Most awkward things, part I.

So, about a week ago, I celebrated my 26th birthday. It is what it is. I had a great time eating Costco cheesecake with my family and watching General Conference.

P.S. that coral bubble necklace? $12.99 at Charlotte Russe. I have been wanting one for months now but they are all basically $20 and that's more than I ever want to spend on a necklace that's already on its way out of style. I know, I'm so behind the trend the bandwagon is practically dragging me along behind it. But when I saw that necklace, I snagged it up in a heartbeat. They also have it in white, but I worried it would blend in with my pale neck too much so I settled for coral.

Anyway, this year was the first year I ever realized how incredibly awkward it is to have people sing "Happy Birthday" to you. It's right up there with getting a pap smear or a bra fitting. I never know where to look or what to do with my face. I don't want to just stand there and smile like a creeper, but I also don't want to look down and seem embarrassed or ungrateful for the impromptu birthday serenade. Then this other part of me wants to sing along with everyone else, but you really shouldn't sing "Happy Birthday" to yourself -- it's kind of a faux pas. So I usually go with the smiling creeper option. I might even add in a nervous giggle or random jazz hands to further diffuse the tension. Good thing the song's only about 15 seconds long.

And there's always the issue of everyone starting on the wrong pitch and inevitably singing it in six different keys. It take every inch of me not to obnoxiously belt it out in the correct key (which I feel is F major). Instead, I get to be tortured until the end. This is such a source of annoyance to me that on my birthday, I actually demanded that I be allowed to give the starting pitch. I guess that makes me a birthday song diva. Or obsessive-compulsive. (It's actually a combination of both.)

I wish people could just say, "Hey, congratulations on surviving another year!" or something short and sweet like that.

Or maybe we could just adopt this version of the birthday song instead:

(Oh yeah, and don't forget to enter the $250 giveaway!)