At The Official Birthday Blog we don’t let birthdays sneak by unnoticed! Here’s a look at some of the biggest birthdays around the blogosphere. Find out who’s turning how old and when. Best of all, find out how they’re celebrating:

Dean McDermott went all out for the love of his life, Tori Spelling, who celebrated her 36th birthday this weekend. The actress, mother of two, and author of “Mommywood,” spent a romantic weekend at hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica. Dean threw a surprise party for her and even went out and got a surprise tattoo expressing his undying love.

When The Eiffel Tower turned 120 yesterday more than one thousand balloons were released into the sky to mark the occasion, delighting tourists. The French icon, standing at 986 feet tall, was clothed in classic gray.

Lastly, for Star Wars fans or anyone who likes kind furry aliens, happy birthday to Chewbacca! Peter Mayhew, “The dude inside the Chewie suit,” turned 65 yesterday. Click here to view highlights from his career.

Heather B. Armstrong, or “Dooce,” knows a thing or two about how to create a world with more birthdays. Keeping a close eye on your skin and monitoring it for irregularities can literally save your life. And that’s what the More Birthdays movement is all about!

On her spunky, personal blog Dooce.com, Heather writes about her personal experiences detecting skin cancer early. She advocates sunscreen and making an appointment with a dermatologist if you have even the slightest suspicion about a strange, discolored spot on your skin. Having trouble getting a good look at that mole on your upper back? Your partner can help:

One night last week as Jon and I were changing clothes and getting ready for bed I noticed a small mole on his back that sent the arrow of my skin cancer radar so far into the red that it broke in half. My radar is perhaps more sensitive than most, and if you’re new to this website I should explain that I’ve had five suspicious moles and discolorations removed from my body in the last few years, two of which turned out to be skin cancer (you can read about my experience here, here, here, and here). So you could say I get a little jumpy when I see the tiniest skin abnormality, and for the next twenty minutes I grilled him as if he were a suspect in a gruesome homicide: how long has he known about this mole? Has it recently changed colors? Was he planning to have it checked out or was he just going to take his chances and SUDDENLY MY CHILDREN HAVE NO FATHER? …

So we’ve scheduled him an appointment with my dermatologist, and there’s a part of me that wants to thank Jon’s mole for reminding me that I’m due to self-treat another suspicious spot on my body, one I found on my forehead several months ago. It’s tiny, not even half the size of the fingernail on my pinky, but because of its rough texture and unwillingness to go away I brought it up with my doctor who diagnosed it as a “precancer” known as actinic keratosis…

My doctor assures me that we’ve caught it early enough that I can successfully treat it at home with a medicine called Aldara, a topical ointment that I apply directly to the skin for a period of twelve weeks, and that I could even wait to start treatment if I was worried at all about its effects on the baby in utero. I’ve also put it off because of my vanity, because he said it would cause the spot in question to turn a reddish color that couldn’t be concealed with make-up, and I just wanted to get through my book tour without having to keep coming up with creative answers to WHY DO YOU HAVE A HICKEY ON YOUR FOREHEAD?

I figure no one is going to notice the hickey on my forehead when my boobs are the size of nuclear warheads and leaking milk with the force of a fire hose.

I wanted to bring this up here for a couple of reasons. One, some of you have written to ask if I’ve found any more suspicious spots on my body. I think you could ask me that question every year from now until I die and the answer will always be yes. This is just what happens when you’re as careless as I was in my teens and twenties about sun exposure, and as a result I will spend the rest of my life terrified that every skin irregularity could end up threatening my life.

Two, maybe these details will be what finally urges someone to make an appointment with a dermatologist, maybe these images will turn up in some Google search and convince someone that they should take the discoloration on their forehead seriously. And so let me urge you, if you are at all unsettled about a strange place on your skin, please don’t ignore it. And in the meantime, put on some sunscreen.

Click here for more information on checking your skin and here for information on how to protect yourself from UV Rays.

Sandra K. Lee says that planning her 3-year-old daughter’s princess birthday party was exhausting but rewarding. While outsourcing the party planning can be tempting, Sandra says the wonderful parties her parents planned for her growing up have made her want to do the same for her daughter. Here’s what she has to say:

It is the day after my 3-year-old’s princess birthday party and I feel like I planned a wedding. Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration but I’m pretty tired.

I guess I would have been a lot less tired (and busy) if I’d chosen a package birthday party, as I’ve noticed more of my friends doing with their children, but I really wanted to do a “homemade birthday party” again. Maybe I’m holding on to the do-it-yourself party because I have a lot of wonderful memories of my own birthday parties, every one of them at my parents’ house. (At least, I don’t recall any birthdays spent anywhere else).

Even when I turned 30, we celebrated at their home. Who could turn down a free pool?

But maybe it’s even more than that. While having a place like Gymboree or Kid Junction plan the party for you is definitely less hassle, I really enjoyed being involved in all the aspects of the party. I loved shopping for the goody bag items for the guests, working with my husband on designing a princess invitation and working with my mom on making huge cardboard castles for the kids to play in and decorate. And I really liked that the princess party wasn’t too girly for the boys who attended.

And even though my daughter may not remember this birthday, my mom and I will.

This year marks the 25th year of the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, the world’s largest grassroots fundraising activity to celebrate people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against cancer. More than 5,000 communities across the United States and 20 other countries will host Relay For Life events this year, and one in every 100 Americans will participate!

When Relay For Life first started in 1985, it was just one man’s inspiration. Dr. Gordy Klatt, a colorectal surgeon from Tacoma, Wash., circled a track for 24-hours to raise money for the cause. Today his idea has grown from a single event into the world’s largest movement to end cancer – with more than 3.5 million participants worldwide.

The money raised by Relay For Life during the last 25 years has saved lives and enabled more people to celebrate more birthdays by helping people stay well, helping people get well, by finding cures, and fighting back.

Join the millions of passionate Relayers as celebrate the event’s 25th year. Visit www.RelayForLife.org for information on how to:

* Join or start a team to raise money

* Making a donation to Relayers you know

* Volunteer at an event in your community

Happy 25th to Relay For Life! Thanks for helping create a world with less cancer and more birthdays!

Over at Cool Mom Picks, Kristin says her mother-in-law will join the ranks of cancer survivors celebrating another birthday this year. She shared an inspiring story of optimism in the face of cancer that’s a reminder of why ACS works every day to create a world with more birthdays. Here’s what she has to say about it:

I’m betting that most, if not all, families have been affected by cancer in one form or another, my own being one of the many millions. In fact, my mother-in-law will join the 11 million or so cancer survivors that will be enjoying yet another birthday this year, which is what this ACS campaign is celebrating too on their website MoreBirthdays.com.

Of course, she refuses to tell us which one it is. But since her battle with breast cancer almost 10 years ago, we don’t even care about the number…

Aside from using donations to help to find a cure (great way to honor someone’s birthday) the American Cancer Society does so much more – like providing information on cancer prevention and offer[ing] support and resources for patients and their families, like mine. There are even some nice free e-cards (one shown up top) you can use to acknowledge a survivor’s birthday in a really optimistic way.

And so, in honor of those awesome survivors (and in my case, a sometimes difficult mother-in-law) we appreciate their amazing work and are glad they’re involving Cool Mom Picks to help tell you about it. -Kristen and team Cool Mom Picks

Thanks to team Cool Mom Picks! Thanks especially to Kristen, and many more birthdays to her mother-in-law!

Of the 365 days in a year, we are only granted one day to celebrate ourselves—our birthdays—and many of us don’t even bother to celebrate that one special day. We’re busy, we’re tired, it’s not a priority, we let the day go by. Here at The Official Birthday Blog we think that’s a mistake.

Our birthdays aren’t about candles, or presents, or cake! They are meant to remind us that this life is precious and worth celebrating not just once a year, but every day. A birthday is a symbol of a life well lived. So don’t let another day or birthday slip away!

It’s worth living with birthdays in mind.