Today is my official birthday!!! I know I’ve been celebrating all month and I also know that I April Fooled many of you earlier this year about my birthday, but today is the real day! I love birthdays because they truly represent the very date that marks the arrival of someone into this world, and each individual comes into this world for a reason. Each person makes a difference and is significant in his/her own way so what better way to recognize this than on their birthday?! Every single year on my birthday I reflect back on everything that happened in the past year and I’m always so grateful for new experiences and lessons that make me a stronger person.

Celebrating my birthday in 2010

This past year has been filled with challenges, change and obstacles in both my personal and professional life but it’s also been filled with joy, fun, success and gratitude. I’m very grateful to everyone who’s been here to support me through difficult times, inspire me to be a better person and motivate me to continued success. Since it’s my birthday I’d like to share some fun facts related to my birthday!

13 is my Lucky Number- Since I’m born on the 13th, 13 has always been and always will be my lucky number. 13 has proven time and time again to be a lucky number for me! I only play Scratchers once and year when I attend the Del Mar Fair in the summer. Check out my only winning Scratcher for the year, notice the Winning Number? Also notice how I won with that number, not once but twice on a single scratcher! Winning with the number 13 happens to me quite often and this is just one example.

Friends who share my lucky birthday, December 13!

•  My College Buddy Gary from UCSB is my birthday twin and every year since college we wish each other a happy birthday. Since graduating, we don’t get to see each other but we still give each other a Facebook birthday wish which has become a ritual! He pointed out that we only talk on this day!

• I also have a Birthday Twin on Twitter. A big happy birthday shout out goes to the lovely @mayaBY. We met at a @sdbloggers event last year where I selected her as my Secret Santa to discover she was also my Birthday Twin!

Famous people who share my lucky birthday, December 13!

• Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady of the United States
• Dick Van Dyke, American actor and comedian
• Tom DeLonge, American guitarist (blink-182, Angels & Airwaves)
• Amy Lee, American singer/songwriter (Evanescence)
• Taylor Swift, American singer

Social Media Fun on my Birthday– Thanks to Social Media, I feel even more birthday love on this day! The birthday wishes are already flooding my Facebook wall and tweet stream. I’m so grateful for everyone who takes the time to wish me a Happy Birthday. I even got a few birthday wishes from some local celebrities!

Birthday Wish from Weather Girl @NBCJodie

Birthday Wish from Sports Illustrated @SI_JimTrotter!

Here’s to celebrating the day you came into the world and here’s to a happy, healthy and prosperous year! Oh and since it’s my birthday, what better day than today to have you join my social media community!

• Subscribe to Marketing Melodie here
• Follow me on Twitter here
• Join me on Facebook here

I leave you with a quote from the very wise Abraham Lincoln

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”