Birthdays are only celebrated once a year, and my birthday is on January 22nd, which means there is a slight chance each year that it might snow on or near my birthday. When I was a kid, I loved it when it snowed on my birthday because that meant school would be closed or we would have a two-hour delay. While that’s great, sometimes we would be dismissed early on my birthday, which meant we’d get way too much snow during the day or evening, and that might affect my birthday dinner plans. No matter how terribly snowy the roads were, somehow my dad always managed to make sure we went out to dinner on my birthday. Usually, we would go to a local Italian restaurant called Figaretti’s for my birthday. They always had the best cheese ravioli, so that’s usually what I would order every year, since it was my favorite meal there.
When I was a junior in high school, it snowed so much on my birthday that all after-school activities were canceled due to a 2-hour early dismissal. I was really angry because it meant that I wouldn’t be able to audition for the school musical that year. Somehow, the auditions always fell within the week of my birthday, so I was always happy whenever I got to attend the auditions or stay after school to attend practices with the debate team, because I never liked riding the bus after school. Although I was never fortunate enough to be on stage in any high school production, I am glad I was still part of the theater department, which meant I got to attend rehearsals after school as the head of the prop crew.
I celebrated most of my birthdays with my family, except one year I was away at a debate tournament, one year I was out of town at a conference for Lions Club (yes, I was the president of a Lions International Club, and I’m only in my twenties. I was president from 2020 until 2021 but that’s a story for another time.) I really enjoyed competing in debate tournaments. During my sophomore year on the debate team, I didn’t get to compete in any, but whenever I did during my junior and senior years of high school, I always enjoyed them.
I grew up with divorced parents, so that normally meant that I got to celebrate my birthday two separate times, once with my dad and once with my mom. My birthday was always better when it was celebrated with my dad than it was when I celebrated it with my mom. When I was five, I was a massive Strawberry Shortcake fan, so when my mother asked me what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday that year, I didn’t hesitate: a Strawberry Shortcake one. So even though she sucked at cooking, baking, and anything involving her stove, she decided to make me a strawberry boxed cake, and it ended up being a total flop because just like the food she always placed on our dinner table, she burnt it. Even though I don’t speak to her at all anymore, I don’t think anyone should let her bake anything because she couldn’t cook to save her life. Her biggest successes were usually something like spaghetti or Jiffy Pop, but that’s about the only two things she ever made for my sister and me growing up that ever tasted great.
My dad always baked awesome cakes for me when I was little, or if he couldn’t make the cakes I wanted for my birthday, he would go out of his way to find a local bakery that could make them for us. One of my favorite cakes I’ve ever had was one with The Powerpuff Girls on it, and the baker at the time wasn’t exactly sure who they were, but once we got the cake, it looked amazing. My favorite cake I asked my dad to make was a chocolate cake with strawberry-flavored icing, topped with strawberries, and it always turned out amazing.
One of my favorite birthday memories is from September 2013, when my dad took me to New York City to celebrate my upcoming sixteenth birthday in January. We packed so much into that trip: we saw Annie on Broadway, went to the top of Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building, and even had a whole elevator full of strangers sing “Happy Birthday” because my dad told them we were celebrating early. We ate the best pizza of our lives at Lombardi’s, rode a carriage through Central Park, visited the Statue of Liberty, and did plenty of shopping in between. I had dreamed of visiting New York City ever since I was little, and that trip ended up being one of my all‑time favorites.
My dad was always the best at finding me the perfect birthday gift when I was little, even if I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. Every year, he managed to buy me a gift I ended up loving. One year, I really wanted a Nintendo DS Lite, so he ended up getting it for me, and I remember how excited I was when I got it. I was even more excited the year I got a Nintendo 3DS because my first Nintendo DS had broken at some point. I had many games to play on them, but my favorites were Animal Crossing: Wild World and Style Savvy. I loved Animal Crossing as a kid because it always had amazing graphics and was really fun to play, though I always got sick and tired of the character Tom Nook begging for too much money from me. (If you know, you know.) Style Savvy was fun because it let you set up a boutique and help your fictional customers style the perfect outfits or find clothing that fit their personalities. It was a lot of fun because I always loved anything fashion and girl-related when I was little. I also got a camera for my birthday when I was a senior in college, and since I have always loved photography, it was a very memorable gift that year.
As I turn twenty-eight today, I am looking forward to celebrating my birthday with my husband Ian. For my birthday, we’ll celebrate at Harpoon Hanna’s, and I’ll get to eat crab cakes, probably my favorite appetizer, and scallops. After dinner, we normally go out for ice cream at Dumser’s Dairyland, and we share a mint chocolate chip milkshake. Last year, we were unable to go there, though, since they’re apparently closed on Wednesdays in the winter. Now that I’m older, I think the only thing I ever want for my birthday is to go out to eat and to spend the day with Ian. It’s also helpful if it’s not cold or snowy and the weather is at least fifty degrees or higher, but that’s all in the hands of Mother Nature. Normally, Ian gets me a card and a small gift each year for my birthday, and my dad sends me a card as well. I’m glad that I have gotten to spend the last four birthdays with Ian because celebrating them with him is always very memorable. For me, birthdays aren’t just a day to celebrate myself; they’ve always been a day that I’ve gotten to celebrate with people who love me the most.
Image Credit: Ian Peters (This is a photo of Hanna Peters last year on her 27th birthday that was taken by her husband.)
This was written by our founder and editor-in-chief, Hanna Peters.
Cover Image Credit: Hanna Peters (This was the birthday cake that her husband Ian Peters made for her birthday back in 2024.) 🎂
Leave a Reply