28 things.

1. I woke up this morning in a king sized hotel bed in Shanghai.

2. My husband has a tendency to wish me a happy birthday about 20 times before we've even eaten breakfast. & I LOVE it so much that he does that.

3. Jeremy & I have a tradition of making each other really elaborate brunch's for each other's birthdays. This is the first year I can remember that we weren't able to.

4. I had an amazing donut from Baker & Spice for second breakfast (it may even have been elevensies...)

5. If I had my choice I would choose warm donuts over cake.

6. Carvel ice-cream cake was my favorite cake flavor until I realized you could just have donuts for your birthday instead. (or both.)

7. My dear husband took me to the only lululemon in all of China to get me my first ever legit yoga mat (that won't disintegrate into a million pieces after each use.)

8. Also, LLL is crazy stupid expensive. Over $100 USD for a pair of yoga pants? Cray.

9. I got to have a little taste of my favorite fast food from home at Mex & Co, one of the only chipotle-esque burrito bars in Shanghai. 

10. Fact: I think that if I could eat only one food for the rest of my life, it would be chipotle burritos.

11. For my thirteenth birthday I had a sleepover party & my mom made a cake that looked like girls sleeping in sleeping bags. It was one of the most memorable cakes I ever had.

12. I refuse to check my facebook until the day after my birthday, so I get hit with a wall of happy messages all at once.

13. I hate telling people what sort of gift I want. I would rather just be given something that is meaningful & a total surprise.

14. When I was little, I wanted to celebrate my birthday in the summer because February rarely had nice warm days for outdoor parties.

15. I had a riveting conversation with Jeremy about the time of year I want our kids to be born - and the vote is anything but Winter. (see 14.)

16. I've never had a surprise party but it's something I've always wanted.

17. I ate the most insane cheeseburger with all the things imaginable topped on it for birthday dinner with Jer's parents - and it was heaven.

18. Also, red velvet cupcake.

19. The lead singer of my favorite high school band, Mae, has the same birthday as me.

20. One of my favorite birthday memories was spending my 21st in NYC (my first time ever being there,) with two of my best friends. We went to at least 5 different places that night & it was an amazing time.

21. One year, one of my friends surprised me by decorating the front door of my apartment & leaving a giant cupcake for me to find after a night at school.

22. I have successfully taken every birthday off from work for as long as I can remember. I had to go to a very full day of school on my birthday two years ago & I wanted nothing more than to skip, but because I had perfect attendance in all my classes up to that point, I chose to go. (perfectionist, much?)

23. I don't like to open my presents until the very end of the day - I enjoy the anticipation.

24. For my tenth birthday I got a purple ten-speed mountain bike and I didn't know I could get any happier than the moment I first rode it around my block.

25. I don't like happy birthday being sung to me. I feel awkward the entire time & can't wait for it to be over. 

26. Although, when I was little, I would sing the Happy Birthday song to myself, but I called myself "Danulls."

27. The only person outside my immediate family that I would call every year on their birthday (before moving to China) was my childhood friend, Justin.

28. The perfect ending to a birthday? Curling up on the couch to watch House of Cards season 3.

28. here's to you.