Mosaics

I'm happy again today. This is what I did. I composed an invite to my closest New York friends to my birthday dinner to celebrate this milestone. I wrote:

Subject: Birthdays Rock and So Do You

Dear Friends,

First and foremost, Happy Springtime! It's been positively lovely outside and I've considered it to be Mother Nature's last gift to us before the Mayan 12/12/12 predicted End of World Date arrives! As our good pal Michael Stipe would muse, I feel fine...

Speaking of Finality...this year marks my milestone FINAL BIRTHDAY EVER (because it will be the age I shall remain if we survive on into 2013!) and if you are on this email, you've managed to somehow impact this past year significantly for me, whether it was reminding me how to laugh or texting me to keep me company when I needed it or simply just being a good friend in some capacity or another. No pressure or anything, ha...

(If you are a new-ish friend and you've earned KBVIP status it means the pleasure to have met you is all mine and I look forward to lots more socializing with you as the months unfold ahead!)

That said, I'd like to host a Celebration of Crazy KB dinner on Tuesday, April 17th. The plan will be to meet for drinks at 7 (place TBD once I've received RSVP's) followed by dinner to commence at 8 (to give everyone a chance to arrive.) Please do not feel as though you will lose VIP status if you're unable to attend...I know how New York lifestyles have the tendency to chew us up and spit us out. By the way, if you made this list, I also want to personally thank you for being courteous when it comes to earmarking your calendars for me and not doing the whole Last Minute Cancelation bit - it does NOT go unnoticed!

Oh. Well. Maybe this will be a deal breaker for some, but there is one teeny caveat/price of admission to my party...

(insert dramatic pause...)

Due to the fact that I just got a new super meaningful tattoo related to my most major passion (poetry) AND due to the fact that I just HAPPENED to be born in National Poetry Month, you, my friends, must must must bring me a poem. It can be ANY poem found ANYWHERE...ripped from a library book (yikes, don't tell me if that's the case!), printed off the Internet, handwritten on a cereal box cover...other than those guidelines, feel free to get as creative or be as basic as possible...remember, poetry is EVERYWHERE! And it will make me smile very deeply inside to know my favorite people are being sent on a poetry hunt in my honor.

Thank you thank you thank you with all of my big thumping heart for being YOU, being part of ME, and for helping me along in this life.

And for endearing my long-ass gushy emails.

Much move and there's plenty more where that comes from,

Kristin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And the response has been adorable and overwhelming. I can barely stand it. I'm looking forward to thirty-ffff...fiii...ve...because of these people.

And look what Aubree wrote for me today:

You.
Make me smile.
You.
Make wonder out of a New York City subway ride.
You.
Make friends.
You.
Make it worthwhile.
You.
Happy Birthday.

XO, Aubz

I am blessed. I am blessed beyond the ability to say how deeply I'm blessed.

Oh, Happy Days!