The Making of “Stop Being Not My Birthday” (Thanks to Flora Sparks!)

In 2020, during the depths of the pandemic, to escape reality, I, like many of us, spent an ungodly amount of time on social media. It was then that I discovered Jordan Fristman, who was doing absolutely silly impressions on TikTok and IG Reels at the time. It was of things like “an iPhone charger not made by Apple” or “an actress justifying why she is doing an animated movie.” Doing impressions isn’t new, but doing them in short form and doing such surreal impressions paved the way for a whole new genre that has taken off.

After a while of following him, I saw that Jordan had a little web shop selling funny shirts. One of the shirts was a tank that said “stop being not my birthday.” As someone who loves my birthday, I could relate. I bought the shirt assuming I’d do a cute photo shoot with it later, but I could not imagine the magic that would happen when I brought my idea to my friend Flora Sparks who is a talented photographer in addition to being an excellent duo partner of mine.

On a lovely March evening, I went over to Flora’s house with a manual balloon pump, a balloon arch kit, and several empty boxes wrapped like presents. I had spent weeks collecting and then wrapping the “gifts,” perfecting my wrapping technique along the way. I had never been a master gift wrapper, but I certainly upped my skill level during this project.

Over tea and treats, Flora and I spent hours constructing the balloon arch, putting up a backdrop, and setting up the boxes in an artistic and pleasurable arrangement. Afterwards, poor Flora had marks on her fingers from a latex allergy as she was tying the balloons after I blew them up! But, we got it done. I went home and the next day got up early to pick up some serious treats for photo magic.

I didn’t want to waste food, but I did want it to look decadent. I got a dozen cupcakes from James and the Giant Cupcake, an Oakland shop that has plenty of GF and DF options, along with a few of their oversized cupcakes for extra glitz and glamor.

I did my makeup, got a blowout, and headed over to Flora’s. We spent a bit of time artfully arranging the cupcakes on some of Flora’s beautiful vintage serving trays. And then, it was time to make the magic! In addition to the tank top, I wore a pair of Agent Provocateur panties from a set that was gifted to me by someone sweet.

Flora is so great at making me feel comfortable in front of the camera. Maybe it’s because we are also friends in real life! She has a great eye for lighting and color, and she also knows how to coach posing with ease. As a worker herself, she knows what I am looking for and isn’t shy about asserting her artistic vision, combining it with mine.

Working with Flora is so much fun and I always get great photos when we work together. Also I love that Flora is always down to collaborate on a wacky or more creative idea.

Since this shoot I’ve used these photos every year around my birthday time! It’s magical – it seems that every year around this time my campaign for it to stop being not my birthday works…

My Birthday is September 20! Want to make my birthday time even more special? Book a date with me or spoil me with something from my wishlist!