Joyyyyyyy

Birthday reflections from a very full, very happy human.

I have a running list of blog post ideas, and this bullet point was “Joyyyyyyy” — yes, with seven Ys. I’m rolling with it.

What better time to write about joy than the week of my birthday?

When you think of birthdays, you think of the big, celebratory, milestone-achieving, champagne-popping kind of joy. There is a time and place for that, of course. But lately, I’ve really appreciated the smaller, quieter, subtle forms of joy.

In fact, I don’t know if it’s a sign of age or wisdom or what, but this birthday was the subtle flavor of joy. And I really did have a happy birthday, even though it wasn’t blue razz pop rocks and bottle sparklers in da clerb.

Some joyful birthday weekend thoughts that are also a low-key recommendation list for the San Francisco Bay Area:

• Omg, I think this is the best glazed donut I’ve ever had. (Chuck’s in Redwood City, btw)
• Omg, this is an amazing clam chowder. And eating it outside by the bay? Even better. I’m on the road to lactose intolerance, but a bowl of New England clam chowder is almost always worth it. If I’m gonna do it, I might as well go hard. (Sam’s Chowder House in Half Moon Bay)
• It is overcast and cold and windy af at the beach and I am still enjoying every second of it. The ocean is truly healing.

• I’m just a plant. All I need is water and sunshine.
• Napping outdoors in the perfect beam of sunshine is a top ten feeling.
• Il dolce far niente: the sweetness of doing nothing (learned that from La Dolce Villa, a corny rom-com we watched this weekend).
• So many dogs said hi to me! The names I remember are Jacob, Ginger, and Nina, and I think it’s so funny when dogs have human names.
• We’ve started giving the name Kona at coffee shops. We give the barista our dog’s name even though we have perfectly good human names. This is especially funny considering my thought right above this one.
• There are so many types of trees, plants, and flowers and there are people who can identify them and tell you all about them, and I think that’s amazing. (Highly recommend the SF Botanical Garden)
• Burma Superstar is not quite as good as my mom’s cooking, but still really delicious. And it’s so cool that the food I grew up eating is so revered in the Bay Area. Including catfish chowder — more chowder!
• I feel like a queen when I have a ton of seafood. Is seafood the ultimate celebratory food? (Cioppino at Sotto Mare)
• Birthday cannoli may be better than birthday cake. In this case, if we’re being pedantic, birthday cannolo because it was only one.
• That’s a beautiful jacket. Oh, it fits me so well. The sleeves are long, but, oh, look how cute it is when I roll the sleeves up. But it’s too expensive; I don’t need it. It’s already being put in a shopping bag because my husband is buying it for me. Because it’s my birthday and he loves me.
• It might be a tourist trap but the Irish coffees at The Buena Vista are actually really good. I asked how many Irish coffees they make a day, and the bartender said around 2,000!
• Here we go again, on the hunt for birthday chicken and noodles. Chicken for good luck, and noodles for long life. As annoying as the hunt can be some years, it’s also such a fun old-school tradition on our birthdays.
• Any drink can be a party drink when you have light-up plastic ice cubes. (The soda at Marufuku Ramen)
• What a beautiful day for baseball. Let’s go Mets!
• I had a birthday cake and balloons waiting for me when I got home from my trip!
• I spent my birthday 1) alive 2) with people I love!
• I’m so lucky to have so many people who care about me.

This year, birthday joy looked like chowder, cannoli, cold beach winds, and curious doggos.

Thanks to everyone who made me feel special this week. I’m lucky, I’m grateful, and I’m really, really full of joy (and food).

P.S. – If you enjoy my writing and want to buy me a coffee, matcha, pastry, ice cream cone, etc., you can do that through ​Ko-fi​ 🙂 I would love that so much.