Last year, I was racking my brain trying to think of how to celebrate my birthday. I ended up planning a loose itinerary for my idea of the perfect day and invited my friends to join any part of it. That way, my loved ones can join for whatever activity floats their boat without obligation and, no matter what, I spend the day doing things that bring me joy. Thus, Kate's Perfect Day was born.
On Friday night, Tessa & Erin arrived for a gal's sleepover. We stayed up late gabbing and eating Cookout hushpuppies. The real excitement arrived early the next morning for the first item on KPD's itinerary: a Belle Isle walk.
A (mini) hike through the rain
Despite the weather, we discovered some telltale signs of spring along the walk.
Hanging out with Chuck, the neighborhood cat
Unfortunately, the freezing rain that was half-droplets and half-fat snowflakes was hitting its stride just as we were heading out and our tiniest hiking club member was increasingly vocal about her meteorological displeasure. Erin, Tessa, Grace, and I made it as far as the Oregon Hill overlook and decided to turn around. Gravel was most grateful for the intervention.
A coffee and a book shopping spree
After we dropped Gravel back off at home to dry off (and secretly gnaw craters into my birthday cake, turns out!), we met my friend Allison at Blanchard's. Squeezed into a corner booth, we tucked into banoffee lattes and made like all former English majors do—caught up on all the hottest gossip about the department and raved about books we've been reading lately. (Tessa recently finished this book and I feel like I have to read it now so that we can talk about it....)
Then, we came home for some valuable floor-sitting time before heading to Shelf Life. My friend Michael joined us, then, and we all spent at least an hour wandering through the packed stacks, petting the resident kitty cats, and talking me out of buying a patently absurd number of books. (I left with only 5! I think that's quite respectable. Allison picked up this one, which I have not been able to stop thinking about since.)
Nap time
An incredibly vital moment in any version of Kate's Perfect Day. We ordered a giant cheese pizza and collapsed into a heap on the couch.
The house wasn't still for very long, though! My friend Jess arrived—a wonderful surprise, considering she lives in Seattle—and more of my lovely friends continued to arrive, filling my house to bursting with love.
Make-your-own-sushi adventure
As a sushi lover, I'm rather surprised I've never attempted to make it myself. I figured hosting a dinner party to make our own sushi was exactly the kind of messy chaos I was looking for on KPD. And honestly, for not having planned this part of the day out all that much, it went incredibly well!
Everyone pitched in to help chop vegetables, prep sauces, and cook the rice. I set up an assembly line of ingredients, cracked open a bottle of prosecco, and played my best background CDs (a lot of Pavarotti and Carole King).
Cake and The Princess Bride
Riding high on the success of my make-your-own-sushi bar, we dug into my (homemade, tysm) two-layer sunset themed birthday cake and reorganized the living room so we could all snuggle in together to watch The Princess Bride.
There are several movies I could probably quote front-to-back, but none as reliably as this one. My friend Jada had never seen The Princess Bride before and it was so. much. fun. to experience the movie through her fresh eyes—the gasps at the ROUSes! The cheering during the fights! The sighs during the kisses. A truly perfect movie.
The criminal at the scene of her crime
And that was Kate's Perfect Day 2025! I went to sleep feeling swaddled in love and overfull of cake—what else could a girl want? I'm so grateful for everyone who could make it and for my friends who sent sweet messages. What a way to welcome year 27!
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