I love birthdays.

It doesn’t even have to be my birthday. In fact, I love celebrating my friends’ birthdays just as much as I love celebrating my own.

Yesterday was my friend Ally’s birthday, wherein she turned the dreaded 23¹ In an unfortunate turn of events, I was unable to go and celebrate with her, as she was headed to Chico to spend the weekend with her boyfriend, and I was in Sacramento due to E’s parents being in town for a car show. Otherwise, I would have found a way up there.

I did manage to make her a lovely birthday present, though, and I didn’t want to ruin the surprise by posting pictures of it before she actually got it, hence being a day late with her birthday post.

I met Ally in the same class that I met E. In fact, she sat directly in front of me, and I was intrigued by her riotous curly hair, and the way she was so self-assured. I remember being pleased as punch when I realized that she was awesome. We never really hung out, only talking in class. It wasn’t until the end of the next semester, when I ran into her in the BMU² —she was just returned from a semester abroad in Prague. We were inseparable all that summer. We played Mario-Kart, I helped her move, she threw my birthday party. We fell in love with Cobra Starship, and managed to make it to Warped Tour to see them.

Ally is one of my most favorite people, and made going to Chico for school entirely worthwhile. I only lament now that we live far to far apart for such good friends to live. I am so proud of her, being a reporter for the newspaper in Eureka, but I won’t deny that I still wish we lived in the same city, instead of 5+ hours apart.

Happy Birthday, Ally! I know that you’ll get everything you want (and maybe a few things you don’t).

I chose to knit Ally a jellyfish because the very first thing she crochet for me (and, if I recall correctly, the very first amigurumi she ever made) was a tiny octopus. This jelly is the second amigurumi I’ve ever knit, and is the first time I knit a fair isle pattern and didn’t rip it out afterwards. I love the little details about the knit, and hope that it brings a smile to her face when she sees it.

Originally, I had intended for this to be a Christmas present—I began my Christmas knitting in August, and October wasn’t on my mind. It was a few weeks after I knit it that I realized that Ally’s birthday was fast coming up. And that wasn’t a bad thing, since the moment this was off my needles, I wanted to mail it to her so that she could see the awesomeness.

Of course, I still need a Christmas present for her, and given a list of options, she’s chosen mittens.

So now I’m dreaming of mittens. But that’s a whole ‘nother post.

1. Dreaded because as Blink-182 so eloquently put it, “nobody likes you when you’re 23.” [back]
2. Oh, how I love that place. All the best things seemed to happen there. [back]

Tagged: on Monday, October 5, 2009 · 2 Comments »