Do you buy yourself a birthday present?

On a ten point scale of the enjoyment adulthood provides, I would give a 1 to having to schedule my own doctor’s appointments and a 3 to paying my AC bill in August. But I have to give a solid 10 to my favorite thing I’ve done the past couple years: buying my own birthday present. Is it vain, selfish, silly? Maybe. It’s also delightful. There are no rules for adult birthdays (except that the stress of planning a birthday usually outweighs the fun of having one) so why not buy your own present?!? Here are the self-birthday presents I considered this year, just for fun.

My personal gifting philosophy is that my self birthday present should be something I really, really want, but also find a little frivolous and have talked myself out of buying on multiple occasions. The more times I’ve abandoned it in an online shopping cart, the better it is as a birthday present. This year I considered…

A new work bag: My minimalist philosophy is one bag for each part of life (less decisions!) but I’ve wanted the Everlane form bag ever since I first saw it. Why oh why do I have such a need for an evergreen purse? I have no idea. But when I found one in great condition secondhand it officially became my self-birthday present this year (I know many people are not buying Everlane until they improve their workplace culture and ethics–this bag is additionally sold out but I’m not linking it here, you can find it on Poshmark!).

Fancy bras: Ugh, Thirdlove, you have my heart. These bras are GOOD, guys. It took me a long time to kick the Victoria’s Secret habit and it still hurts my bank account a little to pay $70 for a bra but this lace one is my absolute favorite. I’ve decided that once a year is just fine for something pretty but practical. (ps if Thirdlove also hurts your bank account I do have a referral code for $15 off).

Fancy sweaters: This Sezane sweater has been on my wishlist for a year–it’s reversible! A cardigan or a crewneck! And it just looks so fuzzy. However, I now live in the southwest and hardly got to get reacquainted with my sweater collection last winter.

Leopard sneakers: I am leaning into sneakers for work, hard. If I have to walk across campus to teach I want to be extremely comfortable. I like that the leopard print here would be a fun contrast with all my black work clothes. For now, I don’t really need new shoes, but these are still on my list.

Fancy leggings: We have discussed my love for bike shorts elsewhere but my bestie got me these for my birthday and I LOVE THEM. They have no center seem (why has no one thought of this before!?) so they stay put during workouts. I might go back for the leggings. However, they did not make the birthday list because I have no problem buying new workout gear when needed 🙂

Everyday jewelry: Lastly, I have started asking Trevor to buy me everyday jewelry every year–I’m way too picky so I just drop a lot of email hints 🙂 Last year he got me this necklace and this year I got some gold tiny hoops.

There you have it. It’s Leo season. Buy your own birthday present (but seriously, does anyone else do this?).