A Royal Birthday

I am 34 years old today. This seems exceedingly old. 35 is completely unacceptable, so I may or may not be posting next year. ;-)

Today has been an AMAZING birthday - so good, in fact, that I doubt it can easily be topped. Today, Prince William and Catherine Middleton decided to get married in honor of my birthday. It was extremely nice of them to consider me on their special day. :-) This wedding was probably a bit too important to me, but nonetheless, it has ranked very high on my list of favorite moments. The reason goes back a long time...30 years, as a matter of fact. One of my first memories is of watching Princess Diana marry Prince Charles. I don't remember how my mama managed to wake me up at 4am, but knowing me, I was probably still awake from the night before. My daddy had a big brown recliner and I can recall perfectly sitting in my mother's lap in that chair when Diana got out of the carriage. I can see the big television in front of us - the kind that looked like a piece of furniture with the wood surround. It was a giant moment for my little 4 year old self. I remember thinking that it was the most unbelievable thing that I had ever seen...a real life princess getting married to her real life prince in all the pomp and circumstance that a little girl could fathom. It made such a huge impact on me and it probably had a lot to do with sharing the moment with my mama in the wee hours of the morning. My sisters would have been only about 5 months old at the time, which would explain why my mom was awake! It was our moment for just the two of us and for some reason, seeing Princess Diana step out of the carriage in a sea of bows stayed with me my whole life. My love of all things British started then and to this day, most of the novels I read take place in the UK. I can get lost in a history book about London. SO, when I found out that Diana's son would get married on my birthday this year, I thought it was clearly meant to be. I have been so excited this week that I could barely contain myself!

I set the DVR to record about 900 hours of programming and then set my alarm this morning for 5:00am. My theory was that I wanted to watch the whole wedding BEFORE watching all the recaps that would inevitably be all over the news all day today. I wanted to really watch it. Once Colin wakes up, he keeps my attention for literally the whole day. I would never be able to watch anything important on television while taking care of him at the same time. Therefore, my decision was easy...I had to get up early to watch the ceremony before the kiddo woke up. Alas, the difference of having a boy vs. a girl. I knew that Colin would not love to share a royal wedding memory with me the way that I did with my mom. ;-) The alarm went off at 5am and I went straight in to make a cup of coffee, grab a blueberry muffin and get in position. I started watching when it was still pitch dark outside, but it worked out perfectly. I got to see the most beautiful ceremony in its entirety and Colin woke up to join me right as the newlyweds were kissing on the balcony in real time. It was SO wonderful!!! Colin padded his way into my bedroom at about 7:30am this morning wearing his car pajamas and carrying his white bear. He looked at the television with his sleepy baby eyes and asked me what I was watching. I explained to him that a prince got married in England. He looked at the screen again and immediately asked me, as only Colin could, "Why are they wearing garbage can lids on their heads?". I laughed out loud and snatched him into bed with me. It was the most perfect start to a birthday in history...at least for me. I headed into the kitchen from there and made toast and bacon for breakfast and indulged in a 3rd cup of coffee. I called my mom and we talked about every last tidbit of the ceremony while I ate. Luckily, Jer went to work to later this afternoon, so he was able to watch Colin while I showered and dressed leisurely. Then I took the kiddo with me to Central Market, where we met a big group of friends for lunch on the patio. We even shared a couple of bottles of wines! Awesome! After lunch, we headed inside the market to pick up stuff for dinner tonight. I stocked up on ingredients for caprese salad (one of our family favs) and a big loaf of rustic bread. Tonight, I plan to lay around with my little family and feast on all things covered in EVOO and balsamic vinegar. I should also mention that grocery shopping with Colin is much more enjoyable after a glass of wine. HA!!

I know that I am a little too nostalgic at times and that the silliest things mean more to me than most people, but at 34 years old, I have come to accept this fact. I am a sappy old fool and proud of it! Wait...change that to "sappy super hot young fool". That sounds way better.