twenty-eight.

Another year come and gone. This year, my birthday was a rather mellow one. Douglas and I woke up extra early to enjoy breakfast together at our favorite local eatery, Over Easy, before he had to go to work. Once he headed to the office, I began my quiet, contemplative day with a nap and my typical routine of intermittent tidying, random yoga poses, and perusing a few of my favorites in the blogosphere.

Today was a scorcher, about ninety degrees, but I hardly noticed the heat sitting under the awning of my newly-frequented coffee shop "office". The dry Colorado air does not hold heat the way it does in the Northeast and without the humidity, well, ninety degrees is almost downright pleasant. I was able to soak up some sun while reading Michael Pollan's slow but provocative Omnivore's Dilemma and took the season's first dip in our development's tiny swimming pool.

The evening began the real celebrations: Douglas brought me, bedecked in my new open-back dress, to the downtown gastropub, the Rabbit Hole, for dinner and drinks. Then, lucky girl that I am, I got to sit and look pretty while he baked me my requested strawberry cake (his very first authentic pastry pursuit), sang me "happy birthday", and presented me with a beautiful new ruby ring. What a lovely day.

I love a good birthday, but I cannot say I was thrilled about turning another year older this time. Shucks, I liked being twenty-seven. Yes, yes, I know: age is just a number and you are only as old as you feel, but sometimes, you just want to savor something a little bit longer. I do not always feel like I am where I am supposed to be, and that becomes all the more salient when commemorating another year spent on Earth. I know that I have accomplished quite a bit in the twenty-eight trips I have taken around the sun, perhaps more than many of my nearly-thirty peers, but there is always that longing for more. Good thing I have the whole wide-open summer ahead of me; lots of time to stockpile adventures before we head back to reality. Let's see what the next two months, and 365 days for that matter, have in store.