18 minutes until Sex and the City reruns

Waaah! I'm 26 and feeling it. I must say, though: This is the best birthday I've had since last year. I got a lot of presents. Two pairs of shoes! Whoa, Imelda. And even though it would have been nice to be handed a bunch of red balloons by a guy in a limo like Carrie in one of last week's reruns, I'm content with getting a Hello Kitty helium balloon that is still floating around in my living room this very moment. There are so many things I have to be thankful for this year. And even though I hate to admit it, it's really nice to feel special. My friend let me drive her car around the parking lot (my very first time behind the wheel) until I got dizzy. Another friend filled an empty bottle of amaretto with messages on little post-its that she collected from everyone. We went out for a scrumptious Thai dinner and I didn't have to pay.

In the back of my mind there are a lot of things that I want and a lot of things in my 25 before 25 list that I still haven't accomplished, but as I was blowing out the candle on my mango-flavored birthday cake, I couldn't think of anything that I wanted for myself. So I just thanked God for a wonderful year and for so many bright faces around me.