15 + (37 x 2)

May is a month of serious numbers around here!

On the 9th we celebrated our 15th anniversary. I'll spare you the mushy details (except to say that we're so thankful to spend another milestone together) but I will share a picture of the (handsome!) husband of my youth on our 15-year sushi date:

(And if all goes according to plan, we'll be eating sushi next year at the Tsukiji Market in the middle of Tokyo on our belated anniversary trip!) 

And now, about our birthdays: I hit 37 on the 18th, and Jan Michael followed just yesterday. 

This year I decided I wanted to hit the ground running on the 17th (treat every day like it's your birthday, I say!), and so my birthday eve began with Lori and Tonya on a coffee date. They bought me a latte and gave me beautiful handmade cards (card-making wonders, those two) and Tonya made me a sign to hang in our Seabrook bedroom, which made me cry ('You're such a girl!' said Jan Michael with a smile).

I went directly from coffee to lunch with Jan Michael (at Taco Time. So fancy, I know. But I have a thing for fish tacos and refillable Coke Zero.) And later, because I'd also decided I wanted to do something fun when the clock struck midnight on the 18th (don't waste a second on your birthday, I say!), we had a late-night donut party with Steve, Lori and Karissa at a 24-hour bakery across the valley. 

Apple fritters and bacon maple bars are a fantastic way to begin another year, but even more than that, I love the memories we made. Friends that are willing to hop on board with this kind of silliness are priceless!

And then yesterday Jan Michael was the star! He would be perfectly content to let his birthday slip away quietly without any fuss, but he's married to me, so that's out of the question. 

Earlier I said no mush, but I can't help it! His smiles light up my heart :)

And oh, his poor cake. I meant it to be much more grandiose than this, but sometimes what I see in my mind doesn't quite translate into real life. It tasted just like a birthday cake should, though, so it wasn't a complete flop :)

Now, if you have a birthday coming up, your mission is to celebrate! Find something, big or little, that makes you smile and reminds you of what you have to be thankful about, and do it! That's an order!

So mayst thou live, dear! many years,

In all the bliss that life endears,...

~Thomas Hood, "To My Daughter, On Her Birthday"