How I Celebrated My Birthday

*Taps mic* Hello, is this thing on? Testing one, two.

It’s been a while since my last post… and honestly, I’m okay with that. I think I am finally over the “Omg I haven’t written on the blog so long—the horror” moment. Even though I haven’t been active here, I have contributed to the Food Culture & Co blog and created content for Instagram and Tiktok these past months.  If you do follow me on my socials, you might have seen that I recently celebrated my birthday and what a fabulous time I had! This year things were different and here’s why…

Usually by August I have already decided on my birthday plans. If I’m traveling, I would book my flights and accommodation during this month. This year though, I had nothing booked or planned. To be honest, I didn’t even really have any ideas on what I would do. Surprisingly, I was completely unbothered, and this was strange because I am a planner.

By September, and still no plans, I decided that this year would look a little different. I wrote down a list of activities I would possibly be interested in and who I wanted to celebrate each one with. A few more weeks went by and still nothing finalized, except, what I would do the day before my birthday. In proper Derencia fashion, I sent a few of my closest friends my birthday weekend itinerary a week in advance.

After figuring out what I was doing to celebrate my birthday, I started to reflect on how I was feeling. Over the past few years, I have felt so depressed and discouraged leading up to my special day. I mentioned a little about it in my previous 10 Things I’ve learned so far in my 20s post. This year though, everything was different. For the first time in a while, I felt at peace. I didn’t feel like a failure and I am so grateful for that. I even consciously waited to see if the feelings of despair would creep in, closer to or even after my birthday and they haven’t. It’s not that everything is perfect or that I’m so content with my life, but I have accepted the stage that I am in. I am working on making some changes and I do truly believe that things are working for my good.

I had a fabulous birthday weekend and I’m so happy for the people in my life that chose to celebrate with me. If you are celebrating soon or just interested in what I did for my birthday this year, here’s my itinerary:

Spa Day at Baha Retreat

I am a Baha Retreat connoisseur, if that’s even a thing. I have enjoyed many services over the years there and I had to pamper myself before entering a new age. The day before my birthday, I enjoyed the Unwind Package, inclusive of a body polish, swedish massage and a classic facial. I left the Baha Retreat feeling so refreshed and relaxed. This was definitely what I needed to start 28 just right!

Seafront Sushi

I love sushi, it’s one of my favorite foods. I wanted a casual celebration with my family and decided Seafront Sushi was a great option. This was the first time I had dine in at the restaurant since the pandemic and while the stairs were almost a challenge, watching the sun set from the balcony was a pleasant surprise. Food and drinks came in a reasonable time and everything was delicious as always. We had the rising sun, volcano and head hunter rolls, calamari and spring rolls. One of my OG blog posts featured Seafront, have you read it?

Shakespeare in Paradise

The arts have my heart! From a very young age, I have adored plays, watching them and starring in them too. When I discovered that we (The Bahamas) had our very own festival of live plays a few years ago, I was so excited. Whether at Fiona’s Theatre at the National Art Gallery or The Dundas, if it’s a play to be watched, I’m there. Earlier in my birthday week, I went to Shakespeare in Paradise to watch “Short Tales” and returned that Friday to watch “First Comes Mourning” (with my family) and both plays were amazing. The Bahamas is filled with so much talent, I always leave the festival completely wow-ed! To commemorate our 50th independence anniversary, Shakespeare in Paradise is celebrating with A Year of Bahamian Theatre showcasing a play each month until October 2023. I will definitely be visiting throughout the next year to enjoy some of the plays. You can find tickets for November’s play “The Landlord” here.

Baha Mar

After a wonderful time at Shakespeare in Paradise, I headed to Monkey Bar at Baha Mar to celebrate with my friends. I had such a great time bringing in my birthday, singing and dancing with all the pretty girls and of course cheering with glasses of prosecco and tequila shots. We went to the Jazz Bar and Essence Band wished me a Happy Birthday. I danced so much this night, I was so surprised that my feet didn’t hurt. Maybe 28 is the year I become a heels girl.

Café Matisse

My birthday morning was just how I wanted it be. I woke up to no alarm and my brother made me breakfast. I went shopping with my mommy for my birthday present and then went home to get ready for a night out. I am not a fan of large dinner parties so three of my friends and I went to Café Matisse for dinner. We had a spread of calamari, lobster salad, lamp chops, steak & lobster, and seafood pasta. The lobster salad was not what I thought it would be, but it was a nice fresh lobster and fruit salad. I wouldn’t order it again though. Additionally, my lamb chops were delicious after I took the pine crusted coating off. I really enjoyed the lychee sangria and crème brulee.

Atlantis

When was the last time you partied at Atlantis? This night was my first time in over a year and boy did I have fun. We went to Dragons and Aura and sang and danced to our hearts content. The deejay also played a lot of dancehall, so I was elated.

Big Picture Paint and Sip Studio

The following week, one of my friends and I went to Big Picture to celebrate our birthdays and the artist in me showed out! We had the best time, the studio to ourselves and our instructor was so helpful. I made a tiktok about our experience, you can check it out here.

I truly celebrated my birthday and started this new chapter exactly how I wanted. I am so grateful to be in the space I am right now.