turning 28 in less than 2 weeks

   Yes, I am living my last days as a 27 years old woman. Only two years left before the big 30 !!! (I am a late 90s doll, October 1998).

    I am so sick today. We are in some kind of in-between seasons, no heat anymore but not cold yet either. As the weather keeps going up and down, well, so does my fever. My head hurts, and as I was scrolling through my phone whilst hidden under my blanket, I realized my birthday is indeed, coming up soon. So I decided why not make a hot cup of ginger tea, put my office siren glasses on, and write something about it ? 

    And if you know me, you know I take my birthday very seriously. It's a big deal to me. It has to be a special day, hell, a special week. If it falls on a weekday, I automatically take the day off (I refuse to work on my birthday). If not, then I make it a whole weekend thingy. In any case, I try to make it special. 

    Like most people, I have my traditions around my birthday. Every year, since I was 20, I write every week preceeding my birthday, about how I feel, what am I grateful for so far, and mostly, what are my plans for said d-day. It's so intertesting to me to see how all the things mentionned above evolve as my birthday gets closer. What I love the most about these, is that I write them in the same folder on my computer, so every year, I get the chance to re-read for the 100th time what my life and mindset was about the previous one, to see how much I grew over the years, as well as my view on my birthday. I also always have this tradition of getting myself a small cake and blow a candle, as well as writting a card to wish myself a happy birthday. 

    And looking back, evey year was different : in 2020, I invited my friends to a chinese restaurant (one of my favorites back in my small town), we all gathered around the same table and had fun and laughed. The specialty of this restaurant, is that you can get on stage and sing in front of all the customers ! Back then I was a huge K-pop fan, so I asked the waitress whether she could put some BTS on, and I went on stage and danced (I know...) in front of everybody. With my whole chest. Not an ounce of shame whatsoever. (I still can't believe I did this, almost-28-year-old me denies any ties with who I was back then)

    In 2023, my birthday was on a sunday, so I made it a weekend thingy. I went to a museum, to a nice restaurant with my friends then went for a karaoke session on saturday, and then on sunday, there was a fancy horse racing event and I spent my whole day there at the racecourse. It was one of my best birthdays ever, I had so much through the entire weekend, full of nice experiences and new people. 

    In 2024, I celebrated it alone. I got myself a nice cake, wore nice clothes and went to La Girafe, a fancy restaurant next to La Tour Eiffel, and had a nice celebration by myself. It was a nice change. Here is what I wrote on my birthday diary back then : 

"Tomorrow’s my birthday. I can’t wait, Today’s my last day as a 25 yo. I am leaving a lot behind, a past version and past memories. There is a lot I am leaving behind. I can say I am quite scared to be honest, I don’t know what God has in store for me. I am excited, there is a lot I can do, and a lot I want to do. I won’t lie I am scared and excited at the same to time to grow even more as a person. I feel like I reached a threshold and I need to step up as a person."

And boy, I had no idea what was coming up. I couldn't have imagined how 2025 would turn. It was one of the hardest years of my entire life yet the most successful one, and as God is the Most Merciful, 2026 has been the best. 

    You may ask, well, what about this year ? Well this year the tradition keeps going, I decided to celebrate my birthday at home for a change. I am trying to do things differently, and I accomplished so much this year that I felt like enjoying that moment with people I appreciate and that are meaningful to me. 

    Turning 28th means a big deal to me this year. I think it's because how much my life changed since last year, therefor I feel the need to turn it into something memorable. 

    As I am approaching the thirties, I am realizing his is the best my life has been so far, whilst still keeping in mind that the best is yet to come. I am really excited to see what this year has in store for me, can't wait to witness what kind of person I am going to grow into, and what kind of stories I will be able to write about in the upcoming years. 

So stay tuned for next time, because I am going to share 8 important lessons that I learned that shaped who I am as I am turning 28. 

𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮,

𝓻𝓪𝔂 ♡