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a bit of context: I work at a center where kids grades 5-12 can come and hang out, nd basically build connections with each one another.
About a week or 2 before my birthday, I was talking to my manager about plans that I had, but ended up falling through, nd overall being bummed out about not having anything to do for my birthday. She reassured me that I'd find something to do, and gave me suggestions for group and solo activities. The week of my birthday, everyone at work was being really secretive and kind of avoidant, and I thought it was weird, but I tried not to think too much about it. At one point, practically everyone there was asking me if I was going to be there on Friday (my birthday was Saturday), and I was both confused and weirded out, but I told them that I'd be there at work.
Fast forward to Friday, I get to work and again, my coworkers, and the kids are being all secretive. But this time, they're giggling, so I thought they were plotting something on their own and I let them be. Some time passes, and I get called into a room by my manager so she could talk to me. Around 10 mins goes by, and one of my coworkers calls me out of the room, claiming to need my help with something in the lunch room. I walk in and all of my coworkers + the teens are in the lunch room, so I asked what was going on. My manager popped in and told me that she felt bad about me not having plans for my birthday, so she and my coworkers decided I could at least celebrate with them, so they pitched in and bought me a cookie cake. They sung happy birthday, I got my birthday licks, and of course, the sappy speeches.
I was so grateful for this surprise party that I ended up crying from sheer happiness. Sometimes, my job isn't all that bad.
Jul 3, 2025
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đ14âHeld my party in a private underground bar with speakeasy vibes, because it was underneath the opera house where I did community theater and it was where weâd had our cast parties. My mom knew the guy who owns basically the whole block and he was surprisingly okay with letting us use it for a teenagerâs birthday lol. My âHappy Birthdayâ banner still hangs from the ceiling, last I checked!
15âtwo of my friends surprised me at my bedroom window at midnight, and in the afternoon we drove out to a camping spot along the river. There, we lit a campfire and wrote stuff on slips of paper that we wanted to burn to get it out of our lives. Before that, we ate the cake that my friend had made me, but in our infinite wisdom we forgot forks or plates, so we ate it with our hands like cavemen lmao
19âMy first summer living away from home, so I was nervous that I wouldnât have anyone to hang out with since my friends had moved back home after our freshman year, leaving me alone in our college town. I enjoyed my speech and debate teammates but I didnât feel that close to them outside of the activity. That changed after they invited me to the farmerâs market with them and then back to the house they were renting. They made me a banh mi inspired pizza (flatbread with the spicy mayo as the âpizza sauceâ and the tofu and pickled veggies as toppings) that is still unrivaled in my culinary experiences. We played several board games and had a lot of funâI felt really loved by these people who didnât really have to do this for me! One of them had graduated that spring and passed the team presidency onto me, and I just adored her. I felt so happy to be hanging out with her on my birthday. We dated a couple years later after she and her high school sweetheart split, but I ended up getting my heart broken. That makes this memory a little bittersweet, looking back on a now ruined friendship. But it is memorable anyway so I had to put it even though it isnât 100% happy lol
15âtwo of my friends surprised me at my bedroom window at midnight, and in the afternoon we drove out to a camping spot along the river. There, we lit a campfire and wrote stuff on slips of paper that we wanted to burn to get it out of our lives. Before that, we ate the cake that my friend had made me, but in our infinite wisdom we forgot forks or plates, so we ate it with our hands like cavemen lmao
19âMy first summer living away from home, so I was nervous that I wouldnât have anyone to hang out with since my friends had moved back home after our freshman year, leaving me alone in our college town. I enjoyed my speech and debate teammates but I didnât feel that close to them outside of the activity. That changed after they invited me to the farmerâs market with them and then back to the house they were renting. They made me a banh mi inspired pizza (flatbread with the spicy mayo as the âpizza sauceâ and the tofu and pickled veggies as toppings) that is still unrivaled in my culinary experiences. We played several board games and had a lot of funâI felt really loved by these people who didnât really have to do this for me! One of them had graduated that spring and passed the team presidency onto me, and I just adored her. I felt so happy to be hanging out with her on my birthday. We dated a couple years later after she and her high school sweetheart split, but I ended up getting my heart broken. That makes this memory a little bittersweet, looking back on a now ruined friendship. But it is memorable anyway so I had to put it even though it isnât 100% happy lol
May 27, 2025
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đI'm turning 24 in March, so I can relate. I actually hadn't done anything for my birthday since I was 16 until my last birthday. It was never really a big deal to me. My girlfriend threw me a surprise party, it was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me.
It was just a few friends over, some of whom I hadn't seen in ages. We had a few drinks, did karaoke, it was a really great time.
Not sure if I'll do something this year, but it's important to celebrate every now and then.
Not sure if I'll do something this year, but it's important to celebrate every now and then.
Jan 8, 2025
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I have so many of these because I hoard my favorite moments like a dragon. But I've limited myself to one.
This is a disposable camera photo of the first birthday party / dinner party I threw myself in college. My roommate, two of my friends, and my cousin all came early to help me set up and finish cooking things. Whirling around getting dressed and setting up with that small group was so fun. And of course the party itself was a delight although I think my social battery died a little too quick after spending most the day prepping. But even then it was still nice to be surrounded by people who wanted to come to my birthday party and all the food me and my friends made. I was very proud of it.
I don't usually do anything big for my birthday because I like spending it just doing little fun things for myself I've been meaning to do like trying a new place or buying a limited edition ice cream flavor or something. And things like this can be a lot of time and energy. But I like getting friends together and so I went for it that year.
I also had to wait so long for these photos to come back because I had to use up the film roll first. And then CVS said they could only give us the photos on CD and I didn't want to hunt down a CD reader on campus so I mailed it out to a company that emailed me the photos. So by the time I had the rolls developed it was already kind of a nice throwback with photos from that night that I had never seen before.
This is a disposable camera photo of the first birthday party / dinner party I threw myself in college. My roommate, two of my friends, and my cousin all came early to help me set up and finish cooking things. Whirling around getting dressed and setting up with that small group was so fun. And of course the party itself was a delight although I think my social battery died a little too quick after spending most the day prepping. But even then it was still nice to be surrounded by people who wanted to come to my birthday party and all the food me and my friends made. I was very proud of it.
I don't usually do anything big for my birthday because I like spending it just doing little fun things for myself I've been meaning to do like trying a new place or buying a limited edition ice cream flavor or something. And things like this can be a lot of time and energy. But I like getting friends together and so I went for it that year.
I also had to wait so long for these photos to come back because I had to use up the film roll first. And then CVS said they could only give us the photos on CD and I didn't want to hunt down a CD reader on campus so I mailed it out to a company that emailed me the photos. So by the time I had the rolls developed it was already kind of a nice throwback with photos from that night that I had never seen before.
Apr 7, 2025
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