Happy Birthday To Me!
July 24, 2021
Ooh, I’m 56 today. That used to seem old — haha — I don’t feel like an old lady 🙂
Let’s talk birthdays — My favorite birthday was the year I turned 10 in 1975, when we lived in Texas for a year. With 6 of my friends, we spent the (hot) afternoon at the Texas-shaped! swimming pool, then I had a sleepover where we played Barbies, sang along to the radio (The Hustle by Van McCoy was the #1 song), listened to my Captain and Tenille LP (Love Will Keep Us Together) and made up our own dances. I remember getting all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder “Little House” books as a gift from my parents and this “Quick Curl” Barbie from my little brother:
It truly was my best birthday…until the next year when we were back in Brookings, South Dakota, the 1976 Summer Olympics had just started and we were all obsessed with gymnast Nadia Comaneci — who performed feats we hadn’t seen before! As well as Olympian named Bruce Jenner. Again, I requested a pool party and a sleepover and we played such an awesome prank on my friends about a serial killer on the loose, complete with a tape recorded “news” report about him being spotted in our area, that it’s no wonder I ended up penning mysteries in my later years 😆 And speaking of mysteries, for my 11th birthday, my mother gifted me several Nancy Drew books 🙂
So as I’m heading off to the lake, as water still seems to be a consistent part of this Leo’s birthday celebrations, I will pose this question to you:
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY? Share below in the comments!!
And since this post is separate from this one my Lorelei James Facebook page where you could win prizes (head over there, there’s still time to enter!) I’ll offer up another giveaway prize of something fun 🙂
Thanks everyone for participating!
XOXOXO
L~
PS — Coincidence that my birthday and national tequila day are one in the same? That means I MUST have a birthday margarita or ten!
69 Comments:
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Ellen Bartel said:
Happy Birthday, Lorelei!!
Laura Larocca said:
Happy Birthday!
Karen Hudlow said:
I would have to say that the year I turned 50. My Mom and sister took me to Savannah GA. We had a blast. So much fun. Love n ok t having to do anything. Just eating and drinking. That I didnt have to make
Alina said:
Happy Birthday, Lorelei! 😁😁😁💜💜💜
Nadia Comaneci 😁 Some memories you have! 😁😁😁 I just saw the other days her “45 years anniversary from the first perfect 10” celebration!
Hugs and kisses from Romania! 😁
Tessie Tavares said:
Last year I turned 28 and my nephew was born! I didnt want to share my birthday but first one I got to see born! My nieces waited to come out once I left.
Donna said:
Your 11th birthday activities certainly were a precursor to your writing. I don’t think my imagination was ever that good.
My best birthday celebrations weren’t actually on the day. It was about a month prior to my 50th birthday and my sister and I took a 15 day trip to Ireland and Scotland. Ten years later I visited Scotland and England for 10 days. When my 70th arrives hopefully I’ll get another chance to travel.
Angela said:
Happy Birthday, Lorelei! We were born the same year, one month apart…Mine was last month. I really enjoyed reading your newsletter! Your childhood sounds much like mine did, although I grew up in Michigan. My favorite LPs were Saturday Night Fever Soundtrack, Billy Joel, and The Eagles.
You’re right, you are NOT old! I loved your Mastered Series. May you forever experience the joy and youthfulness you did in 1975.
Best,
Angela
Kristie Galindo said:
My 40th…my husband threw a surprise party for me and it was amazing! Xoxo
Karen Harbur said:
My 19th birthday, May 12, 1983, my first son Andrew was born! Sharing a birthday with him was good and bad, the bad was that your kids grow up so fast that my birthdays started whizzing by but the good was a huge family gathering for 2 birthdays and Mother’s Day!
Deborah Sherrill said:
My most memorable birthday was my 12th. I have a twin brother, so we had nearly 25 guests. The first sleepover/pool party. It was boys and girls. We made s’mores over a fire pit. We were inside and outside. My Mom and older sisters were there to wrangle us. We slept inside and outside in the back yard. I don’t remember sleeping. I remember sitting in the middle of the street watching the sunrise with my crush, Anthony. It was my last party until my 16th. That one comes in second….💜
Virginia Campbell said:
Happy Birthday to you and me–you’re 56 and I’m 63!!! One of the most memorable–and super surprise–birthdays ever was the complete Thanksgiving Dinner cooked for me by a family friend. I live in the mountains of VA, and it’s hot and humid in July. This friend prepared a delicious Thanksgiving Dinner–with all the trimmings. Both of our families crowded into a small kitchen with fans all around going full blast. It was one of the best meals and best memories of my life!
Kathleen Bylsma said:
I hate to say it but I have no greatest birthday ever. 😞
The only good thing I remember about my birthdays was having my favorite dinner prepared for me. Your birthdays sound great!
bn100 said:
Happy birthday! Last year’s because small celebration
Danica said:
Favorite birthday ever was my 30th. My husband and boys threw me a surprise Disney birthday party. My best friend made me my own Belle dress and actually got my husband to dress up as the beast. My youngest son was so excited they surprised me that he jumped at me when I wasn’t expecting it when I came in and gave me a bloody nose. After we dealt with that the party was fantastic!! We went to Disney World that year.
Katie said:
My favorite birthday is going to be this one! I’m going to see florida Georgia line! Happy birthday!
Stacia said:
I would have to saw my 30th. My family threw a surprise party for me and we all had a great time!
Joy Avery said:
Happy Birthday! 🥳🎁🎈🎂 My most memorable birthday was finding out I was having a boy in a family of girls.
Michelle Holden said:
Happy Birthday! My most memorable had to be my 16th birthday, 1980. We had moved from Maryland just 2 years before and we lived on the outskirts of Las Vegas (back then everyone said “Why’d your parents move way out here?” and now that area has a huge portion of the local population there). I remember it as my Aunt & Uncle came out from Maryland for a visit and this was the day they left. They gave me $25 and after we took them to the airport my mom took me to get my driver’s license. I passed in her huge ass Cadillac parallel parking it like a pro. I was finally able to drive my car a 1969 Fast back Mustang anywhere I wanted to go, legally.
Gina Marie said:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY – HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR SPECIAL DAY!!!!!😊🎉🎁🎂🍹
Lois said:
Happy birthday you young thing you .. I turned 62 the beginning of July.
Jennifer Day said:
My folks through me an 8th birthday party with perhaps 10 classmates. I remember we all sat on the ground and played DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE!
Melinda H said:
When I turned 50 and 20 of us went to Cancun…
My nickname is Missy..we went to Margaritaville and my friends had them wish me a Happy Birthday…Up on jumbo TV read
Happy Birthday Miffy….
The cabana boys also spoiled me all day!!! So much FUN..
Yep they still call me Miffy:)
Pamela said:
I love that we are the same age with similar memories of 75 and 76. But I think I need to go back to 71 when I was in kindergarten. We had a fire in my house right before my 6th birthday. My kindergarten class threw me a party and I got a Dressy Bessy and Dapper Dan. I loved those presents so much, especially after losing so much! Happy Birthday!
Julie Schopp said:
My favorite birthday was the first year my husband and I were married, because our birthdays are on the same day Oct. 16th, just 3 yrs apart!
A very happy birthday to you!! We’re the same age…somehow it looks better on you! 🤣🤣
Pamela said:
Happy birthday! Love we are the same age and have similar memories of 75 and 76. My memory goes back a bit to 71. Right before my March bday, we lost our home to a fire. My kindergarten class threw me a bday party and gave me a Dressy Bessy and Dapper Dan. I loved those dolls so much. Meant the world! Xoxo
Jenny B said:
Happy happy birthday!!!
I have a few memorable ones. One was going on a San Diego harbor dinner cruise. It was really good and fun, with a surprise additional dessert since it was a celebration.
Lirva Bean said:
My favorite birthday was June 1990, it was my 38th birthday and we celebrated it along with our rehearsal dinner that day. Our wedding was the following day and the weather was hot in Denver, 102 the day of the wedding. Despite the temperature it is still my favorite.
Lorrie said:
Happy Birthday Lorelei🥳 🎉 mine was Wednesday!
Mary Preston said:
Happy Birthday!!
I have to say my 21st. A small, but great fun party.
Lisa brady said:
My 50th birthday my husband had a party with my friends and family. He had Dj, dancing it was awesome I never had a party. Then he suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury 5 years later and 4 years more and he was gone. That birthday was the most special because he did it himself and from the heart! Kinda like the McKay men.
Teresa Fordice said:
Oh wow I guess last year when I turned 60 and due to pandemic couldn’t celebrate
Stephanie O'Brien said:
Happy Birthday Lorelei! My best birthday was my 22nd birthday, the year I became a mom and really figured out what went in to being a mom, and started sending my mom flowers on my birthday every year since, nothing fancy just whatever I can find in her favorite color delivered to her work.
Reneé said:
Hope you had a wonderful day. My favorite birthday ‘weekend’ was 1981. It was when Joe and I started dating. I overlooked the fact that he and his friend tried throwing me in the lake and stuck with him.
Debbie Fuller said:
Happy Birthday. I think my most memorable birthday was when I turned 16. Before school My mom had a treasure hunt for my gifts. I got a Hope chest and my birth stone ring along with a new dress and if I’m not mistaken my birthday was on a Friday with a full moon. I went to a party that night with friends and had the best time.
debra said:
when I turned 40(now 66) my brother threw a party in the park.family brought pot luck.I am a card carrying Coca Cola addict.Not a Coke in sight! It was funny somebody had to make a Coke run!
Rebecca said:
Actually my favorite Bday moment was not my bday but my hubbies. That’s when we found out we’re going to be grandparents!
Annette said:
The most memorable was #32. I had my son 7 days before.
Wendy said:
I have two best birthdays. When I was in sixth grade Grease premiered. I had a slumber party and we went to see it. Then danced the night away to Grease Lightening and You’re the One I Want. The other one was my surprise 16th birthday party
Michelle said:
Happy Happy Birthday to yoouuuuu!
Wising you a Fabulous day
Linda Holmes said:
When I turned 30 in 1990 my Husband go me a Vermont Teddy Bear, good size one too, I think I got roses too. For my 50th my sister sent me 50, 50 year old Birthday cards. For my 60th (pandemic year) which was last year at the very end of August. My sister and niece decorated the house with the number 60 cut out in the form of the 6 and 0. They were hung up around the house I have kept some of those. Oh and my husband got me a dozen roses. I’ll be 61 at the end of August.
I also had quick curl Barbie, My sister had The Little House books. I had the Partridge Family books. We had lots of Barbie’s I probably got some for my birthday.
Happy Birthday Lorelei.
Sheila Renner said:
My most memorable birthday was when I turned 6. I remember having a bunch of friends over to my house and playing “Pin the Tail on the Donkey “. I remember I had a Barbie cake. I thought I was the “Bomb”. It was the first party I had with friends instead of just family.
Shelly said:
Happy birthday 🎂 🥳 Lorelei
Caroline said:
My birthday is December 20, but somehow my mother always managed to whip up a party with games (pin the tail on the donkey, drop the clothespin in the milk bottle, etc) and cake. Of course it always just missed Christmas vacation week, so it was after school, and everyone had to be home by dark, so it was short!! I was always jealous of my friends who had birthdays in the summer!
Sam N said:
My 50th birthday my husband took me to Italy, Germany, Austria and London and we were gone for six weeks
Patti Lucas said:
Happy Birthday! 🎂🎁👑🎈🎉
I was the fifth of six children, so we only got a birthday party when we turned seven. I got to invite my friends, and my Mom had a fishing game for prizes. I don’t remember much about the party, other than feeling special for the day. I’m celebrating the 50 anniversary of that birthday party this year.
Larri said:
I’m a December birthday so we rarely celebrated my birthday. My birthdays as an adult have been more fun and more memorable than those from my childhood. For several years I spent my birthday in Tennessee with my BFF Wendy. One year we were supposed to spend the weekend in Gatlinburg, but they had that terrible fire and those plans got canceled. Instead, Wendy, Janice, and I went to WalMart, filled up 2 or 3 carts with toys and took them to Gatlinburg to donate to area children whose families had been impacted by the fire. We drove around and saw the destruction from the fire—homes burned to the ground, entire sections of forest completely wiped out. It may sound like an unusual way to spend my birthday, but it was very gratifying to know I had a small part in helping some children have a good Christmas after what they and their families had been through with the fires. And I got to spend the day with two of my best friends.
Jule said:
Hope you have a kickass birthday!
Janice said:
Happy Birthday, Lorelei!
My best birthday had to be my 50th. I have friends from elementary school, and we’re still besties. We celebrated each of our big 50’s as they came up that year by going out for lunch to somewhere super nice. Mine was at the Old Mill in Toronto, where I’d gotten married.
We got each other special gifts too, so we’d never forget how much we mean to each other, even after over forty together.
Jennifer Beyer said:
The birthday that I had a blood infection is pretty memorable. It was my 40th so my family all came into town to celebrate with me. I was so sick but it was so nice having everyone around. (You were probably looking for a happy memory.)
Stephanie Erickson said:
My most memorable birthday was almost 12 years ago. I gave birth to my son one week before. And then my cousin gave birth to her daughter on my birthday. Happy Birthday Lorelei I hope you drank all the margaritas you wished for!
Tammy said:
Probably my champagne birthday, my 25th. My husband threw a surprise party, it had games like pin the tail on the donkey, except I was really into twilight at the time and it was stake the Vampire. All awesome.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Im a Leo as well. Enjoy
Amy Perrault said:
My most memorable birthdays were my 13th because a few friends hid in my closet & surprised me & then my 19 cause my little girl was going to be 3 months old.
Sylvain P said:
My memorable birthday is my 20th with my wife & a surprise party
Amy Butterbaugh said:
My best birthdays was the ones I spent with my mom (grandma) because she was a special lady in my life. I miss her everyday and now my birthdays I don’t do anything
Kathleen O'Donnell said:
Happy Birthday.. I have had a lot of memorable birthday’s, so I am going to say my 64th birthday… which i just had in March. My cousin invited me for the weekend, my birthday fell on the Saturday. It started with dinner on Friday night. We had fish and chips. My fav Friday dinner, then on my day, her girls cooked me my fav breakfast, French toast and sausages. I was so spoiled. I got flowers and some gifts at lunch, then dinner was bbq’d steak and more gifts. Then for dessert we had strawberry shortcake in mason jars. It was great birthday weekend.
Karen said:
When I hit a certain milestone birthday (I refuse to acknowledge the actual number, but the bastard starts with a 6…), I was in a zero weight bearing cast from foot reconstruction surgery a month earlier – 17 screws, 3 plates, but that’s a different story…. My birthday is in January, and living in KC, the weather sucks, so I pretty much stayed home. My darling husband pushed to take me out for dinner. While we were out, a group of my friends were gathering at my house for a surprise party! The best part is that everyone was around my kitchen island until they heard the garage door going up…. By the time we got out of the truck, got my knee scooter, got me on said knee scooter from the garage into the house, everyone was on the OTHER side of the island…. Apparently, someone said, “oh crap, what if she’s carrying and reacts by shooting one of us???” So… that explained why several of my friends were pushing others to the front!! (I wasn’t and didn’t, but it’s a valid concern!)
Diane Amato said:
Not a specific birthday but my dad and I have birthdays that were four days apart. He always used to say to me let’s do our cake together and my response would always be only if we have chocolate cake with chocolate frosting which he didn’t like. He would say no strawberry shortcake which I don’t like. Needless to say we always had separate cakes although I’m sure even if we liked the same flavor we would’ve had them separately.
Moran said:
Happy birthday 🥳🎈
My birthday is tomorrow July 26th so we are both Leo 😁
My most memorable birthday was my 30th birthday, I was in Barcelona for a week and it was an amazing trip .
I came back home the day before my actual birthday and it was the middle of a war in Israel so all my plans were postpone but it did make me appreciate being healthy and reaching an age that many people don’t get to celebrate.
Aly P said:
This year I finally got to travel(it feels like years and years LOL), and I did it for my B-day. I went and met friends, it was wonderful.
Debbie Bales said:
My 50th bday was my best. I spent it in England with my best friend (she lives there). The celebration went on for days. There was a BBQ with family (her family who adopted me) and friends. A trip to my favorite nearby village (Castle Coombe) for High Tea with my best friend and 2 of my “adopted” cousins. Dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant with my friends, godson and his family. Drinks at a local pub with more friends there.
Kristi said:
Happy Birthday to you!! Hope you had a fabulous day!
April P said:
Happy Birthday! 🎈🎊🥂🎂🎁🎉🍾🧁🍨🍰
I can’t remember a birthday that I truly loved. I usually hate my birthday it’s never fun
Sherry Anderson said:
My most memorable birthday was my 21st. That was the day I was induced to have my daughter. I had to wait for gifts, but the best 2 I got were my daughter and a glider that was used to put her to sleep many, many nights.
Lisa Rounsley said:
One of my most me memorable birthdays was my 50th. It was a girls weekend in the hills and enjoying Rapid!!
Elisa A said:
Happy Birthday Lorelei!!!!! My birthday was a week and a half ago. 🙂
I would say this year was the most memorable for me. (And it’s not because my memory is going! 😎)
This is the first year that I spent the entire day talking or texting with family members and friends. Due to CoVID restrictions still in force on the date of my birthday in Ontario, we weren’t able to go see friends or family. Even last year, during full lockdown, I didn’t hear from all of my siblings for one reason or another. In a normal year, I would have spent the day with my in-laws because they live closest. And my siblings and parents wouldn’t call, but just send me a quick email.
So I was pleased to have talked to my 4 siblings and their families as well as my parents that day. 🙂
Pamela Gomes said:
Happy belated birthday, you young whippersnapper (I’m older than you by 3 days, LOL)!
My favorite birthday was actually my 51st. I was attending a convention at Walt Disney World with a bunch of friends and we spent the day at Universal Studios where I purchased a wand and did all the magic things with it, got to go to the head of the ride lines, and enjoyed a fabulous, grown-up dinner.
As a child, it was always hard having my birthday in the summer when school was out so favorite birthdays were ones when my birthday fell during our vacation and we were somewhere fun like my 13th when the family was off for a whole month taking a cross country trip and we scheduled to be at family friends in a small village in Michigan for my day. So much fun!
I hope you enjoyed the lake this year!
Kim B said:
Belated birthday wishes. My best when I turned 7 I had a huge party and got a set of blow up Barbie doll furniture and a Holly Hobby doll.
Sonya Franklin said:
My 16th Birthday was my favorite! My parents & friends gave me a surprise birthday party. I was actually surprised!! My mom made 2 huge strawberry cakes & cooked hamburgers & hotdogs for everyone. I’d never had a party with more than 4 or 5 people attending. I think there were about 10 people there. It meant so much to me because I was just out of a really bed/abusive boyfriend situation & suddenly I had people that actually wanted to be my friends!! (Boyfriend wouldn’t allow me to have friends. He was jealous all the time.) It was a great birthday & party!!!!
Karen Lauterwasser said:
My birthday is in December. My siblings all have summer birthdays and hence had cookout birthday parties with my mom’s best friend’s family. I had an indoor dinner/party with the same folks, but felt left out since we couldn’t cook out.
But the slumber party I had when I was 13 was pretty awesome. There was dancing, and then going out on the front porch to cool off.