Sunshine & Roses

Where, oh where has snarky Rachel gone? I don't know! I have been in an uncharacteristically cheery mood recently. For those of you who enjoy my grumpy posts, apologies, this is going to be sunshine and roses. I promise I'll find my way to wanting to punch people in the throat again soon.

As it turns out 38 isn't so bad. My birthday was yesterday and I had been dreading it, for it was just another year closer to the big 4-0. However, my actual birthday was so fantastic that I can't help but believe that turning 38 wasn't such a bad thing.

The day was awesome for obvious reasons. I went to the spa. Not just any spa, The Claremont, where one pays a ridiculous amount of money for a massage but is treated like royalty and given access to the hot tub, steam rooms and a crazy shower with 15 heads. It was phenomenal. I arrived early enjoyed the facilities and spent a good 30 minutes reading Redbook while wearing a fluffy white robe. BLISS. There was also sushi for dinner, flowers, gifts and plenty of facebook friends wishing me a great day.

But what really made my day amazing? My boys. The boys were so stinking excited about my birthday they could hardly contain themselves. They talked about my big day for weeks leading up to the main event. They asked what kind of cake I wanted, and planned a top-secret birthday surprise for me. I admit when I arrived home from the spa, pampered and relaxed I had to take a mighty big breath before opening the front door to the chaos of my life, but I was pleasantly surprised. The boys greeted me at the entrance to the dining room which they had adorned with streamers and balloons. "Welcome to the party room!" Zack and Evan both yelled and each child, including Julian had a flower for me. There was a crazy Hello Kitty birthday cake they had made with our nanny and party hats. I was given hugs and kisses and homemade birthday cards. The boys also made me my very own video "Zombie Kids." As it turns out our lovely nanny was also a film student and it is evident in her work. The video is amazing and I will cherish it always. You can check it out here.

The bottom line is that yesterday was another reminder of how blessed I am. Years ago, I would have thought staying at home and eating cake with the kids on my birthday sounded lame. It was far from lame. I felt so loved and so lucky. I'm 38 years old and it's pretty great.