Birthday Bonus

On Saturday our friends had us over for power-hour, pizza, hot tub time and a music trivia game. We had to be there by 5pm, which is unusually early, but they had the whole evening scheduled.And what an evening it was.We were all pretty festive by 8pm. The night swung from inebriated singing to heart-felt conversations. My favorite part of the night was when one friend started asking questions like they do on In The Actor's Studio. I love conversation like that, and hearing my friends talk about their favorite people in the world or a sound that they hate, was so awesome.And of course, my sister and girlfriends conspired to have a birthday cake for me - a cheesecake - which was delicious. At least, what I remember eating of it.We all lost track of time. It felt like 9pm perpetually, and somewhere after 1am I laid down on their couch and passed out.H woke me up at 3:45am. I was having a wonderful cocooned floaty sleep, thinking I was home in my own bed. When he told me we were still at our friends' house, I bolted upright. We'd been gone almost 12 hours and the poor pup was left alone that entire time! I was sober by then, downed some pizza, and rallied to drive us home.I feel like this account does nothing to explain the fun, love and craziness we all shared that night. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences, the kind of nights you're lucky to have in high school, when you've spent the entire day on the beach and the entire night in close proximity to someone you love so deeply your heart may explode.The past few years, I've been good about making plans for my birthday, but this year I was in no mood. The weeks leading up were slow and I didn't feel very happy. But this night was more than I could've planned, or asked for.When it comes to this group of friends, I feel so blessed. It was the perfect way to usher in 29.