I have always loved birthdays. In my twenties I would have had a night out, lunch earlier and maybe dinner. Nowadays I am not so into the night out but I still like my birthday. It makes me want to relish something.  Enjoy it. Feel special.

I have a friend who spans her birthday throughout a month. I don’t see her very often as she lives in the US, but Facebook shows me her life events. One day it is a Malteaser milkshake.  The next could be a theme park. The niceties vary. These images have we managed to ear worm into my brain and stick. I like them. Why shouldn’t she treat herself? It’s the one time you can go for it! Guilt free.

I was 36 last Tuesday. Having the two babies means that I am extremely preoccupied but that does not mean the feeling of being special had to be relinquished! That morning I allowed myself a fresh white roll and sausages from a lovely bakery near my weight watching class. Straight out of one door after being weighed, I walked in another to indulge. It was top! Irony made it taste all more savoury.

My little girls got me something I love (with help from their Daddy). Mugs. Mugs make me happy. I like having my favourite brand coffee in a nice mug whenever I can and enjoy it. Treat!

My sister visited, which is always lovely, and brought chocolates, a head massager and a box set of The Sopranos. Something for future enjoyment!  The chocs are gone already.

Dinner out with the hubby was to a lovely, local venue where I had fabulous pork duo (wellington and ribs) but the real birthday treat was the dessert. Baked Alaska in a mug. Nostalgia. Eighties. Delectable. So out of date it is cool. Retro chic yumminess.

Food as a reward is a theme here. Hmmm!

We had our honeymoon in Alaska too. This makes it even nicer!

Spoiler Alert. If you like Johnny Depp films, I am about to ruin the ending of one.

I think of the movie Chocolat and that scene where Judi Dench’s character (older, diabetic) has her massively indulgent birthday party during Lent much to the dismay of an upstanding rigid christian French village. Afterwards, she dies in her chair. Happiness, I feel is her last emotion. I love it. Loved the book too. It didn’t have Judi Dench however.

Life was busy this week.  The treats were enjoyed all the more as a result. Today is Friday. Work is over. I have stopped on my my drive home to get a takeaway cappuccino from a lovely little place in a village on my route. 20 cents also passed hands for two pieces of home made fudge.

This is because I remembered my friend’s way of celebrating by treating herself little or large for a month.  I decided to try a taste of that. Being kind to oneself for a while.

It tastes great.

I thoroughly recommend it.