I’ve never been someone to love my birthday. In fact, I’ve always kind of hated it (parents should never choose to get married and have a child on the same day), but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve been lucky to surround myself with people who happen to love theirs and they’ve been quite adamant that I love mine, too.
At the beginning of April, I had a belated birthday celebration with these same friends. We had a day out in San Antonio, filled with calm activities that I enjoy. We visited The Historic Pearl, which was full of vendors and cute shops. There is also a building at the back, with the Pearl sign, that looks like a set straight out of The Last of Us, which — if you’ve been reading these for awhile — you’ll know that I named my column after a quote from that game, so that was super cool. Here, we ate Brazilian pastries, got matcha and Snoopy stenciled coffee and a chocolate concha keychain (my favorite).
After, we headed to the Japanese Tea Gardens. This place is beautiful and full of lush plants, a waterfall, koi fish and, of course, tons of photo opportunities. Now, I’m not someone who is photogenic or particularly knowledgeable about taking photos, but my friends insisted that I take some to commemorate the day. During my spontaneous photoshoot, I was shy, embarrassed and a little insecure, but I happened to experience the ultimate girlhood moment: hearing your friends cheer in the Apple Live Photo feature, all while telling you how beautiful you look.
Next, we stopped at Sorrento's Italiano Ristorante, an Italian restaurant — with very good carbonara, I might add — where my friends and I filled the silence and instrumental music with laughter and tales of our past few weeks apart from each other. We ordered our meals and ate family style, with each of us taking from each other’s plates.
"This way to Nowhere" is plastered in a mural along an alleyway next to the restaurant that actually does lead you to Nowhere. Nowhere Bookshop, that is. The independent bookstore is exactly what readers want: cozy and full of possibilities and coffee. Despite none of my friends being huge bibliophiles, they all perused and waited for me to make my meticulous rounds.
We ended the day back at my friend’s house, where we talked and laughed and laughed some more.
The day, which started out cold and rainy, ended at a perfect 75 degrees and sunny. I almost cancelled all of the plans, thinking that it was the universe’s way of confirming that I should never properly celebrate my birthday, but it managed to end up beautiful. So much so, that I had to question: Was that a magic trick pulled off by my friends? With how much they all do for me, I wouldn’t be surprised if they managed that, too.
To my friends: Annie, who somehow has learned me well enough in the one year we’ve been friends to give me a perfect gift; Ale, who collected souvenirs with me all day for our journals and found me “sea monster” (Hangyodon) fridge magnets; Rocio, who never fails to make me laugh and provided endless amounts of entertainment; Asinate, who insisted on buying all of my treats throughout the day; Marissa, who patiently instructed me on how to pose for photos, encouraged me and got the best angles; and Adrian, who got called into a longer shift at work last minute, but made the hour drive to San Antonio after just to spend an hour with me and give me a gift — you all make life a little easier.
I’m trying to learn to love my birthday for you all and I have to say, it might be a piece of cake if every year looks like this.
Kelley is news editor of the Hays Free Press and News-Dispatch. She can reached via email at [email protected].
