“Hi, my name’s Meghan, and it’s my birthday. Do you have anything for me?” These were the magic words that commenced the beginning of a birthday adventure. A particular cool, crisp, snow-fallen Friday in January marked my thirteenth birthday, and my grandma and I made plans to spend the day together after school. All throughout the school day, I talked my friends’ ears off, telling them all about my planned outing. I was jittery and could barely sit still in my seat until the three o’clock bell rang, and the hallways became swarmed with seventh graders and the sound of lockers slamming shut.

I skipped out of the school and spotted my grandma’s shiny, sleek royal blue car, and eagerly sprinted toward the vehicle wondering what will be in store on the adventure. We followed the assembly line of cars and school busses from the school into town to mark our first stop to the after school adventure. While stopped at a red light, my grandma began explaining to me what she planned for the day. She explained, “I’ve created a scavenger hunt for you.” She handed me a fuscia glitter heart-shaped notebook with a jet black spiral binding. “In here there holds thirteen clues to thirteen places where there is a surprise waiting.” I instantly opened the rough-covered notebook to the first page, scanned the clue, then shouted, “The coffee shop is the answer to the first clue!” The light turned green, and she started driving in the direction of Cabin Fever Coffee Shop. My grandma parked the car, and I heard the click of the car unlocking. “Now before we go in,” added my grandma, “you have to walk up to the counter and tell the person working, ‘Hi, my name is Meghan, and it’s my birthday. Do you have anything for me?’” I thought she was crazy. Why would I walk up to a stranger and ask if the had something for me? It’s not like asking my best friend for a pencil to borrow.

I sauntered across the forest green welcome mat into the coffee shop taking in the aroma of sweet coffee, and I start to feel nervous, awkward and embarrassed attempting to put one foot in front of the other. My heart started to pound like a child beating on a bass drum. I took a deep breath, stepped up to the counter, and spoke the magic words to the large man awaiting behind it: “Hi, my name is Meghan, and it’s my birthday. Do you have anything for me?” Feeling my face turn as red as the glow of Mars on a clear dark night, the man smiled and told me to wait one moment. He went away and came back with a large, smooth gold wrapped box. I carried the golden box to a table and ripped off the wrapping paper. A cream fine china tea set rested in the box decorated with sapphire designs. I thanked the large man behind the counter and my grandma for the gift and we carried forward.

Clue after clue, stop after stop, gift after gift collected, I finally turned the page to the final clue in the glittery fuchsia notebook. I turned to my grandma and declared, “We need to go to A Little Slice of Heaven!”

We jumped into the car and drove downtown. Once we arrived, I sprinted up, yanked open the cold metal door and snached a whiff of the delicious cream cheese smell. I promenaded up to the lady working and announced the magic words once again: “Hi my name is Meghan, and it’s my birthday. Do you have anything for me?” A kind lady wearing a blue apron crouched behind the counter and handed me a small smooth rectangular shiny blue box with a cobalt curley-cue bow on top. I tore open the slick box, like a dog digging for a bone, to find that my first cell phone lay inside. My grandma and I celebrated the end of our journey by feasting on  our favorite slice of cheesecake that melted in our mouths.

As my grandma drove me home, I texted my best friend all about my adventure. I arrived at my house and began explaining my day in full detail to my mom. I sat down in the kitchen chair, only beginning to tell that start of the journey, she interrupted, “Why don’t you go play down in the basement with your sister?” I denied the offer and began describing my day in perfect detail; then she raised me out of my chair and began nudging me closer to the basement door. As she kept coaxing me to walk down to the basement, I finally gave up and plodded down to the basement. I rounded the corner of the last stair, all of my friends emerged from their hiding places and yelled, “Surprise!” I felt a mixture of shock and happiness that everyone organized this awesome party that tears of happiness filled my eyes.

The rest of the night remained captured with smiles, laughs, gifts, cake and ice cream. As the day began solely with a car ride and a plan, it had spiraled into an afternoon of adventure and venturing out of my comfort zone. The recipe to create the best birthday consisted of a handful of creativity, a forkful of cheesecake, a dash of confidence, and element of surprise, and of course, the magic words, “Hi my name’s Meghan, and it’s my birthday. Do you have anything for me?”