24

On Saturday, I turned 24! Here are the photos to prove it…

My very first gift, a certificate to drybar (more on that later), nail polish, and a Vogue magazine with my girl Lena Dunham on the cover.

On my birthday morning, Thomas and I had Java Jive for breakfast, then he dropped me off at drybar for my appointment.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with drybar (myself until now), it’s an amazing place that sells JUST blowouts. For those of you not familiar with blowouts (myself until now), it’s a fancy way of saying ‘a professional blow drys your hair to make you beautiful.’

The drybar concept sucked me in right away. Everything is branded in yellow and grey, and the blowout options are detailed on a fancy menu.

My girl, Sasha, was super fun! She helped me settle on my blowout, a Souther Mai-Tai (combo of Southern Comfort and Mai-Tai, obvi) and gave me free champagne. I promptly got heart burn, because you know, I’m 24 now, but I did feel fancy!

SIDE NOTE: This is not a drybar ad, but you should definitely go if there’s one near you. It’s $35 (great gift option) and while you get your hair done you can talk to the person styling you, read magazines, or watch girl shows on a big screen.

Here I am, pumped for the day. Also thanks to TMahan for the new flowered sweatshirt, which I am also wearing today.

While I was getting my hair blowed, Thomas walked across the street to Whole Foods and bought me a fresh juice and CHOCOLATE SHAPED LIKE CATS. That man sure knows the way to my heart

At home, I FaceTimed my parents to open presents. Afterward, I wrapped up my animals in the ribbons.

Finally, the evening arrived. We had dinner with friends at a cool restaurant, Wisteria, which Thomas has wanted to try for a while.

To wrap up my birthday, we headed to a Valentine’s Day burlesque show at Paris on Ponce. Above is the MC, Mary Edith Pitts, a famous Atlanta Drag Queen.

We were seated at a VIP table with champagne and cupcakes. I didn’t drink the champagne because it would have given me heart burn, but it was still fun. The dancers were amazing and the crowd got rowdy when it was time for the birthday girls (the rest of whom were turning 40 something) to get up on stage.

Each of us had to dance to a minute or so of Shania Twain’s “Man, I Feel like a Woman.” I embraced the moment, but learned the hard way that burlesque dancing is hard if you’re wearing a tank top and skirt and have nothing to slink around your shoulders. Ever the gentleman, Thomas approached the stage with cupcakes filled with $20s (the contest was to see who got the most tips) and my friend Julie brought a bottle of champagne up for spraying. Needless to say, I won the tip contest and the crowd went wild – all the money from the contest was donated to the Jerusalem House, a charity for people with HIV and AIDS, which was definitely worth it.

Lesson learned – next time, wear a cardigan if you want to dance burlesque in front of strangers on your birthday.

This dress was my all time favorite as it reminded me of the book Rainbow Fish and was SO sparkly.

To wrap up the night, I took a photo with one of my favorite pugs, Baudelaire. I love that little guy, especially when he’s wearing red feather angel wings.