, till you’re 134 (that last bit was courtesy of my kids who INSIST on singing that to everyone on their birthday).**
What a fun post, as always. I love when people love their birthday’s. I’ll admit I’m a bit meh about them. I love them, but it’s like I don’t quite know how to fully enter into the celebration. Especially since I tend to be introverted. But it does still feel like a special day, especially as I feel no guilt in signing off my responsibilities as a mother. I have had a few years where I was home solo with the kids as my husband was travelling for work and that felt ROUGH. But each year I think I enjoy them more and more, especially as the kids are really getting in to the spirit and try hard to do all sorts of little special things for me.
I have a friend that does countdowns for her birthday and basically tells everyone constantly how long it is until her birthday. I’ve never met another adult so into celebrating a birthday as she is…until reading this post. Perhaps you would give her a good run for her money?!
Hope it was a FAB day.
And I agree. Almost nothing beats cutting into a perfect avocado.
It’s a special day – you were born! When the kids were little, a big birthday treat was not doing any Mom Things! So I get it!
Feliz Cumpleanos!! I too have been studying Spanish on Duolingo – for the past couple of years! I”m aiming to become conversational, but I really don’t think I’m there yet. Still have a long way to go. Yes to books and libraries, nuts, red wine, sunrises, hiking and so much more.
Ooooh wouldn’t it be fun if we could have a Spanish conversation? So far I’m able to order a salad! And a table for two!
oh, oh, oh, I am so glad I found your bog. We are such kindred spirits!! Happy Birthday – I hope your celebrations continue to be lovely!
Hi Katie! I’m so glad too! xo
Happy birthday, Nicole, and best wishes for a fabulous year ahead!
Thanks Jamie!
Happy Birthday. I love your list of favorite things. I agree that red wine should be consumed regardless of hot flashes. One must keep up their standards! 🍷
Some things are just WORTH it, and red wine is one of them!
What a beautiful list! I know I’m a day late, but Happy Birthday! (you’re still celebrating, right?) I love birthdays too. I think you should wear a tiara if you want to- maybe not the sandwich board though.
Thanks Jenny!
Happy birthday, my dear friend. I am so happy that you’re in my life! It was fun following along on your day yesterday. 🙂 And yes, I definitely feel like birthdays should be celebrated BIG. I kinda wish we all could wear little badges like they give out at Disney World proclaiming it’s our birthday so everyone knows, hehe.
Thanks Stephany – those badges are a great idea. My friend told me that last year she tied a birthday balloon to her bag and walked around like that the whole day – amazing!
Happy birthday from a lurker! Appreciate your book recs and wonderful energy!
Thanks Lindsay! And welcome *Kermit waves*
Hap, hap, happyyyyyyyyy birthday, Nicole!!!!! Sorry I missed the day but I know you celebrate all month–right :D? Love everything on your list and toddler Nicole looks… delicious! Have you always loved elephants? Me too! I nodded along to everything on your list. And then had to double back: I thought Sunday walks with your Shmoopy was about Barkley, but I guess not. LOL. Happy Birthday, lovely.
Ha! No, Sunday walks are too long for Barkley, he gets a much shorter loop that day! I have always loved elephants – what’s not to love!
You are so cute and I love this list and the accompanying photos and pervasive enthusiastic cheeriness SO MUCH. Hope your birthday weekend continues with great fanfare and fun.
Also, my kid is learning German via Duolingo and I am… well, let’s say I am on the bleary-eyed pre-caffeinated side of things, and having her ask me a question in German that I barely understand and then REQUIRING me to answer it in German is A Bit Much. But also very cute and intrepid of her. I thought I knew how to say Happy Birthday in Spanish, but I am… failing at coming up with the words. Something about felicitas and annos and something something HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICOLE YOU MAKE MY LIFE BETTER WITH YOUR POSTS AND COMMENTS.
She’s learning German – that is so cool!
Thanks so much for your lovey words and your friendship xoxo
You need to jump on the bandwagon, Suzanne… I want to talk German with you 🙂
Happy Birthday!
I am not going to say “b-e-l-a-t-e-d,” because anyone that loves their birthday, as much as you do, must celebrate over many days, maybe the entire month! Happy new year to you, and I hope it’s full of perfect avocados, visits to the Lake, mild temperatures, friends, flowers, and plans… hopeful, fun, happy plans, and the chance to see them fulfilled.
Thank you so much, Natalie!
Happiest of birthdays, my friend. So happy that we’ve found each other on the Interwebs – you’re such a joy and I always look forward to your posts in my Feedly Reader 🙂
I love that you’re embracing your birthday, your age and all these 47 good things in your life! This is how you do it!!
OMG, and you and I might have the same piano.I have a Yamaha – looking EXACTLY like yours – at my parents’ house and I miss it so very, very much.
Piano twins! Thank you for the very kind words! I’m happy to have you in my life!