My 21st birthday was a wonderful day full of love, attention and excitement. Birthday breakfasts are family traditions that have been around all my life. They are always only family. Omelets are my favorite breakfast food. My mother makes the lightest, fluffiest eggs I have ever had. She always makes your personal breakfast a great big deal. Extravagance is abundant at these events. Purple is my favorite color so all the decorations are purple. Dishes are purple with purple flowers as garnishes. Breakfast meats, such as bacon, sausage, ham and Canadian bacon, are on large platters all over the table. Of course the smoky, sweet meaty essences of smells are hanging in the air. Mixed into this meaty smell is a sweet cinnamon fragrance of the sweet rolls. At our family gatherings alcohol is ever present. Orange juice and champagne, otherwise known as mimosas, are prevalent. Mom always brings out the beautiful crystal champagne flutes to use. I always feel so special drinking out of these glasses. My two sisters are there. They came in from out of town for the occasion. I don’t get to see them often anymore so it was a special treat that they were there. After the meal we do the gifts and presents opening. We always try to get the person something they can use but wouldn’t get for themselves. My mom gets me a gift card to a spa for a day. It is awesome and includes a facial, massage, pedicure and manicure. My sisters have gotten me a gift card for the mall, any store. That is a wonderful gift for me. Of course the essential part of this celebration is the laughter, memories and pictures generated. The next stage of this day is shopping for the birthday party outfit. It must be perfect. Since my sisters gave me the mall gift card I went to the mall with my girlfriends. This is an event because I hate shopping at the mall. So we get to the mall and have concocted a game plan in order to preserve my nerves. I had already decided I wanted the perfect little black dress. I had a visual image n my mind of what it looked like. Now the task at hand was to locate it. I have always been very fond of vintage and consignment type stores. We begin the trek through the mall searching for boutiques with uncommon apparel. We located some unusual black dresses but they just weren’t the one. I wanted mid-length, like mid thigh, and soft lowing material, off the shoulder or one shoulder. I required sexy yet demure. I know I was asking a lot but knew with time and effort I would locate this magnificent dress. After about three or four hours we came upon a very small and compact boutique with barely enough room to turn around in let alone browse the merchandise. But in we went bumping and brushing against one another as we gasped and awed at the original items in this quaint little spot. About to give up I turned to speak to my friend and there in the corner on a small barely seen rack was the dress. I know it wasn’t literally glowing but in my visual experience this dress had a glowing aura surrounding it. I just knew this dress was going to be perfect fit and it truly was. I don’t think I have ever had another dress that fit and looked as we as this one. The price was in the perfect range. Amazingly enough as I was paying for this outfit the shop owner brought out these amazing black satin peek a boo heels that matched perfectly. Wow, was all I could muster for speech. It floored me how this all took place. All in all that was the best mall experience I have ever had. As the day progressed we had to begin preparing for the party itself. This blowout party was to be held in the clubhouse of The Foxhill Apartments where my friend lived. I always loved this clubhouse because of the layout. It had this beautiful wide and ornate staircase that one could most definitely make a dramatic entrance on. The rooms were very spacious and seating was abundant and arranged in a manner that allowed freedom to move around the room easily. The kitchen was large with lots of counter space to accommodate the party food to be present. The decorations were hung with care and excitement for the evening to come. My friends had decided to go over the top with balloons and streamers and even had a piñata of all things. There were champagne flutes, and wine glasses that of course were plastic but looked very genuine in design. We left the clubhouse to go get ready for the evenings events. I was so excited and giddy that it was almost unbearable for in my mind I had built this day up to an extreme event all my life. We all convened at my friends’ house to shower, dress and primp ourselves into the beautiful women we would be that night. You should have seen it; makeup and hair appliances were everywhere, dresses and heels all over the place. We took pictures of it because we looked like we were models about to take the runways. Of course alcohol prevailed once again and we all had a nice relaxing alcohol induced buzz going on. We went back to the clubhouse and began arranging furniture and placing the catered food where we thought it would best be accessible to the party goers. The dj arrived an hour late and had all of us nervous. The food consisted of mostly finger foods, chips, dips, wings, meatballs, u know normal party foods. My other friends began to arrive all dressed to the nines. They were all required to bring a bottle of alcohol of their choice so as everyone would be able to partake. By the time everyone got there we had more alcohol than most liquor stores. Beer, gin, vodka, tequila, mixers, soda, juices, and several alcohols I was not familiar with were present on this drink table. I will never forget one of my male friends had devised this drink that u made in a bucket it consisted of all the liquors and various juices and was amazing. It also knocked you for a loop if you drank too much of it. There was lots of dancing and picture taking. People posed for pictures in the most hilarious manner. I look at those now and can’t help but laugh out loud because it was so crazy fun. We had rented the clubhouse for the night so that no one would drive after drinking. All keys had been taken by my girlfriends’ mother upon entering the party and she alone determined whether you were staying the night or able to leave. Let’s just say there were people passed out everywhere. For has intoxicated as everyone was there was only one small argument and it was handled nonviolently and went ways. We played cards, charades, Pictionary and truth or dare. I must say this a night I will never in life forget and don’t think it can ever be topped.