A Girl Called Jhani

This past Saturday, I celebrated my 27th birthday in the beautiful state of Maine. It was a low-key birthday but was so special that I wanted to remember it here, because the reasons why I loved this particular birthday were very important.

In the past, the norm for my birthday has been planning a party or dinner or night out on the town. This year, Nick and I were slated to wake up in Ogunquit, Maine, where his family had been renting a house for the week prior. His parents were scheduled to go back to Albany that day, but Nick and I had plans to stay in Maine for one more night and meet up with our friends Jesse and Audrey who had also finished up a family vacation nearby.

The reason the day was so great? I totally ignored the fact that it was my birthday.

It was so nice to not have any plans, to not set up any expectations for myself. I realized that in planning dinners or bar crawls for my birthday, I tend to spend the whole day waiting for the next thing. "Oh, Nick is taking me out to dinner next. Oh, then we're going to see a bunch of our friends. Oh, then they're all going to sing 'Happy Birthday.'"

This year, I woke up and let the day just be. Nick wanted to take me out to breakfast before we met Jesse and Audrey at the beach but I told him we didn't have time. So we went to Dunkin Donuts and ended up treating ourselves to some unhealthy donuts in addition to our bagels. When we got back in the car, Nick gave me my birthday card. There were two meerkats on the cover (I recently fell in love with meerkats), a ridiculously funny message inside, and a nice surprise reveal - we're going to see the play Once in September! The message from Nick was so funny and so him that I literally was crying with laughter.

We headed to the beach that our friends suggested and it was one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been to - uncrowded, clean, unique, and decorated with a cute neighborhood behind it. We spent four hours tanning, playing games, reading, and forcing ourselves underwater in the cold waves. As someone who spent many summers on the beach in Santa Barbara, I am totally in my element on the beach. Relaxing on the sand was just the way I wanted to spend the day.

We later packed up and drove into downtown Portland, Maine where we went to Jesse and Audrey's friends' apartment. Ben and Taryn were the nicest, sweetest hosts, letting us all stay in their apartment that they had only moved into a week before. The apartment was gorgeous - big windows, water views, and quaint little characteristics. They fed us snacks and then took us out for a perfect night on the town: a seafood dinner, a beer hall, and a hilariously tacky little lounge with a light-up dance floor and an 80's DJ.

It was the perfect day - filled with the little sweet moments, exploring new places, relaxing on the beach, and being in the company of new and old friends. Meanwhile, I also still felt the love with phone calls, instagram pictures, and funny little texts from my best friends and family across the country.

I can only hope that every birthday from here on out is like this one that just passed. Simple and unplanned, filled with quiet fanfare and good company.