This Girl's birthday.

Yay! It's my birthday! I love birthdays. My mom always made them special, decorating the house with birthday signs, making birthday cake, etc. I've been thinking about my favorite birthday memories and I have a few.

One year I had a Barbie cake. It was my favorite cake ever. Her dress was the cake. I can still remember being in awe of that cake. I really didn't think anyone should cut into it.

Does anyone remember these ribbon barrettes that were really popular in the late 70s? I had the best mom ever. She made a gazillion pairs of them (I think I had a pair to go with every outfit in my closet!) and I had a sleepover birthday party where all my friends got a pair. I was the coolest girl ever for that day. We played all the creepy sleepover party games, like light as a feather, stiff as a board and Bloody Mary. And everyone wore their barrettes to school the next Monday. We were so stylish.

Or there was two weeks after my 21st birthday, when I met and started dating Mark. He gave me a belated birthday card that said if he'd known me on my birthday he wouldn't have been late with the card. Sweet. And he gave me a video of Vanilla Ice and one of Mötley Crüe. OK, so he didn't know me so well just then. He tried. That counts for something. And, in all fairness, I did tell him I liked a song or two from each. Now he usually asks for ideas, though he does surprise me now and then.

This is my gift from Mark and N. this year. It was made by Magdalena Borejko, as you might have guessed from looking at the photo. I thought her photo was so beautiful that I asked her if I could use it on my blog. You must look at her Etsy shop. She makes the most stunning jewelry. I bought one of her tutorials, but have yet to try it. Anyway, I had been eyeing this piece for a while and when Mark asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I knew this was it. It hasn't arrived yet, but I'm really hoping today's the day! Read an interview with Magdalena on Katrin's blog.

The earring prize winner will be announced tonight. You have until 5 p.m. to enter!