Sometimes having your birthday away from family can be a little heart breaking. We have been celebrating our birthdays with our families since we were little, but now that we're in college, we have new friend groups to help us celebrate. Yes, it may not be the same as being with your family, but you will definitely have way more fun. Plus, your family can always send you a care package filled with your favorite foods and knick-knacks.
But here are 8 things needed in order to create a successful birthday!
1. Hit up Five Below for some cheap, funny, affordable gifts
Since we are all college students, why not go to a cheap store that sells cute college things and has just about everything you can think of? Five Below is always a great back-up when that one gift didn’t show up on time, or you just don’t know what to buy your friend (which is pretty sad).
(In this picture I gave a MAC Lipstick as a gift, so clearly I'm a good friend.)
2. Cake Cake Cake!
What is a birthday without cake? Especially in Ithaca, there are so many options available on the best places to get a cake. (My favorite is Carvel's ice cream cake just in case you were wondering.)
3. Decorations!
Last year my roommate surprised me after I came back to the room from my 8 a.m. Philosophy class. The floor was covered in balloons and a poster hung from above the window saying, "Happy Birthday"! Honestly, it made my day before I even knew I got a cake too.
4. Birthday dinner
Usually in my family, the person celebrating the birthday gets to choose where they want to go out to eat. At home, I would always pick Chinese food, but here in Ithaca there is no such thing as good Chinese food. So for birthdays, my friends and I usually go to Chili’s—can’t go wrong there.
5. Go out!
If your birthday is on the weekend, or if you don’t have 8 a.m. classes almost every day of the week, go out and celebrate! Find parties, hit up Moonies or just drink with a couple of your closest college buddies! You’re sure to be in for some great laughs and memories.
6. Take plenty of pictures and videos to send to your family
Well, I mean, the pictures you take before you go out.
(Devin's birthday is on Halloween. And yes, I did my face paint myself.)
7. Keep old traditions alive
If the birthday girl (or boy) had special traditions that they did at home, make sure you try to keep them alive while at college. The more at home they feel, the better birthday they will have.
8. Make new traditions
There are going to be so many birthdays celebrated during your college experience, so make sure that you create your own traditions.
And don't forget...
9. Obligatory birthday selfie
That's when you know you've done your day the right way.
