My birthday is a national holiday. It becomes a part of my personality for 30 days every year on September 1st. As someone with a birthday later on in the year, I’m used to celebrating so many birthdays before mine and I genuinely love it. I love watching people celebrate their birthdays and a new year of life. X amount of years ago, you were born on this day and once a year you get to celebrate that again. How could you NOT love birthdays? It’s the celebration of your existence!

Some of my favorite birthday-related things include: 

Insecure’s series finale birthday episode 

Ratchet Happy Birthday by Drake

Balloons on my Twitter page 

Handwritten birthday cards 

My yearly tradition of buying myself a new purse 

Me being born on a full moon 

This year, I have a lot of things planned. It’s the busiest birthday of my life but I’m excited for the new experiences I’m about to have. While those invaluable experiences don’t have monetary prices attached, my birthday wishlist does, and whew, I am expensive. 

I spoil myself every day but for my birthday and Christmas, I go harder. I’ve already gotten myself a few gifts that I’m excited about such as a new Gymshark workout set from their Adapt collection, the Delina Exclusif Eau De Parfum, and the Daphne Bag from Brandon Blackwood. 

Here are 10 items on my birthday wishlist:

(Yes, I am a little delusional for some of these items but call it wishful thinking!)

Gift Cards

Stores of interest: Sephora, Ulta, Trader Joe’s, Barnes and Noble, Uber, eBay, Amazon

These are definitely the most tame items on my list and you can never go wrong with a gift card to one’s favorite stores. I recently got really into eBay (story for another day lol), so she snuck her way into this list.

UGG Tasman Slippers

I’m going to be honest, I didn’t get the hype when these dropped a few years ago but after going viral on TikTok and realizing that I love to look cute and cozy when it comes to my winter footwear, these are going to be my winter-time crocs. I’m really digging the Burnt Cedar, Chestnut, Burnt Olive, and Black colors.

Maison Francis Kurkdijan’s Gentle Fluidity Silver

I smelled Gentle Fluidity Silver for the first time this past weekend and really liked it! I love floral and fresh scents, but I’ve been getting into woody scents like these.

Courtnee Futch’s Cookbook, Early Enough  

I really love Courtnee Futch and have been a fan of her content for over 2 years now. She’s a chef, content creator, storyteller, and so much more. I discovered her on TikTok and was instantly hooked by her content and her podcast, With Love & Butter, where she has discussions around food and dating. My favorite work from her is her newsletter. I love how strong her voice is and how inspired I feel after reading a new issue. When I found out she was dropping a cookbook, I knew I had to get a copy! Another fun fact about me is that I love niche books, especially hard-cover cookbooks. This book is perfect for me.

Apple Home Pod

My Alexa is barely hanging on by a thread, so an upgrade is needed. I love getting new products within my Apple ecosystem and as someone who plays music every day, this is a perfect addition to my home. If I were to get one, I’d get the white one.

Sims 4 Home Chef Hustle Stuff Pack

I and the entire Sims 4 community are still recovering from the news that stuff packs are back. Between this and the new expansion pack dropping before 2023 ends, Sims 4 has been getting all of my coins! I love cooking in real life and in the game, so this pack is perfect – and EA allows you to gift players game packs! (My EA ID is esoterically and my TikTok gaming channel is @jadeeeplays if there are any Simmers reading this)

Fenty Parfum Body Creme

It is my constitutional right to look and smell like the baddest bitch in the room. I got a whiff of the Fenty parfum in Sephora a few months ago and if it’s anything like I remembered, I know this body creme won’t disappoint. I actually have all 3 of Fenty Skin’s body cremes (10/10 would recommend), so it’s only right I add this new one to the collection!

Aritizia Super Puff

The last time I ordered an Aritizia Super Puff, it got stolen 2 hours after it was delivered. It’s almost been a year since that happen and I’m still pissed. Who didn’t want me to be sexy and fly last winter? I’m not ready for another Chicago winter and this is my 3rd one. I still don’t know what color I want, I’m leaning towards something darker but this time, I want to do an in-store pickup lol.

Charles and Keith Gabine Saddle Bag in Dark Brown

A girl can never have too many bags! I was on #pursetok and came across this brand and this particular bag. I love how affordable and chic it is. I don’t own any brown shoulder bags and I feel like this will be good for the winter.

Dior Saddle Bag in Blue Dior Oblique Jacquard

If I ever got this bag, I would need to experience purchasing it in the store. I’d probably faint when picking it up for the first time tbh. I’ve dreamt about this bag for years and even though it’s ridiculously expensive, I know I’ll get it one day. I can vividly see it in my wardrobe. This bag will probably be on my list every year until I finally get it. Future husband if you’re reading this, this bag is dowry for my hand in marriage LMAOOOOO. If I had to buy this bag myself, I would and I’ll feel good asf knowing I could do that. Until then, a girl can dream.

300+ Birthday Freebies

Back in 2020, I went viral a few times with this receipt-styled graphic so I figured I’d bring back the birthday freebie edition. I didn’t get to redeem all of my freebies last year but I’m determined to claim them over these next few weeks. I even found this list of 300+ birthday freebies for food, retail, beauty, and more! So far, I’ve picked up my Sephora gift which was lame (I had the choice between an Ilia mascara and Ouai shampoo and conditioner…I went with the mascara) and I’m hoping to get my 6 free wings from Buffalo Wild Wings this week on a night I don’t feel like cooking. If you have a birthday coming up, I encourage you to save this graphic and check out the list! 

This week I plan on enjoying my last full week of being 23. I have a lot of thoughts about turning 24 and I can’t wait to share that with you all.