first?

woohoo!

You're so welcome. You've given far more than you can ever know.

Have fun at IKEA...my son loves that place.

Happ, happy birthday.

Ikea is fun! Have a great day and I'm glad to hear that Roy is still alive and you haven't yet moved into the jeep. Btw: I hate that freakin' song too.

I went dancing a few weeks ago and there's this band called Caliente. When they are at the club, we need to drink until they sound good. Because they are bad, I call them "Crapiente". Anyhoo, they had the audacity to perform this song twice. Ewwww.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Purl!! Here's hoping your 35th year is one of renewal and all the love and appreciation you so deserve. Thanks for sharing your life with us!

Happy 35 - having hit the reverse one I can easily assure you that 35 is in no way old :) You are, however, much smarter and wiser than you were at 34 - you've grown up so much this past year, Laurie.

I'm glad the cats are healthy and happy, that you have a good job and that you've taken the day off to call your own. Happy Happy Day and thank you for the entertainment, the introspection, the tears and the laughs. May you be beginning a wonderful new year.

If it wasn't your birthday I would hate you. Freaking Wilson Phillips playing over and over and over in my head. And over again. Sigh.

I do hope you enjoy your day - make it wonderful!!

I'm hitting 3-5 this year myself, and must say you're giving me inspiration for how to celebrate it. IKEA & Yarn is a happy combination. I hope you enjoy your day!

OOOH, I'm so jealous! I would TOTALLY hang out at IKEA for my birthday, but the closest one is in Chicago and that's a long 4 hours to drive! Rumor has it that they are building one right here in little STL, so maybe I can have my 35th birthday at IKEA next year....Do they supply the cake and party hats??? (Have a great day!)

Happy Birthday!

Happy, happy birthday! And happy IKEAing!

Have fun today! :)

(I got to be the first commenter on your birthday, that's gotta be good luck or somepin')

hate! no! it's in my head! haaaate! (the song, not you.)

Happy 35th my dear, here's to many more. I believe that this year is going to be a good one for you in so many ways.

Happy Birthday! I vaguely remember turning 35; I prefer getting older because I care less what anyone else thinks.

Thanks to you, I now have the mental image of Wilson Phillips singing that "Dontcha" song stuck in my head. Wilson Phillips does not look like the Pussycat Dolls.

I have a fivehead too!

GAH! Earworms!! Now I'll have that stuck in my head all day!

But it's your birthday, so you can do what you want. Including infecting your readers with earworms :)

Have a wonder-full day!

Yay! Get some IKEA loving for me. It's been way too long. Happy Birthday, you young thing!
G (who will be 39 in Dec.)

Wishing you the best birthday ever! And even more than that the best year ever. All your blog-readers love you so.

Happy Birthday! Have fun at IKEA.

And I LOVE that song! No really -- I play it every day on my iPod. I am uncool and unashamed.

Your evil plan was successful. It is TATOOED on my brain now. If ya hooooooold on for one more day, yeah, if ya hoooooooooooold on....... hold on baby...

Happy Birthday, Sweetie!!! Thanks so much for sharing it with us again. I know that 35 is going to be a good year for you - I just know it! :) Have a wonderful day.

Have a super birthday, you deserve it! (And as far as Mr. X remarrying, just remember, men who are married live longer than men who aren't, but women who aren't married live longer than those who are, which I think means, that for women, marriage just SUCKS THE LIFE RIGHT OUT OF YOU!)
hee hee hee...

Have a good one...party (or knit!) like a rock star, because you deserve it. Thank you for making me smile or laugh or even sometimes cry...you always keep me coming back for more!

Hope you have an AWESOME birthday!

Love
Shelby
the One Girl Show ;)

Happy Birthday, Sweetie! We're all looking forward to seeing where this year will take you. Good luck and best wishes on your journey toward 36.

(Sending virtual head noogies to the kitties.)

I totally wish I still had my Wilson Philips cassette tape! Alas. (Suddenly I have this image of everyone at Stitch n Bitch harmonizing. Egads.)

Happy B-day you crazy thing! I'll be celebrating 35 on the other side of the country at the end of the month. Hey, that gives me an idea. How about we have a glass of wine (I didn't specify the SIZE of the glass) everyday till June 30? Oh, kinda dumb, I guess - since that was probably going to happend anyway.

Happy Birthday! I always take my birthday off too...I think everyone should. It's the cool thing to do.

Ha! I just got the Error 500 (or was it 550?) page. Only you could make a computer error screen of death funny!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy birthday, Laurie! I spent, like, THREE HOURS last night making my wig for tonight. All in your honor.

Happy Birthday! Great blog - I love your writing.

happy birthday, laurie. i hope the coming year brings the peace and happiness you deserve.

Happy Birthday Laurie! I hope you find everything you need at IKEA. On Sale. And that a hunky swedish dude helps you load it in the Jeep.

Happy birthday!!! My life was empty and void of all joy before I found your blog. Now I can live, love, laugh and ... well, ya know.

Oh Happy Day!!!! Have a great Day, a great Ikea shopping trip, a great stitch and bitch and....a little boy I worked with at school sings it "don'tcha wish ya girlfriend was fat like me". gotta love him!

Happy Birthday, Laurie - said it before but you are somehow a Lost Cousin - my daughter and I read your blog and often hoot at how much you sound like Family. I always feel like a stalker when I say those things, but, still, it's the middle of the afternoon and I'm exhausted and buzzed so I'm spreading truth among the blogworld. Or blogwordl, as I originally spelled it. 35 is a very good age, you'll enjoy the hell out of it.

That's going to be some fun stitch n bitch. Have a happy, happy birthday!

We give you birthday love and you give us images of a grey day at the beach with three very different hair colors, and the shame that we know way more of the words to WP's hold on than we ever imagined.... that's why we come back for more... please post again for I don't know if I can 'hold on for one more day'.
p.s. On my desk there is a double handled ceramic child's cup with a very affeminate crowned purple dragon on it; from Ikea, it's called, "SMASKIG".
Love you ikea!

Daaa naaa naaaa naaaa naaa naaa naaaa they say it's your birthday day....daaa naaa naaa naaa naaa naaa naaa, it's my birthday too OOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Well it is my bday on Monday. But today is your day!!!! Have a wonderful day.

Honey, I am 12 years older than you, and I have experienced so many songs that are worse than that, I cannot tell you. Songs that will lodge themselves in your brain like some sort of alien virus and lie dormant until they are triggered and MWAHAHAHA they cannot be dislodged oh no no no.

I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I caa-aaa-aaa-are
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

(I find humming Beethoven's Ode to Joy occasionally dislodges the alien, at least for a while. Of course then you are stuck with Beethoven, but he sure beats SW or WP, as the case may be.)

And I'll never have that recipe a-GAAAAAAAIN
Oh NOOOOOO...

Happy birthday MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

There are wigs and presents? WAAAAAA I wanna go to Stitch and Bitch.

Happy Birthday! Don't look at it as getting older, look at it as a way to celebrate you for a whole month! That's what I do anyways.

many happy returns of the day, to the ultimate blog-goddess!

Happy Happy birthday! You brighten my day and bring joy to the knitblogosphere! You rule, lady!

Enjoy IKEAing!

Happy birthday and THANK YOU! Your blog cheers me up on the worst days and, sparing you the gory details, I swear your fried green tomatoes saved this hopeless yankee's life.

Argh--I didn't get a chance to read the blog yesterday and I missed the most important day of the year: The Day Upon Which All Dessert is Free! So happy free-dessert day. :-)

And thank you for being so eloquent and open. You'll never know how much joy and sometimes solace you send out to this lil' Dixie transplant...

Happy Birthday Purl!! Oh and when you go to Ikea, make sure you buy a phallic-shaped garden gnome. You'll know it when you see it. It is very Swedish and a great conversation piece at parties.

You're my favorite knit blogger, Laurie. I save your blog for last so I know I'll walk away from the blog-reading with a smile on my face. I get more out of reading your blog than I have out of dozens of self-help books. You are wise. You are a great human being. You rock. Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday Laurie! For one month and a half (or so) we'll be the same age. Let's enjoy 35! It rocks!

My six-year-old calls them "sticky songs" because they stick in your head. "No one can change your life except for you. Don't ever let anyone step all over you. Just open your heart and your mind. Is it really fair to feel this way inside." Takes me back to college and the guy who bought the cd for me. Ew. Gee thaaaanks. . .

Happy Birthday! Your blog goes with my coffee, must haves before I start my day. I hope your IKEA adventures and SNB on your birthday are magnificent! All the best!!!

Happy birthday!

Thank you for making me laugh, and for sharing yourself with the world. I so appreciate your writing.

I'm with Elizabeth, somewhere there up in the myriad other comments - it's almost better getting older because I really don't care as much what people think of me.

Enjoy your day!

Happy birthday Laurie! At 49 and holding and married almost 30 years, I can tell you 35 isn't old, you get better with age, like yourself better with age, and wouldn't repeat those younger years in a minute. Enjoy your blog immensely and would like to end with "It's a Small World" (ala Disneyland) to get stuck in your head the rest of the day....you must know it - sing it with me...

Happy Birthday! Lovin' the Ikea way to celebrate :-) Can't wait to hear about your birthday when you share tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Laurie. From one Cancer to another, this has definitely got to be OUR year!! Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Oh, thanks for the Wilson Phillips blurb. Great, stick it in someone else's head.
Have fun at Ikea! It's your birthday! Go Laurie! It's your birthday!

OK, now you're going to make me cry, because the last time I remember hearing this song, my date for the prom or some crap dance in high school was telling me that he just liked me as a friend and he was dating a friend of mine who apparently enjoys stabbing people in the back because she ended up sleeping with a teacher and getting him fired and that he wouldn't dance with me at the dance because I wasn't pretty enough and I'm just now getting over the fact that he said that OUT LOUD TO MY FACE and I'm fine. Really.

At least I don't have half of the chorus to "Angry Eyes" stuck in my head anymore. (Them's the only words I know.)

I'm taking the day off, too! I call it "Mental Health Thursday" and there WILL be more in my future!
Ikea's too far away so I'm cleaning out closets instead....

Happy Birthday! And as someone else said, thank you. I get a daily lift from your writing.

Have fun at IKEA! And as for your attempt to drive us crazy with WP? I recently put that song on a mix CD I made for a friend. Spreadin' the love. *grin*

Oh, and I dearly hope there will be photos from the Stitch 'n' Bitch.

Ok, now I'm hankering for beer (thanks to PCD song used for a Molson (?) ad). Soooooooo long until the clock strikes 5. Thanks Purl.

And add my hearty hippo birthdays to your long list. Cause with this much love? How could you NOT have a happy one?

Ok, don't answer that.

Hey - missed checking in yesterday - "so sorry i missed your birthday" - hope you had a lovely day, Ikea is one of my most very favourite places to shop ;) (3-5 is just around the corner for me too!)

Damn I hate that song! I lunge for Mute whenever that horrible beer commercial comes on. And it's always too late.

Happy birthday!

Confession - I have always secretly loved the WP song, and I secretly love it when you bring it up and get it stuck in my head.

HOWEVER, the Dontcha song conjures a glute routine in my aerobics class(yeah, I'm kindof 80s that way), therefore - Dontcha = pain in the ass...

Have the best damn day lovely Laurie.

It's so great to be old...I don't know this song at all, so it's not cluttering up my mind.

But I do know the Happy Birthday song and I'm singing it right now for you Laurie.

*big finale*
...Haaaappppyyy Biirrrthdaaay toooooooo YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!

XOXOXOXO

You are quite welcome, and let's face it; you have paid it forward to us tenfold with your wit, your heart, your honesty and your humor. I am a blog reader and writer but you are the one blog I read every single day (even when I was in Canada, I was firing up the laptop to see what was going on with you.).
Have a great time today on your birthday. Savor it, enjoy it, knit and take pictures.
We love you, CAP!

IKEA and yarn is the best birthday ever! Also, someday I will scare you with my love and extensive knowledge of IKEA and show you the TWO ROLLS of photos I took there once with my college roommate. Consider yourself warned. :)

HIPY PAPY BTHUTHDTH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY! See you tonight!

Happy birthday! And can I just tell you that even if it had been death that had parted you and he had loved you madly til the very end, he still would be remarried at this very moment? Cuz that's just the way men are - they don't do alone. It all says way more about him than it does about you!

You are quite welcome and let's face it; you have paid it forward tenfold with your wit, your honesty, your heart and your humor. I'm a blog reader and writer and yours is the only one I read every single day (even when I was visiting Canada I still fired up the laptop at night to see what you were up to.).

Enjoy your birthday today! Shop, relax, enjoy, knit, drink, and take pictures!
We love you, CAP!

Geez, it told me the server was weird, I couldnt find my comment and now there are two! F'n figures!

Songs in your head? Songs in your head? Talk about hating people because they put songs in your head??? How about
In the Jungle, the mighty jungle
The lion sleeps to-night....

Or how about

Muskrat Susie
Muskrat Sam
Do the jitterbug in
Muskrat land....

Gack

Hope you had fun at Ikea! I'm 3/4 Swedish. I only know two words of Swedish, and I don't know how to spell them. "Bookserna" means underwear and "Vooratoost" is a polite way of saying "Shut up" If I ever go to Sweden, I'm sure I'll be a big hit.

Did you get that pony yet? :-)

I hope you have a fantastic day! Happy Birthday!

Happy B-Day Purl!

You make me want to go drive to IKEA in my imaginary jeep, while listening to Wilson Phillips and knitting. And drinking wine too of course, but that would have to be outside the realm of the imaginary Jeep.

Hope you have a great day!

Happy Birthday! And oh yeah, you are evil. I've tried to suppress the fact that I once owned that cassette. But now I am reminded that I know all the words. Still. Valuable wasted brainspace.

Happy happy birthday CAP! May the IKEA norsegods smile upon you.

happy birthday youngster. don't you wish you were old like me.

Laurie,

I have a message waiting for you on my blog. And cake, too.

IKEA = craptastic = da 'shizzle
I furnished my whole apt in Seattle with IKEA. I miss it. Nearest is 5 hrs in VA. sad.

good for you to take the day. I did too - but no one knows since I'm still in my office reading your blog and comments.

Suzi - who's 3 hours ahead and will start happy hour EDT in your honor.

I wanted to send you some lyrics to get stuck in your head but I couldn't think of any because I couldn't get wilson or philips out of my head. And then I read the other comments and now I have some wierd arrangement about muscrats named suzie and sam calling each other to say I love you and hold on for one more day. The music isn't pretty! Dammit!

Hah! My gym plays that Don'tcha song e-v-e-r-y frickin' day. Yuck, yuck, YUCK! On a happier note, have fun at Ikea! Don't be afraid of the weird kids toys. I don't know WHAT they are but I'm sure they're harmless. Or are they...?

Happy Birthday!

Wow - a birthday AND Ikea - it doesn't get much better :-)

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too, yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you

It really is my birthday too. This year should be happier than last year. Last year I spent it with my terminally ill mother. She had kidney failure. She was so sick it started to affect her memory. I told her it was my birthday and she cried because she hadn't remembered. It was sad but it was one of those moments that you feel really close, so it's a good memory if that makes sense. She died the next month. This year I will be spending it with my daughter. We are going to lunch and shopping, who could ask for more?

I hope you have a happy birthday CAP.

Just start whistling the "colonel Bogie March", you know, the one from "Bridge On the River Kwai" (I know, I know, I'm showing my age.) It'll drive any other song right out of your head ... of course, then you'll be stuck with it, but very few people know the words, so ....

*don't ya wish your...* aaaaaaaaargh, I hate you. Ok, not true: despite of that freaking song stuck in my head, I still love your blog. Happy birthday!!!!!!!!!

Hippo Birdy Two Ewe! Have a great day Laurie.

Happy Birthday! The age thing just keeps getting better and better from here on out. I loved turning 40, 41, 42, 43 ,44 lookin' forward to 45. You get more...something each year. Now go, eat some cake.

That freak song is a lot cuter when it's on the Hennekin commercial and my 2 year old stops everything he is doing to dance to it. My son has some MOVES! :0

Happy Birthday!

Brenda

The internets hated my whole office yesterday and can only just now say Happy Birthday. Hope it was grand. Enjoy Ikea. I'm jealous, they still dont have them in Florida.

Happy, happy birthday! I just love IKEA! I just got my new yarn containment device (aka cabinet) there.

Dear crazy aunt purl,
I am a building in Elmwood, Wi. population 885. I have a yarn shop, spinning shop, cafe,and coffee shop in me. I have this human (I use the term loosely) that is suppose to be writing about me on a blog. I hate her! She never remembers to take pictures. I have to slap her up just to get her to type for me. Anyway, I love your blog. If you are ever in Wisconsin could you bring your cats to help me destroy her? And would you write on my blog? Oh, and talk about music stuck in your head, she only listens to 70's music over and over again. Someone really has to help me.
Thank you for your time
Highland Hollow Emporium

Happy, happy birthday! I love your blog... you have a true gift for humor.

And, Ikea rocks. I've got a bunch of Lekman boxes for my yarn stash. Perfect, by the way - foot cubes and great shelving for them too! (don't ask how many I have...)

Happy, happy birdday. Guess I'm gonna have to make it to SnB. But I totally fouled up my Hallowig... And I had already made it once perfectly! Aurgh.

Mullet it is, then.

The other day I caught myself singing 'Delta Dawn' and thought to myself "WTF am I singing". Sad part was I knew all the words. ARGH

I other nonrelated news, the USA lost again so we are OUT of the world cup. Boo Hoo. Brazil and Roynaldo are playing right now and I they are fighting hard to give you a win for your B-day.

Okay, I know this is so, so wrong of me, but I secretly love that song. Except now it's not so secret.

Consider this embarrassing confession a little bitty birthday present, and enjoy a good giggle on your birthday. I hope your day is full of laughter and joy, and that you are surrounded by people you love and who love you. Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday, ya'll!

I almost never comment, but I always read - happy birthday! 35 was a good age, and I can say that because it was just a few years ago. :)

Because it's your birthday, I won't tell you I hate you for implanting the earworm.

tomorrow, all bets are off.

Have a great time at the SnB tonight. GREAT way to spend a birthday.

Happy Birthday dear!

You will not believe me now, but someday you will look back and think that the bastard leaving was the best thing that ever happenned to you.

I am 21 years older than you and when I was 25 my husband up and left me with no warning whatsoever. I was so devastated that the only reason I did not die was that I had two 2-year-old boys to take care of, but I came close. Some years after that he had the marriage annulled by his new bride's church!!! Talk about being disposable.

Now I look back and though my life is far from perfect, I know that the best thing that ever happenned to me (apart from my sons) is that turkey leaving.

Keep being strong,sweetie. I wish I had dealt with my situation with the grace you are dealing with yours.

Roynaldo scores. GOOOOOAAAAALLLL!!!!

Yummmmm...IKEA....Swedish meatballs...yummmm. A perfect way to celebrate, IMHO. Looking forward to flipping our wigs tonight at the WeHo SnB, Dollface! Check out my b-day tribute to your fabulousness on my blog today!

Hugs!

Happy Birthday! So cool to watch you grow into being comfortable where you are. Thrty-five was a great age for me. Forties ain't bad either!!

Happy Birthday. I was o.k. turning 35 last year until my gyn told me I had to go get a baseline mammogram. I thought I didn't have to get one of those until I was 40? Nope he wanted it done this year and so off I went a week after I turned 35 it was fine they gave me candy when I was all done. So really not so bad all things considered.

Happy birthday, Laurie! I'm proud of you for being true to yourself and getting through some really tough times.

The ex is a dweeb. Your house is full of RFSB (RoyFrankieSobaBob) love, plus you have wine. And yarn. And lots of people, both in Hell-ay and the Greater International Region, who think highly of you and hope that being 35 rocks. Truly!

Oooh, did you buy some frozen Swedish Meatballs at IKEA? They're addictive. I love that lingonberry jam stuff. Long live the IKEA food section! ;)

Drinking, knitting and Ikea shopping is the perfect birthday.
I'm sure that you're getting lots of birthday purrs, licks and miaows from your babies, enjoy them all

Thanks ya'll! here's to cake and wine for all. Except the cats, who just ate all the sequins off my flip flops. Sorry about the wilson phillipsization of the website, whoops!! heh

Once more in Ikea fashion:
Hapi
Berthnda
Unt Perrl
(insert extra, uneeded, and foreign punctuation wherever you see fit)

And just because... the best named piece of furniture in all of Ikea is called the Jerker... no lie.

Happy Birthday, Laurie!!!

Have you seen "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle"? Stupid movie, but with the best Wilson Phillips singalong scene ever. Sometimes I rent it just to watch those few minutes. Go on and rock your birthday!

Ok, I wanna move out there so I can go to S & B too.....

Wonder if I can convince hubby that I've joined a new religion and that today is Drinkith Wine and Partaketh of Cake Whilst Thou is Surrounded by Brightly Coloured Fibers and Friends Day?

Have a good one.

Happy Birthday!!

Thanks for all the laughs.

Thanks for the pictures of your cats and all the stories of the crazy things they do. I was thinking I was just a really crappy Mommy to have such wingnuts for cats! Apparently they are the problem not me.

Thanks for all the heartfelt personal journey stories. They remind us that no matter how far away we are or that we have never met or who we are, we all get hurt and we all learn to heal.

Thanks for the stories of all the embarrassing moments. Makes us feel a little more normal in the grand scheme of things since many of us have done our versions of your embarrassing moments!

Thanks for being and writing about being. We like to listen.

Have a very grand birthday and a fun time at SnB tonight!

Happy Birthday! I, too, am among those too old to have that song implanted by your earworm, mwahahahaha. But I do know all the words to the Col. Bogie March, at least the ones we sang in grade school about Comet, which I thought were very gross at the time, but now I couldn't care less. And I, too, want to go to your SnB with wigs and presents -- can't wait for the pix!

Out of lurking to say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!"

You're my west coast platonic soulmate - hope your day is all you need it to be!

Hey -
While you're in IKEA could you tell them to get their Swedish butts into upstate NY??? Some of us aren't gettin' no lovin'.

And you so lie -- you are totally drinking at 9am! But it's your b-day to rock on with your bad Wilson-Phillips-lovin' self.

Happy three-five!

Oh ... I'm late but, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! My tradition is to do something I've never done before -- that's not life-threatening (why does everyone think of skydiving first?). I had a golf lesson one year, went to the batting cages one year, did the paint your own pottery with friends. Even little things count! Then again, surrounding yourself with your wonderful friends can't be beat!

Wah! I want to go to Ikea! When will there be Ikea in NC? I hope you have a fun (and inexpensive) trip!

Oh, lord- I HATE THAT SONG SO MUCH!

They play it everytime I walk into Macy's and it makes me want to rip the arm off a mannequin and beat someone with it. [/rant]

I think they're building an Ikea up here... somewhere.

you rock!!
i was going to give you birthday wishes yesterday and tell you to go out and do something good for you--but you did!
you shopped, drank wine, stitched and sang a silly song.
i love that you quoted wilson phillips in a post, and yes i will have that song in my head all day--but it made me smile!!
i hope someday you will find a person who will love you for you and sing wilson phillips songs with you!!

mille grazi for always seeming to articulate what us inarticulates (ok, it's more like scaredy cats) feel on a regular basis.

you deserve the bestest* birthday ever!

*umm, looks like inarticulate might not be so off base afterall...

Happy Birthday, Laurie!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Now I know why you said you were going to bring gifts to SnB tonight. Sure wish I could make it but alas I am going to see "The Devil Wears Prada." It is actually another one of my friends B-days today as well (47) so be happy! I made her a homemade carrot cake and delivered it at 9am. Needless to say I had cream cheese frosting for breakfast.

Anyway, I do wish you a very happy day and the best year yet come.

Happy Birthday, Laurie! Have fun at Ikea and SnB, and I actually love that Wilson Philips song, so I don't mind getting it stuck in my head, unlike that other heinous song that Jennifer mentioned.

Fivehead - that's hilarious! :-)

-From another Cancer-crip, although my birth month is July....

Hippy Barfday Cutie Pie! Hope you have a great day full of lots of loot, warm and happy kitties, vats and vats of wine and a smile on your face at the end of it. Hugs and Kisses from Texas!!!

Happy Birthday!! I laugh and cry along with you!!! Speaking as a formerly 35 year old divorced woman with 2 cats who is now 46, you have lots to look forward to!! There are good good things about getting older!!

You little Sh*^, I hate that song!!!
You did that on purpose! You've got a mean streak alright...

I'm glad though to see that your b'day is turning out just fine. Nothing better than Burbank Ikea, oh how I miss it.

MX

Happy Birthday Laurie. Your courage over the last year is nothing short of inspiring. Damn you for making me tear up at work...

And for getting that stupid wilson phillips song stuck in my head.

No, No not IKEA. I live 10 minutes away from the first IKEA in the world here in Sweden. IKEA is recycled partical board crap. They have nice accesories such as cheap taper candles and votives but the furniture is very cheaply made.
They have literally cornered the market here in Sweden and made sure that no other company that offers afforable furnishings is able to sell in Sweden. So it's either buying cheap disposable stuff from IKEA or buying higher end items. There is nothing in between, IKEA here has made sure of this...

First, if the world was an Ikea store, I would be an "As Is" item.

Second, that dontcha song is so much better if you whip your hair around while singing it. But, everything sounds better when you whip your hair around while saying it. See...I'm...whipping...

Third, Happy Birthday. Or should I say (whip)Happy...Birthday...

Fourth, It's gonna go your way, hold on for one more day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!

(Pretend I'm actually singing, ok? Because I have a lovely siging voice. I'm in a well-regarded choir and everything. I even studied to be an opera singer once. No, I'm not kidding about that.)

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Laurie. . . (dramatic pause) Happy Birthday (pause) To YOU!!! (thunderous applause, fireworks, blow out the candles on the best cake ever.)

Smooches to all four kitties. Is Roy the one without teeth? My Buffy (age 16) is also toothless but nonetheless manages to eat whatever he wants.

Helen

Happy Three Five! Enjoy the Ikea and the wine and also the love! :)

Happy Birthday Laurie :D

Hope it's a great one!

<3

We call "Ikea" "I need a" (see, it rhymes) because the minute you step in there you're all "Hey, I need this. Oh, I need this too." Lather, rinse, repeat.

Have fun at the big store and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

You are young. (I'm 41)

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday Dear Laurie,
Happy Birthday to you!

There's a song you can get stuck in you head. :)

Happy Birthday! I think you should wear a tiara tonight. Birthdays are as good a time as any for a girl to get her tiara on. :)

Goddamn you... You and Wilson Phillips...

In retaliation I give you:

Who let the dogs out...woof woof woof

Happy Birthday! When you say "thirtysomething" I always assumed you were like 30 or 31, just not dealing with it well. You don't look a day over 28!

IKEA. Say no more. Except maybe . . . Container Store?!? I heart the love.

happy birthday! did i say that already? i don't know ... see, i've been enjoying my post-work "tippy". it sounds like you're having a great day, and that just makes me smile with happiness :)

did ya eat the swedish meatballs? im still an ikea virgin, even though they just opened one up 30 minutes from my house last christmas. im gonna go, someday, then i'll be an ikea whore. or maybe a pimp?
purl, you are the BEST!!!! have a fantastic birthday. you deserve it!!!!!! enjoy. xoxo cathy

First, Happy Birthday.

Second, I have had that stupid burger king song in my head lately about that bucking chicken......LOL!!! and I hate that commercial.

Third, my cats couldn't get into the litter box tonight because the door fell off the hinge and was not swinging open for them so they pissed on my rug by the french doors. I know this because my mother was walking in the door and said oh, one of the cats pissed on the rug. I thought she spilled the water on the rug and was making a funny but when I took the rug outside to hang over the deck railing, I smelled it....and guess what, it smelled like cat piss.....lol

oh well, I fixed the door and they watched me and then they sniffed at the door like it still wasn't going to work. I haven't seen them go into the litter box yet! I hope they realize it is in working order again! Cause I have rugs in most of my rooms....

Laurie, you are a good person and have been a riot to read. I thank you for being who you are.

Take care and have a great evening.

Happy Birthday, Laurie!!

And as my gift to you .. I will NOT be stalking you today ... at neither Ikea NOR the SnB tonight. (you're welcome)

And trust me on this ... it's a sacrifice on my part. Cuz I do love the Ikea. And the Bitchin' (with even some Stitchin'). But in particular, you know I love me The Stalkin'. :)

Have a great time!!!

Happy Birthday, Laurie! Many happy returns on the day.

Happy Birthday!! Happy IKEA shopping and more happiness and wine to be had at SnB tomorrow. ;)

That is actually the second most hated song as number one kinda goes like this: my hump my hump my hump and my lovely lady lumps....that's art?

I made up my own special lyrics to the Girlfriend song. Now I LOVE that song. Sing it loud and proud. You know what to do.

They say it's your birthday!
Well Happy Birthday to ya!

Feliz Cumplianos, chica, I want a trip to IKEA too!

happy birthday and i hope you had a great day!!!!!

Happy birthday Laurie!!! The sheer combined mental energy of 840 million knitters (fact: that's a rough estimate!) wishing you a happy birthday should, in fact, ensure it. Well, I think it's a good theory.
xo

Happy Birthday Laurie!!! You are truly a fabulous woman.

Oh yeah? Well...don't pull your love out on me, baby, cause if you do then I think that maybe I'll just lay me down and cry for a hundred years.

(Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds is appropriate payback for Wilson Phillips, right?)

Happy Birthday! :)

PS - RB is right - you are young. (I'm 34. See you in seven months!) :)

Feeeeeeelings, nothing more than feeeeeelings, trying to forget my feeeeelings of looooove....... ha, try to get that one out of your head! Anyway, happy b-day and thanks for making me laugh. Really, it's a wonderful gift, being able to make people laugh.

Feeeeeeelings, nothing more than feeeeeelings, trying to forget my feeeeelings of looooove....... ha, try to get that one out of your head! Anyway, happy b-day and thanks for making me laugh. Really, it's a wonderful gift, being able to make people laugh.

I may be the only one, but I kinda like that WP song. It may be a train-wreck type of attraction. But you're so right about the Pussycat Dolls. I have done some independant research and I found that that song, according to the dolls themselves, is meant to empower women. It's all on my weblog.

And I hope you have the happiest birthday yet!

I spent the morning with the Wilson-Phillips stuck in my head while I hung out the wash...and now they're back!!

Seriously though, thank YOU for sharing with us! Your blog is always a highlight.

I normaly love what ever you have to say about whatever is going on. however, your last comment sucked. Sorry it was a little bit cruel my dear, who is happening to be having a very good day I am happy to see. Shouldhave edited that one remark though.

Happy Bday, hope it was spectacular!! :)

Happy Birthday and have fun at IKEA! I love IKEA and miss it much. I moved to CO last summer and discovered that many people here don't even know what IKEA is!!! because they DON'T HAVE IKEA HERE!!! We were so desperate for IKEA that we went to one in Phoenix while we were there for my son's hockey tournament (and hauled home a desk complete with little hex wrenches and mysterious directions and much plastikstuuf). This week my daughter is back in NY visiting friends and I'm sure a field trip to IKEA is on the agenda. (I too hate the girlfriend song and we mute the commercial it is on- everyone jumps for the remote)

:) Happy belated... right about now you should be either happily enjoying your newly assembled furniture.

Big Birthday HUGS Laurie!!! Have a wonderful 35th. You're fabulous and my whole family loves you!

Happy belated birthday! Sorry it's late, but I blame it on the mail carrier. :)

Happy birthday, and thanks for letting me know that it will be okay. My 35th is coming up on July 16th (we're the same age, and I'm a cancer too, I swear, we could be twins!) and while I'm not worried about it now, it's nice to know there isn't anything to worry about on the other side too.
Oh, I'm envious, the nearest Ikea here is a 7 ish hour drive away.

Happy Birthday, CAP!!

You do realize that we all want to come hang out with you and partake of wine and be your pal(s)?

I love Ikea. Love.It!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

p.s. i *heart* ikea. you'll have to tell us what you bought! :)

Laurie, I hope you are having a fab time at SnB tonight. Eat lots of cake and yes it's ok if you go to SnB and do no S'n. (g)

Many Happy Returns of the day.

Happy birthday once more! I am having a glass of wine in your honor. (OK. That's just what I told myself.)

And Ikea? Totally made for Cancers. Have yet to meet a Cancer who is not in love with the place.

Oooo. I have less than 24 hours to go til 40. And life is so good. Much better than I could have ever dreamed it would be at 30 or 35. Still working on some things but trust me. Each year just seems to get better.

Happy Birthday Laurie!!!!

So, I'm late to the party, but always fun....Happy B-Day, glad you took some time for yourself. I ALMOST flew to LA for SnB since it is my day off, but I restrained myself. Maybe too stalkery. There is a gift winging it's way to you. Let's just call it Birthday Fortnight and not late or belated. Thanks!

Love,
Trixie

Hi Laurie!

Happy birthday! I love your blog so much, and it is so funny and touching at the same time! Thanks for sharing your knitting with us.

Happy Birthday Laurie!! Thanks for getting Wilson Phillips stuck in my head...no really. It's a relief from what is normally stuck in my head. I have a 2yr old, so many days, what plays over and over and over in my head is.... Dora, Dora, Dora....the Explorer! Trust me you haven't LIVED until THAT tune replays in your head 100 times in a day! LOL Have a fab-U-lous Birthday Laurie....you ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love your musings, and if it is any kind of therapy for you - - it is total therapy for me to read along. You are a good woman, thank you for loving cats, and enjoy the next year and the next and the next. 35 is young.

Happy Birthday!!!! Love you and your blog...
from another Southerner (where it was oh sooooo hot and humid today!)

Hi Laurie, a Happy Birthday to you. I have been reading you for quite a while and wanted to say thank you to you which may be surprising but you are probably the reason I now have a kitten... It was 2am on my birthday and this little pile of mud was sitting outside the convenience store screaming and I have never really talked to a cat before but I read your blog and they sounded like intriguing people and I ran home home and checked if I could take a cat back to the US with me (btw I live in China for work right now) and turns out getting a cat to the US is way easier than a person (or plant) so after 4 rinses he is white and fluffy and so far has doubled in weight and is learning english. So thank you for opening me up to this new friend who really needed me and what's more I really needed him and just didn't know it yet.

Hope you have an amazing day (but with Ikea how could it be otherwise).

Happy birthday! (And it does get better... it just did for me. I'm still adjusting to the concept.)

"Don'tcha wish your girlfriend was hot like me?"

damn you! Misery MUST love company because I've been singing this song for the last four hours.

oh well.. happy birthday anyway!

Hippo Birdies to Ewe!

Happy Birthday !! Thank YOU for the gift you give us daily of your writing, your humor, and for sharing your life. You rock! May 35 be the best year yet!

Holy crap, there are a lot of comments on here. Just wanted to say happy birthday to you, too! I have been reading your blog for awhile but don't think I've ever commented. Your last couple of posts are fantastic... my heart reached out, and on some level, it also recognizes your pain. Thanks for articulating everything so eloquently.

A special trait of we Geminis is being painfully shy and also not shutting up sometimes. Good times!!

sorry so late in wishing you a happy birthday! It was my birthday too, so I've been kinda busy. How 'bout YOU, you light up my life! you really do, by the way! Here's to a really great year ahead for you!

Hope the day had a high fabulosity quotient! It's getting better all the time (better, better, beeeettteer) GETTING so much BETTER all the TI-I-IME...

Happy Birthday! (belated...) I just had to tell you that when I turned the radio on, after i read your post, 'Hold On' was playing! It made me smile :)
I hope you had a fab day

Have a fabulous time at Ikea and Happy Birthday!

Hej snyggin!

(pronounced hey snooggin, and probably spelt with more j and less y)

Should be all the swedish you ever need.

Happy Birthday! Enjoy your IKEA shopping. Last time I was there I bought 2 Nordstard (??) side tables. Very pretty.

Happy Birthday! I check your blog every day (wait that sounded kinda...stalkerish...it's not. I promise) and your entries always make me smile.

Also, my cats want to know where they can sign up to help take over the world.

happy birthday pretty girl! have fun at ikea!

Well I know it's late but happy birthday! I've been reading your blog for a few weeks now I believe and I love it!

Happy Birthday Laurie! Sorry it's a day late... hope Ikea was fabulous!

Ha, hate that song! But it does get into your brain and refuses to leave until you listen to (or remember!) an even stickier one.

Glad to hear you had a good day! Happy b-day again :)!

Happy Birthday! Thanks for a great blog!

Aara

E-E-evil woman.
Hippo birdies two ewes.
(get it? Sheep, thus wool, thus yarn, content)

Laurie,
Happy Birthday Sweetie, I am so glad you are taking the day just to do things you love and see people you love, and I very much love reading your blog every day. When my internet was down for a week and I was going into withdrawl mode, your blog was the first thing I looked at when I got back online...(before my mountain of email)
Heidi

And thank YOU for putting that "Dontcha wish" song into my head...I'd take a Wilson-Phillips ear worm ANY day.

Happy, happy 3-5, CAP!

Happy Birthday to my favorite blogger! (Seriously - you make me laugh, and you make me cry.)

Someone used my theminx.com domain to spam people too, and I've been getting hundreds of MailerDaemon and mail undeliverable notices for weeks now. I'm happy to send you a gmail invite to help ease your e-mail issues. At least you'll be able to send and answer some mail without having to wade through all the damned returned spam.

Leave a comment on my blog, and I'll send one your way!

So just how many of us have the IKEA Billy bookcases????

There is a Gmail invite in your email from me.........
love ya girlfriend!!..

Many Happy Returns of the Day, and have fun at S n B!

Happy Belated Birthday Laurie! Can't wait to see what kind of stories you come up with to share with us till your next birthday!
By the way - I love Hold on For One More Day! I even wrote a paper on it for school in junior high!
My daughter hates "Dontcha" - tells me it reminds her of all the bitches here in Newport Beach! ;)

happy birthday Laurie! Even though you are evil and I now have BOTH of those songs playing in my head because I can multitask and that it not always a good thing, but I still hope you have the best birthday weekend E. V. E. R.!

You MUST let us know what you bought (besides tealights, which nobody gets out of there without). I went last week with #2 daughter & SL. So thrilled with my brand new spatula!

Birthday at Ikea--it's a party in a store! Have some meatballs for me...

Laurie,

I've been so busy that I neglected to check your blog this week *cringes in shame* I turned 35 6 monts ago at my parent's house. (trust me, I would have preferred to be alone, but the holidays, you know) I've been through the torturous breakup - Will be 4 years this fall. Things get better. I'm happier now than I was with him, OR even before him.

I just want to thank you for all the laughter and entertainment that you provide to me and a zillion other people. You are a great writer and a really grounded person. I only wish we weren't on opposite sides of the country or I'd take you out for a celebratory drink. Happy birthday!

Thank you for being Purl!!

No thanks for that song stuck in my head now...crap! Although better than what I started out with this morning...Shower the people you love with love, show them the way that you feel...Thanks James Taylor.

Maybe it's all about the love and feelin' good about yourself today.

Happy Happy Birthday!!! Enjoy your day!

happy birthday! thanks for the wilson phillips song - my roommate and I used to sing that all the time and get stuck at the chorus and keep singing it over and over, not quite sure what came next and now knowing how to get back to the verse...

Hi Laurie,
Happy birthday! 35 was good for me and I have a feeling you're off to a great year. I hope the Ikea trip was fruitful.
I'm a little late reading your entry but I loved the one about missing fireflies. It just so happens that I heard about these this morning:
http://www.blaircandy.com/libugguca12.html
Is that strange?

Hi Laurie! Happy Birthday, and you are such a total Gemini/Cancer cusp. I understand the hermiting. 35 was good for me, and 37 is OK so far, too.

Belated Happy Birthday!

I hope it was a wonderful and peaceful day with little cat drama and no unworthy men sniffing around, and that it is the beginning of a healthy and happy year for all y'all.

I hope those weasels in support can help you. If you want to get up a posse to deal with the spammers, lemme know.

♥

Have fun at Ikea. And happy birthday!!

Happy Birthday Laurie :< )

Happy, Happy Birthday! This birthday you sound so much stronger and happier than last year. It's very gratifying for us blogstalkers. Congratulations!

Hope you had the happiest of birthdays and that Ikea was good to you! :) You'll be rockin' the 3-5! :)

Happy Birthday! Thanks for sharing your world with us!

Happy Happy Birthday!!!

(Am I the only one who could picture Soba singing "don't you wish your cat was hot like me...")

Happy birthday! I wish I was going to Ikea today : / Fooey.

Make sure you show us what you get!

Happy birthday from another fivehead!

Happy birthday, Laurie! And I'm pissed there's no IKEA in Colorado - I had one in NJ and bunches in CA - I feel hosed!

Happy Birthday, belatedly, Laurie!! Sorry I missed it. It's ok if you're a hermit, Honey!! At least you WORK--I don't and I even ask my husband to stop by Wally World to pick up a few things and I never get there to get "real groceries!!" I never told you--but when I saw pics of you and Mr. X,SOB extraordinare, I could not picture why you were married to HIM. He looked so much older, and he didn't look KIND, Laurie----and I found out that he WASN"T kind at all. No--I'm not the 2nd wife, no, I don't KNOW him---but I look at his face in the pictures--he wasn't kind ,Laurie....and I know you know that so much worse than you ever needed to know!! And I'm so sorry, but one day maybe you'll meet the right man-- one who cherishes you and knows he's the lucky one to have you. One that protects you instead of makes fun of you and tells you the things he did. Or
maybe, even, you WON'T meet Mr. Right, but hell, Laurie, HE .WASN'T. KIND.

You got a bad case of the earworms baby:

http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1803082,00.html

Blog?....Never read one ,didn't really know what a blog was..found yours last night.I read every single line..It made me cry ,it made me cringe,made me really really want a glass of wine but since I'm living in whats known as a "Dry County" I have to cross the state line to buy any kind of devils brew...But most of all it made me Laugh!!!!Thank-You....
I lived in California for 47 years your freeway photos made me homesick....Here I sit in Georgia in a Dry County surrounded by Fireflies...I'll admit they are beautiful in the evening.Last Dec. I was celebrating another beautiful California Christmas all warm and sun splashed when I received that phone call telling me to come home to my Mom...her breast cancer had returned with a vengence...being I'm an only child and my mother a widow...I was on a plane that evening (Christmas Eve)off to Georgia I go..two suitcases and a broken heart..My Loving husband of 20 years takes me to John Wayne hugs me tightly a kiss on the cheek..and thats the last I ever saw of the man I had adored for almost half my life...The phone calls to check on my mom and me became fewer and farther between so my Mom sent me back home to beautiful California to find out what was going on on the homefront there...well to make a long and painful story short..he had met and fallen madly in love with a buisness assc. of ours and wanted a divorce....Everything really blurs from that point on for a few months...I'm 52 displaced in rural Georgia whatching my beloved Mother pass before my eyes,I don't know anyone here...so I pass some time on this here little screen.Mom and I are usually tucked in by 10:00...They would roll up the sidewalks here at 6:00 if there were any,But Last night I happened across your blog....we were up till 1:00...reading it,talking about it,wiping a tear now and then but most of all laughing !!! You have a way with words to say the least....Thank-You again for sharing your life...its a beautiful life...and somehow I don't feels so all alone anymore...

I'd never been in an Ikea until 2 months ago. Until then lived in VT where there is no Ikea. Lots of nice places yes, but no Ikea. Now I live in CA where there's an Ikea nearby. I love Ikea! Oh.my.god. Ikea have everything! And now just about everything is in my house. From Ikea. At a reasonable price! Have I mentioned that I love Ikea? :)

Happy Birthday to you. I hope you had a wonderful day!

You force me to love you and hate you at the same time. There is a special place in hell for the perpretrators of evil earworms. Yet an even more special place in heaven for Ikea loving stitchers. I guess you get to choose where to go.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DARLING!

so I wanted to leave a happy birthday comment, but then I realized you had 223 comments already and by no means did you need me to be 224. So I thought maybe the rest of the people could mosey on over to my blog and leave the rest of your birthday comments, you know to pad my blog a bit. :) Isn't 35 great, it makes you say what ever the hell ya want because you just don't care anymore!

Grattis på födelsedagen (Happy Birthday in Swedish).

I hope you had a perfect day, Laurie, and a truly brilliant year. Happy (belated) Birthday!

happibirtdeywishen.

Laurie, you're June 21 "Three Five" post was one of your lovliest. Happy belated birthday to you.

"Ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn, a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter. If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things, this is the best season of your life." by Wu-Men

Here's to letting go of "unnecessary things."

I wish we had an Ikea in Florida. I would love to check it out. I like their website.

Whoa. That musta been some kinda birthday. It lasted until Sunday in Canada.

(Ok, so this is a little late. But really, I think we all would agree that it is entirely appropriate to celebrate CAP's DOB for 3 whole days.)

Happy Birthday, CAP!

Happy Birthday. I hope Ikea was good to you. Loving your blog.
Mia

I was away during your b-day with no internet access - so I gotta say Happy Birthday a few days late! Lovin' Ikea - and your three-five post brought a happy tear to my eye... cuz for some reason I really really care that you are happy and moving on and not going to end up like my mother who is 53 this year -and 20 years divorced - and still not over it and living lonely and despressed and so sad. I'm so happy for you and wish you the happiest year of being 35 ever!

Happy happy birthday!!! I remember 35 like it was 10 years ago! LOLOL. Hope you had a great day.

Love the pics from your multicolored-wig, birthday party! Looks like fun. Happy birthday, CAP!

Happy Birthday Aunt Purl! And just for that wilson phillips bit?

Oh baby baby, how was I supposed to know
Oh pretty baby, I shouldnt have let you go
I must confess that my loneliness
Is killin me now
Dont you know I still believe
That you will be here
And give me a sign, hit me baby one more time..

There. Take that.

Happy Birthday Laurie!!

I hate that girlfriend song too. Probably because my 16 year old sister looks just like that lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls. I wanna slap her, wrap a blanket around her and lock her in my basement until she is 70 and too old for sex.