{"id":4429,"date":"2017-08-16T15:24:48","date_gmt":"2017-08-16T19:24:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=4429"},"modified":"2017-08-16T16:33:53","modified_gmt":"2017-08-16T20:33:53","slug":"the-birthday-and-how-i-spent-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=4429","title":{"rendered":"The Birthday, and How I Spent It"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since I am now in my upper-twenties, I decided to take off work like a responsible adult and spend the day cavorting with Rosie<\/a>, whose birthday is only five days from mine. Necessarily this involved thrift shopping, and eating amazing food, since that’s how we roll.<\/p>\n

After our somewhat-unsuccessful-but-still-fun thrifting run, we went to downtown Winston Salem for some nourishment. I recently happened upon a taco joint called Crafted<\/a>, and it was the kind of place I wanted to go back to as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nTacos with sesame marinated cucumbers and pork. Sweet potato chip nachos. Mac n Cheese that, at the risk of sounding sappy, was truly the best I have ever tasted. Pico de gallo.\u00a0Sauces made of magic and rainbows.<\/p>\n

This is not a Mexican restaurant, which they take pains to make known, but they sure know what they’re doing with their tacos. I forsee Crafted<\/a> and I having a long and happy relationship.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nA stop at Camino<\/a> was also necessary, for an elderflower spritzer and a peachy matcha tea. Delicious, both of them, and just the thing to top off our day together. It was a rare treat to have Rosie to myself for a day, and the best way to celebrate our birthdays, down to getting caught in the rain with a too-small umbrella.<\/p>\n

I went home and got ready for the picnic I had planned. A blogger from NYC said that for her birthday she went to Central Park, texted her GPS coordinates to her friends, and told them to bring a dessert if they came. I am kind of burned out on fancy parties and showers, but yet I love to celebrate, so I thought it was a marvelous idea. I decided to do my own version of it with an Instagram post announcing a picnic for whoever showed up and brought food.<\/p>\n

\"img_1626\"<\/p>\n

I went a little early to scout out a location, and sat there nervously munching popcorn and wondering if people would show up or if I’d get stood up. But I had nothing to fear.<\/p>\n

\"img_1625\"<\/p>\n

After a while, people started trickling in and then pouring in, their arms laden with goodies, until the picnic table was engulfed in all manner of delicious things.<\/p>\n

Children walked around with their chins dripping watermelon juice. Adults formed little groups and the conversations flowed over mango buns and pumpkin rolls and pickled things and cheese. Cousins I don’t get to see often enough came. Nobody complained to me about the 116% humidity or the soggy picnic tables and their wet bums, and smiles were abundant.<\/p>\n

\"img_1628\"<\/p>\n

I even got a fantastic birthday cake, which I forgot to photograph until it was cleaned up, so I only have this picture of it chilling in the fridge with its olive buddies. It was beautiful, and tasted even better than it looked.<\/p>\n

My phone lay forgotten as I hung out with many of my favorite people in one spot, so I only have a few blurry pictures of the picnic. But isn’t that the best kind of event- the kind you’re too busy living to photograph?<\/p>\n

To Rosie who supplied my day with tacos and thrift stores, thank you! And to everyone who came out and braved the elements and brought delicious food and drinks to celebrate with me, thank you! It was just the right kind of birthday, and it reinforced my belief that I am surrounded by some of the highest quality people out there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Since I am now in my upper-twenties, I decided to take off work like a responsible adult and spend the day cavorting with Rosie, whose birthday is only five days from mine. Necessarily this involved thrift shopping, and eating amazing food, since that’s how we roll. After our somewhat-unsuccessful-but-still-fun thrifting run, we went to downtown Winston Salem for some nourishment. I recently happened upon a taco joint called Crafted, and it was the kind of place I wanted to go…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4426,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[86,88],"tags":[240,247],"class_list":["post-4429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-downtown-adventures","category-food","tag-birthday","tag-picnics"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/img_1622.jpg?fit=3810%2C2707","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8A8kG-19r","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5807,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=5807","url_meta":{"origin":4429,"position":0},"title":"Day 4: Picnics","author":"Rachel","date":"February 4, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Maybe I\u2019ve told you this before. If so, my apologies in advance, but here goes. My roommate and I have a summer tradition we love. After work on a Friday night, we\u2019ll head to Winston Salem and spend an hour at the mega thrift store there. Once we\u2019re shopped out,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Downtown adventures"","block_context":{"text":"Downtown adventures","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?cat=86"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/IMG_0192.jpg?fit=1200%2C865&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/IMG_0192.jpg?fit=1200%2C865&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/IMG_0192.jpg?fit=1200%2C865&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/IMG_0192.jpg?fit=1200%2C865&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/IMG_0192.jpg?fit=1200%2C865&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6730,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=6730","url_meta":{"origin":4429,"position":1},"title":"Little Letters, Birthday Edition","author":"Rachel","date":"August 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I love birthdays. I am not one of those Adulty McAdultsons who don't tell anyone it's their birthday, and spend the day exactly as every other day, letting it slide away in insignificance. (Ahem, you know who you are, you traitor to all birthday magic.) I think birthdays are meant\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?cat=91"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/balloons-birthday-celebrate-1071882.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/balloons-birthday-celebrate-1071882.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/balloons-birthday-celebrate-1071882.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/balloons-birthday-celebrate-1071882.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/balloons-birthday-celebrate-1071882.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7425,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=7425","url_meta":{"origin":4429,"position":2},"title":"A New York City Birthday","author":"Rachel","date":"August 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I have made no secret of the fact that I love birthdays. I mean, I'm one of those annoying people who counts down the days and tells everyone when it comes and marches around collecting all the free drinks from coffee shops and that kind of thing. Ya know? I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Downtown adventures"","block_context":{"text":"Downtown adventures","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?cat=86"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/DSCF0581.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/DSCF0581.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/DSCF0581.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/DSCF0581.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/DSCF0581.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7877,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=7877","url_meta":{"origin":4429,"position":3},"title":"Five More Questions to Which I May Never Have Answers","author":"Rachel","date":"August 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Why does the world not contain more deviled eggs? You know those Sunday evening meetings that happen sometimes when a random guest speaker or singing group comes through the area? Nobody really quite wants to attend, because half the time the music is bad or the presentation dull, but at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Five Things"","block_context":{"text":"Five Things","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?cat=87"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3769697-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3769697-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3769697-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3769697-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/pexels-andrea-piacquadio-3769697-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4235,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=4235","url_meta":{"origin":4429,"position":4},"title":"Why Do People Like Birthdays?","author":"Rachel","date":"August 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been counting down the time to my birthday as if I were a five-year-old, and happily making plans for it for weeks. Picnics! Dressing up! Mango cream buns! I like\u00a0growing older, and I like celebrations and presents and cake and introspection, so I think birthdays are swell. In celebration\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?cat=91"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/pexels-photo-226718.jpg?fit=1125%2C750&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/pexels-photo-226718.jpg?fit=1125%2C750&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/pexels-photo-226718.jpg?fit=1125%2C750&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/pexels-photo-226718.jpg?fit=1125%2C750&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/pexels-photo-226718.jpg?fit=1125%2C750&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":934,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=934","url_meta":{"origin":4429,"position":5},"title":"Birthday Special","author":"Rachel","date":"August 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Since it's my birthday, I thought I would \u00a0bore you to tears\u00a0interest you with twenty-five random bits of trivia concerning me. Teaching school was on the list of jobs I did not want for quite some time. Then I did it at a little school in Illinois, I don't even\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?cat=91"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/img_7637.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/img_7637.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1 1x, http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/img_7637.jpg?w=525&h=300&crop=1 1.5x, http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/img_7637.jpg?w=700&h=400&crop=1 2x, http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/img_7637.jpg?w=1050&h=600&crop=1 3x, http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/img_7637.jpg?w=1400&h=800&crop=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4429"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4458,"href":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4429\/revisions\/4458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}