As Birthday Month Wraps Up...

It has been a long few months. Cross-country flights. Funerals. New jobs. Old jobs. Underemployment. Finding freelance work. Colds. Flu. Sadness. Joy. It's just been a lot.

But it's also been my birthday month for the last 24 days. And I love birthday month. Usually we use it as an excuse for everything, or a reason. But this month has been quieter. Much. We did celebrate my birthday in Michigan for the first time in 7 years, at the beginning of the month. Friends brought food to the house the weekend of the funeral and we decided to stick candles in the yummy chocolate cake we were gifted. I loved being able to celebrate with my parents. Beyond that, we didn't do much here in Los Angeles. A few days before the big day Angela reached out to some friends to organize my birthday evening. People had plans and couldn't make it so instead she surprised me with tickets to a really great play I'd been wanting to see downtown, THE SUNSHINE BOYS. A Neil Simon revival with Judd Hirsch, Danny Devito and Justin Bartha.

We ended up making an evening of it. Heading downtown after doing presents on Skype with my parents, we got really good tacos from a stand right there at the theater and ate overlooking the city's fountains. It was exactly what I think a Los Angeles evening should be and I loved it!

However, something else happened on my birthday that's never happened before. Even though the evening with friends didn't work out, some of my friends had a plan. I got a call a couple days before my birthday inviting me to Disneyland! I was kind of in shock. I know for many individuals in southern California, going to Disneyland is like going to the park, or the beach. But for me? It's well, like going to Disneyland!

I'd been once before, back the year after we moved here, with Angela and my parents. We did the whole two park shebang and it was a fun day. An expensive, fun, tiring day. Yes, you can do it all in one day if A) you don't have little kids, B) you hustle and I mean HUSTLE, and C) you don't mind being exhausted from a good 14 hours walking on concrete and standing in lines eating really expensive sugar all day. But we did it and we had fun. I still have the group photo of us all on my bookcase. However, after growing up with Disney World as the platinum standard, Disneyland failed to live up to my memories. So we hadn't been back.

Fast forward four years. Sonora called and asked and, I mean, it's my birthday right? And who doesn't want to go to Disneyland on her birthday??? So off we went!

So remember that checklist from a paragraph ago? None of that happened. And that made it a perfect day. First off, we got there about 10. There were no lines, we parked relatively close (I mean it is October, that probably helps with it not being as crowded), and breezed right in. We stopped for some pictures and headed right to Town Hall where Sonora's wonderful wife Dasha (who couldn't go with us but planned the day!) had told us to get a birthday button. And we did.

No, the birthday button doesn't let you skip lines or get your free ice cream or anything like that. But guess what? It was a magical button and I hated to take it off at the end of the day. I was a little hesitant at first to pin it on but I figured, when in Disneyland...so off we went, me and my button. And immediately, the magic started. Walking down Main Street people started saying Happy Birthday Sarah. Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday.

Now, I love Disney's customer service. They do it up right, always have in my book. Every time we've stayed at a resort or visited a park or even gone to a store, they're awesome. I love that about the company. But last Friday? It was even cooler. Every time I came into contact with a park employee, they wished me a happy birthday. And it wasn't just employees, random other park goers got in on the act. And that encouraged me to do it as well. As we waited for our lunch reservations, I noticed the woman next to me had a button on. We chatted briefly about sharing the same birthday and found out we were born at almost the same time, just a few years apart.

Sonora and I had a great day. We took our time wandering around the park. We jumped onto the Pirates ride because there wasn't really a line. Even the wait at the Haunted Mansion was minimal. We spent more time searching for these amazing rice krispie treats than standing in line. We took the Nemo submarine ride which was cute and new, just to remember it's fun to act like a kid again. We had an amazing lunch at the Blue Bayou restaurant complete with raspberry light up lemonade and

flourless Mickey cake that was beyond amazing.We watched a young girl do the entire Mary Poppins routine on the sidelines at the parade and get pulled into the act by Mary herself. We took photos outside the castle and bought souvenirs inside. And then? Only a few hours after we'd arrived, we headed back out the gates, way ahead of any of the crowds. We took our time and soaked it all in and realized we'd spent the perfect amount of time. No sunburns were had, no blisters were formed, no sugar comas induced (though I did eat that giant frosted rice krispie treat and my birthday dessert,
don't judge).

So do I recommend heading to Disneyland on your birthday if you ever get the chance? Absolutely. How fun to just forget the outside world and go to what truly may be the Happiest Place on Earth for a few hours. Go with an amazing friend. Forget calorie counts and cell phones and walk five miles without realizing it and wish everyone else with a birthday button a happy day.

Sonora & me