Birthday celebration with pockets of friends

I am sure everyone else does the same. I am certain people don't just have one friend or group of friends. It must be normal to hang out with different friends at different times as part of the celebration.

A friend for every occasion

I feel, depending on what the celebration is, then there should be a friend or friends to celebrate with by your side. There are some friends you've known all your life. There are some relationships so close; you call yourselves cousins. There are friends you've met recently, on the journey called life, and you've become almost like family. There are friends you can't even remember the last time you spoke to them, but they are your friend🤔

Every day is my birthday.

It is no surprise that I have pockets of friends, friends and family to celebrate my birthday every year. As a child, my mother always celebrated our birthdays. As an adult, I have continued with that tradition. It's my birthday month, and everyone around me knows that. I am always excited about my birthday. This is yet another reason to have more fun, reflect and thank God/Allah for my life.

Honestly, when you have pockets of friends, the celebration is never just on one day. Not for me; the celebration is spread across many days, sometimes months, doing things with different people. That's how I prefer to celebrate. Life is a big celebration. And I love life, and I love my method.

Ten days of celebrating

I always make myself available for me on my birthday. Over the years, this self-celebration, time out has extended considerably. This year, it's a full 10days and nights of me, myself and I😁. I am doing what I do best—socialising with people and alone. Every year is different. The date this year falls in the middle of the week, Wednesday 18th August 2021. Perfect. A weekend at each end of the birth date.

Pre-birthday

The celebration this year started the weekend before the birthday. By default, I had a weekend booked away with my SoJ sisters. It was a staycation in Weybridge.

On arrival into town, I had pre-birthday lunch with a friend, Christina. Thanks for your time Christina, here is too many more years of friendship 🍾. Cheers to the ReadyNow Programme for bringing us together😘. This meet-up started the ball rolling.

The rest of the weekend was a blast, and it will remain a memory to the hotel and those who had the pleasure to set their eyes on us.

In true SoJ style, I got a cake, flowers, a dress, hugs, kisses, reflection, advice, happiness, joy, tears, laughter and loads of pictures to show for it.

On Monday evening, I took myself out to dinner. I had been out all day with my ' first blessing'. I was hungry, but not for the food available for lunch. I felt like having some hot pepper soup, so I kept my hunger and eventually found myself at 'Coal City' eating vegetable soup with fried fish. That went down a treat.

On my way home, I stopped by to see my sister. In my true fashion, I got her out of bed. We then spent the next hour laughing and giggling at her most recent predicament. It is always a joy spending time with my sisters. We could speak every day and laugh all the time.

My birthday mate

It has become a ritual now to meet up with my birthday mates. I attended the same secondary school with both of them. There is so much fun when you share occasions like birthdays. It would be nice to have a yearly celebration with my birthday mates all over the world.

We had planned to meet a day before our birthday, myself and Yetunde. It was fantastic catching up. We laughed and talked so much we didn't realise time had passed. We only left because the waiter told us they were closing. When we stood up to go, we realised we were the only ones left in the restaurant 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Siblings, nieces, nephews and nuclear family

This group makes up my core social unit. The love is so real. Wednesday18th was indeed a day of love. I am that one particular aunt, sister, mother, wife, cousin and in-law. I am tolerated, adored, listened to, understood, directed and encouraged. It was a family affair of overindulging and celebrating with my immediate family unit.

Social media

I know it is not just me that belongs to a couple of groups on social media, Whatsapp to be precise. I also know that not everyone participates in the birthday wish messages, but those who do participate have a special place in heaven. The whole psychology of just wishing a random person (or friend) happy birthday. It's very well appreciated when you are on the receiving end. So thank you for all my well wishes. May we all receive what we give, mind, body and spirit.

Post birthday

Thursday I spent sourcing towels. I have my first huge order for a wedding in September 2021. Wish me luck.

I was out with friends on friday night and Saturday, the weekend after my birthday. I went to two bars and a hotel. I absolutely love hotels. Two different groups of friends indulged me, and both were amazing. I even got an itinerary for Saturday night. Maria gets an A 💫 for pulling this together. Thanks, ladies, for your time🥰🥰🥰.

Oh, what a fantastic few days.

It's a wrap

It has been an absolute pleasure celebrating my birthday the way I know-how.

Here is to much more happy return 🥂🍻🍹🍾

And here is to a speedy recovery🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰