"Happy Birthday? Is that some weird way of saying Merry Christmas?"

So I have officially survived 23 years of life. Mostly intact, too. I have three ear piercings, and had my wisdom teeth removed, broke my two front teeth and two bones in my left foot, and I skinned my knees a couple dozen times, but I did it all in stride.

I have been wondering about the rules of internet birthday etiquette. There is doubtless a hierarchy when it comes to receiving birthday wishes. Because I and my friends have scattered ourselves across the continent, I do not consider my closest friends those who I spend my birthday with - if this were the case, my parents and grandmother as well as the sales associates at Holt Renfrew Calgary top the list. This may not be entirely inaccurate, but there are some others who I would include were it possible. But alas, I must depend on technology to bridge the gap between myself and those I love on my birthday. So which gestures warrant a message of thanks? Without a doubt phone calls - these were the minimum, and my lack of foresight meant I was unable to receive any of them (packing at 4 am did not include my phone charger...). My brother even made the effort to call me this morning, not without a slightly accusatory, "You know I tried calling you twice yesterday." Voicemails from Claire and Heather as well as one from my best friend from high school, Marlee. Congratulations - if you are one of these four people, you win.
I also received some text messages and an e-mail. A couple of facebook messages, some very thoughtful posts on my wall, and a couple lovingly photoshopped pictures featuring myself and rugby legend Sebastien Chabal. Which of these does one actually respond to? I find it contrived when someone responds to my own facebook birthday message that likely contained one sentence beyond "Happy Birthday _____!" - though I do lovingly craft that extra sentence, mostly to stand out amongst the rest of my attention competitors. Do you only respond to ones that you especially liked, or to the people you especially like? My limited knowledge of etiquette leads me to believe no. Should I just equally neglect everyone?

Probably. That is probably what I will do.

I do have about five posts that have been percolating in my mind the past couple of days, and they will be coming soon. If anyone noticed that I started doing a "On the __ day of Christmas my many admirers had best gift me..." theme that was swiftly abandoned, it has not been! I just realized that if I continued posting every day that there would be some really weird number of days of Christmas which correspond to no holiday lore, but would act instead as a gauge of how materialistic I am. Very. I know. I am properly ashamed.

In the meantime, adore my cozy birthday outfit acquired at Holt's yesterday with my parents.

Top: Theory | Jeans: Joe, cigarette cut | Sweater: ça va de soi | Bangles: Kate Spade

oh, yes, post script - the quote from the title? Grandma Dode. This was her response after we were bid farewell by our server who said "Happy Holidays and Happy Birthday." She's a funny lady.