Random Facts Friday: Birthday Edition ..

1. Today, February 7th, is my 32nd birthday.  Unlike some people who dread getting older, I've been counting down the days since February 8th of last year.

2. You can't deny it. Some things just get better with age - wine, cheese, and obviously, me.

That's me shortly before my first birthday. I was even awesome then ...

3. When I was little, I hated having a winter birthday. I can recall at least one time where my party was, in essence, canceled due to snow. I'm still bitter about it. My sisters, on the other hand, were born in May and September. Their birthday parties always kicked off and ended Summer and were epic events.

4. When I turned seven, my mom made a cake for all of the guests and then a separate, smaller cake for me. And by smaller cake, I mean, it was probably still enough cake for 4 people. I ate the whole thing myself. It's probably where my cake obsession began.

5. On my 10th birthday, I had a sleepover party and my parents gave me my first CD player (boom box style) and a membership to one of those CD subscription things. It is still one of the best gifts I have ever received and I love that my parents had shared a love of music from an early age.

6. Remember that MTV show, My Sweet Sixteen? Well, my 16th birthday was a less extreme version of that show. My parents rented a venue, decked it out and all my family and friends celebrated in our best formal wear. It was like a prom. A prom to celebrate me.

7. At midnight on my 21st birthday, my college roommates and I walked next door to the bar (seriously, we lived next door to a bar) and we had one drink. It was an amaretto sour. 15 minutes later, we walked home and went to bed. Five hours later, we were dressed and sitting on a bus headed to an Indoor Track and Field meet. Obviously, we were party animals.

8. On my 29th birthday, I decided I needed to stop half-assing this whole triathlon thing, so I decided to register for my first 70.3. I figured it would force me to learn to swim and to actually get on my bike once in a while. It worked and I've never looked back.

9. J threw me a surprise party when I turned 30. He mostly surprised me, but I am a naturally curious and annoyingly detailed oriented person, so when things seemed a little odd that day, I put two and two together. Even though, I was on to them, it was an amazing party, spent with my very best friends and family.

10. Today, I am celebrating presence on this planet with a birthday run with friends, followed by lunch with my mom and sisters. Tomorrow, we are going to have the most epic gluten free cake ever made. And while I won't have it today, J and the girls got me this beautiful Quintana Roo CD0.1 Ultegra as my gift.

I am a lucky girl.