A Birthday In a Pandemic- Turning 23

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Hey guys! Sooo this is just going to be a quick post since it’s been a while since I’ve updated you all on my life eh- did ya miss me!? On November 3rd, ya girl had a birthday in a pandemic-I turned 23!! I know I know, you’re all probably thinking “But Shayla, you look so young!!” LOL, I’ll thank Facetune and filters for that because mum life is ageing me faster than bread…is even that a thing? In all honesty, sometimes I forget that I’m only 23!

So anyway, I thought I’d write a post telling you all what I did for my birthday during this pandemic! I never actually thought I’d be spending my birthday in a pandemic… It’s such a weird time for everyone right now and I don’t even think I can envision when things will ever be “normal” again. That being said, we really have to make the most out of what we can do whilst trying to remain safe- Wear your masks people!!!!!!

How I Celebrated My birthday In a pandemic

Bottomless Brunch

On the weekend before my actual birthday, I had the privilege of being able to enjoy my final days of freedom with the lockdown nearing on the 5th. A close friend and I went to the Caribbean restaurant Turtle Bay in Brixton and sat down for 2 hours of their popular bottomless brunch. If you don’t know what bottomless brunch is, it’s a choice of a tasty brunch-y meal with bottomless drinks to wash it all down during official ‘brunch hours’…(aka any time between 11 and 3). Brunch brunch brunch brunch-y brunch. This was my first brunch experience and I can now understand why people go so often, drinking cocktails in the early afternoon- you can’t go wrong with that!

We both opted for the ‘Big Kingston Grill Down’ which tasted absolutely amazing!!! When reading the menu I didn’t think it would work and it wasn’t even our first choice but I really think it was a great decision in the end. Who knew swapping baked beans for curried chickpeas would work so well!

I had the best time ever; great company and drank the place DRY- it was a really enjoyable experience overall!

(You’re going to have to forgive me for the photo quality of the images below. They were all taken from videos on snapchat since I’m terrible at remembering to take photos. I’ve been all for living in the moment recently)

Related Post: 10 Things I am Going to Do Once Lockdown Ends

The Day Of My Birthday In a Pandemic

The morning of my birthday started like every other morning. I was awoken by my daughter who refuses to sleep in her own bed. You would think that the older a child gets, the more they would want to sleep alone… right? It has been so long since I last had my bed to myself, I think my spine is feeling the effects everyday.

She gave me the cutest birthday card ever. I mean look at it, do you see that!? Maya can write!!! Haha I will probably remember this one forever, especially with the fake yen from Daiso that was slotted inside.

I managed to visit my grandma after a really long time and then came home to a beautiful bunch of roses!
This was probably the second bunch of flowers that I’ve received in my whole 23 years of life. I actually used to say that I didn’t care for flowers but as I’m getting older, I can really see how much of a mood booster they can be. I think Maya was excited about the flowers the most though, not a day went by where she didn’t tell me to give them a “drink”- she’d be a great plant mum!

As you can imagine, eating out for dinner as a family was off the cards so we ordered Chinese food! Unfortunately, there was a problem and the dish I wanted didn’t arrive. It had been so long since I enjoyed a plate of Mapo Tofu so I was slightly upset, but still got to enjoy my birthday with my family so I was grateful for that! Have you heard of Mapo Tofu? It’s a spicy meat and tofu dish and is absolutely delicious!

My family sang happy birthday to me and we all enjoyed a slice of cake. Can you see how Maya’s looking at that cake, she had been talking about it all day haha!

Well, that was how I spent my birthday during this pandemic. Have you already had your birthday this year? If so, what did you do to celebrate? Let me know in the comments below!

Thanks for stopping by