What a Birthday Looks Like From Inside a Banana Leaf

Every once in a while you meet someone who is so confident in their own skin in the most humble way possible that they make you really step back in your brain and think about the way you think about yourself. Negative self-talk is so common for a lot of us we don't realize there is another way to think.
And then someone like Brandi shows up, and you realize you have a lot of beautiful progress ahead of you.

▲Brandi, courtesy of her Instagram▲

 We all gathered (Mallory and Chris, Brandi and her husband Josh, and their downstairs neighbors Lauren and Kevin, and I) at Banana Leaf last Friday night to celebrate Brandi's birthday. We were led to a lovely little room just big enough for our table.

Having been to Banana Leaf several times, I knew I was going to order the pa'an. Imagine a croissant in tortilla form.

▲Pa'an and Mallory's Coconut Curry▲

I ordered another tried and true favorite- Sizzling Garlic Shrimp.

It arrives, an array of sweet shrimp and delicious vegetables in a sheer garlic sauce. I inhale. The shrimp gleams at me. The brocolli florets pop. It comes with papadam, rice, and a small dish of coconut curry. I ignore the rice and the papadam and shoot my curry a look. Moving swiftly, I dip the pa'an into the curry, which shifts aside agreeably under the nudge of the flaky fragment, and then fills back in around it. My mouth revels.

As pictured above, Mallory ordered a coconut curry, which was quite delectable. In fact, everyone seemed to be heartily enjoying their meals.

 ▲Five syllables to happiness people- A-VO-CA-DO Shake!▲

▲ Eating the dinosaur track-shaped piece of cauliflower I found and joyfully showed to Mallory with all the paleontological glee of Dr. Brooks Britt▲

Even though I've only interacted with Kevin and Lauren once, for Brandi's last birthday, I felt the whole party got along like old friends. While the rain and wind made the outdoors a scurrying place, our hearts lingered underneath the chandelier.

 ▲ Josh is not actually cross-eyed, just photogentically opposed.▲

 Everyone shared something they love about Brandi. She submitted to our praise with embarrassed and appreciative grace while the elephant behind her played in the water.

An elephant with its trunk raised is said to bring good fortune in Sri Lanka. Brandi's unfeigned and whimsical outlook on life breeds her her own fortune, but if anyone were gifted prosperity by the unfurling of an elephant's trunk, it would be her.

 To feel a little bit into Brandi's spirit, listen to this: (Yes, that is her singing. And writing,)

Happy Birthday Gypsy! Thank you so much for including us. We love you and wish you a most free-spirited and fortune-filled year.