This Tuesday, I (Maya) was elated to walk in the store and see the telltale signs of celebration: balloons, banners, and birthday wishes from my bosses and coworkers. I could already tell it was going to be an eventful day filled with pictures, presents, and of course, birthday cake. After all, I finally turned 21, and who better to celebrate my special day with than Southgate Coins!
The day began with hugs and “Happy Birthdays,” and very shortly, I was pulled into Rusty’s office to hear a special message on the answering machine. One of our wonderful long-time clients left me a message, complete with him singing me Happy Birthday. This is the second year in a row I’ve been serenaded, and I can’t express how much I appreciate his warm wishes. Thank you, Dick!
Following the song, I had another unexpected thing happen: A bouquet of gorgeous spring flowers arrived. Turns out my parents sent me the arrangement, with a note saying, “You may be 21, but you are still our baby girl. Love, Mom and Dad.” Thank you, Mom and Dad—they’re beautiful.
I continued my normal work throughout the day, and while I was talking to Marie at my workstation, I nearly jumped out of my skin as I heard the beginning of a birthday song come over the sound system, along with a symphony of noisemakers. I ran over, excited to see my cake—gorgeous white icing with purple flower decorations and writing which said, “Happy 21st Birthday Maya.”
Now, here’s Crystal to talk about the party décor and the cake.
On Monday, Marie called and reminded me (Crystal) to pick up a bouquet of balloons for the celebration. Marie told me that the birthday cake was white with purple flowers (Maya’s favorite color), so I continued the theme. I picked up a “Happy 21st Birthday” balloon and some lovely pink, white, and purple balloons to surround it.
When I arrived that morning, I saw that many of the decorations were already up, including a cute birthday balloon with a “21” napkin taped to it, which Rusty made the night before. I helped Marie finish decorating so that we were all set for when Maya arrived.
At about 5:00 p.m., we began the festivities. Maya was on the other side of the store and Nicole, Cara, and I received our celebratory birthday hats and noisemakers from Rusty, who then came out of his office with the very pretty, but slightly melting, ice cream cake. The cake was set down, the birthday music was cranked up, and we started celebrating. We presented Maya with a “birthday book” which we all signed, and Rusty began to take pictures of Maya with her presents (Cara will talk more about that).
It all went so well—there were no customers during our whole little party. After a few pictures, we sped up the festivities a bit, since the flowers on the cake began to landslide due to the melting ice-cream layer. The cake was one of Maya’s favorites: chocolate cake with Oreo Cookies n’ Cream ice cream. We all sure enjoyed our slushy slices of cake!
And now, here’s Cara to tell you all about the presents!
When it comes to birthdays, Maya is usually the one who comes up with perfect gift ideas, but since it was her birthday the rest of us girls had to really put our heads together to think of some great gifts for her. After many secret discussions (and some text messaging), Crystal, Nicole, and I came up with the idea of getting her some nice house decorations and a season of one of her favorite cartoons. Nicole even offered to go shopping for all the gifts, since she wanted to make sure they were all wrapped in matching wrapping paper.
Right before the celebration was about to begin, I ran out to Nicole’s car, grabbed all the presents, and snuck them into Rusty’s office for safekeeping until Maya blew out her candles.
When it was time to open presents, Rusty declared that we should start with the biggest, which was one of the presents from us girls. It was a white, iron wall hanging of flowers and leaves, which Maya was pleasantly surprised about. The next gift that she opened was a pretty wall plaque that said “Everlasting Love.” Then she opened a cute, pink martini glass with “Birthday Girl” painted on it, and a DVD of the 6th season of Family Guy.
Marie and Rusty handed out gifts next. The first one Maya opened from them was a cute, yellow beach bag with dragonflies on it. Then there was another DVD by comedian John Pinette, and a nice ginger-scented body cream bath set. After all the presents had been opened, the cake was really starting to melt, so Rusty cut slices and we all dug in.
Thanks, Cara! Well, I (Maya) have to say this was certainly a 21st birthday to remember. Clients, coworkers, and family all honored me, and everybody was so thoughtful with their gifts. I especially thank Rusty and Marie for making the celebration happen. My birthdays just haven’t been the same since I started working at Southgate Coins!
Thanks again, everyone, for everything.