December has not really been my favorite month. Let me take that back. Sometimes it can be bittersweet but it’s never really fun. There’s too much gift-buying shopping anxiety, too many obnoxious commercials on the television, too much faux joyousness.

And there’s always The Birthday. I don’t think I’ve ever liked having been born during the holiday season. There’s always the question: “Does your birthday sometimes get overlooked because if the holidays?” to which my response is always “Duh.” It could be worse: Brandon’s birthday is on December 31, and you know he never gets any respect of privitization with that date.

So when your birthday falls on a Wednesday during holiday season, and you’re my age, it’s really not a big deal.

I was planning on getting some friends together for cocktails at a new swanky joint on Pennsylvania Ave SE. I had previously talked with the owner about having a drop-in from 7–10 and getting a couple of bucks off from drink prices for those invited. I followed up with an email and didn’t get a response. I went back there last week to check in again and it seemed all deals were off the table so that soured me on that proposition.

I tried to figure out other options but nothing was really coming to mind. Being late in the game to send out invites (although it still would have been a very casual evening) and getting an invitation from friends for a non-birthday related cocktail party on Thursday, I threw in the towel and decided to do nothing. Melba did coax me out though to one of our fave places, La Lomita, for some birthday tacos and margaritas. It was a low-key evening but one that was still very fun.