Happy Birthday!

Yesterday I celebrated another birthday and took advantage of the day off to relax and do not much of anything at all.  When you work in retail, the holiday season is even more busy and stressful than you can imagine and a day to rest is always a special and cherished event.  So yesterday morning I put on a cute outfit, wore my fancy jewelry, and celebrated with a day of relaxation.  I had breakfast at a favorite spot, went to a church I recently discovered in my neighborhood, picked up a few treats at my favorite specialty food store, and spent the rest of the day lounging in bed, listening to music, reading magazines and blogs, eating dried apricots with Stilton and drinking Blood Orange Soda, and napping without an alarm.  I even successfully knitted a coffee cup cosy.  It turned out quite homely, as my knitting skills have not been used in a couple of years, but I had fun, it was very relaxing, and it actually fit on my coffee cup, which equals success in my book!

I am of a romantic nature, nostalgic, whimsical, and a keeper of things that spark memories.  I keep trinkets, ticket-stubs, and napkins from restaurants, and if I'm given a greeting card with a cool cover or meaningful inscription, I keep it too.  Yesterday I enjoyed looking at the nice birthday cards I received all on display.  I love cool and pretty greeting cards as much as I love journals, and I tend to collect both in excess.  One of the favorite cards I received yesterday was a lovely Fair Trade one from Ten Thousand Villages.  It is so happy and special, and I love that it looks like something I would create with the stray bits of pretty paper I hoard.

$4.50 Tenthousandvillages.com

Also from Ten Thousand Villages is this coiled paper and wire card that is pretty enough to frame.

$5 tenthousandvillages.com

One of my favorite Fair Trade greeting card companies is Good Paper, who have more "traditionally" cute greeting cards around $5 each.  They are sweet, slightly retro, and just the right amount of clever.  A few of my birthday favorites from them include:

"Chicken Not Included"

"Woof it Down"

Those cheese puns are so...well, cheesy, that they are almost painful...but come on, how can you dislike any cheeses that stinking cute?!  (Oh goodness, the puns are contagious!)

From Hope for Women, makers of beautiful pressed flower petal cards like this one:

Valley series, hopeforwomen.com

come a series of "Hairdo" cards hailing from El Salvador which are intended for sales in hair salons but are just plain fabulous for a birthday or any occasion that warrants a killer 'do.  I think they would also be amazing as a series of small framed prints.

Eva

Rosa

Amaryllis

Tania

Barbara

I sort of felt like the edges of that last up-do on Saturday, and Sunday's rest was just what I needed.  I am thankful for all the people that made my day so special, and for letting me enjoy it in my own way.

What makes a perfect birthday for you?  How do you like to celebrate?