I am twenty-two years old today and I’m currently squashed into a tiny airline seat next to a cuddling couple beside me. While they’re whispering sweet nothings, I’m gracefully chomping down on a salami ciabatta, quality eats I purchased for $10 at the only airport café open at 6am.

I spent the first two hours of my birthday working on our Travelstrings marketing campaign and the third hour debating (as only girls can do) which of the thirty outfits I brought home I actually wanted to stuff into my suitcase for New York. Hours four and five were my mostly successful attempts to get some semblance of nighttime sleep. At hour six, I woke up, showered, and headed to the airport. Now it’s hour twelve, and I have a new theory.

Never fly on your birthday. And if you do, make use of the time differences to extend those few hours of birthday bash-ity. I technically made the wrong decision – I’m off to New York, where simply by stepping off of the plane, I will have lost 3 precious hours of birthday fun. Oops.

Well, let’s add some exceptions. Never fly on your birthday unless it’s the only option you have to see your parents and your best friend on the same day. Never fly on your birthday unless your fledgling startup is poised to launch and you wanted to stay in-office for as long as possible. Never fly on your birthday unless – heck, this rule has so many exceptions it’s practically disproven. So what’s the point?

There are points in every entrepreneur’s life where he or she must choose. Beach adventure or marketing strategy? Bar-hopping with friends or product team meetings? Work or sleep? For each person and situation the answer is different, and no matter what anyone says there isn’t one right choice.

Right now, I’m headed to watch my best friend Ellen graduate from NYU. Specifically, my choice this past week was: should I fly to New York on Saturday as scheduled to spend two more awesome days with Ellen? Conversely, should I cough up extra dough to Jetblue, delay my flight until Tuesday, and get more work done at home with my team? For better or worse, I chose the latter option, and thus my bank account is sporting an additional withdrawal and I’m typing this crammed into a window seat.

But while I am a self-identified workaholic, I am lucky to recognize those rare moments in life that I would not miss for anything. Ellen graduating from college is one of those moments. I admire and love this girl more than anything. It’s the type of love that persists even when we storm away from each other at the Chicago Institute of Art, even when we disagree about who pursued consulting first, or when she criticizes my great sense of style. I treasure the friendship we have built over the last seven years of life, and nothing (not even a venture capitalist calling right now for a meeting) would stop me from attending this important moment in her life.

Sure, I had to delay my flight for two days, fly on my birthday, work on the plane, and so forth – but none of that matters in the larger scheme of life. I just feel so fortunate to be flying towards love, the type of love that persists through starting companies or joining international consulting firms.

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It’s been over twelve hours since I started this post, and my 22nd birthday has come to an end. On the other side of the coast, as I was on my way to Manhattan and eating delicious Marea, my Travelstrings team worked tirelessly to launch our first Facebook campaign. We’ll pulled in over 140 new likes in the span of one day, thanks in large part to friends from all over offering their support. Over seventy people commented on the campaign I’ve worked on for the past week. Absolutely incredible, the best birthday present ever.

More than that, I feel so blessed to have a great team behind me, one that understands the intricacies of best friendship and can’t miss events. I feel so grateful to have a best friend that declared she would run to Pret a Manger for take-out breakfast while I finished up a few tasks. I am so frickin’ lucky and grateful and I can’t say it enough.

Thank you everyone for providing me with this simple joy.

Best, Melanie