It’s Britney Spears’ birthday, so let’s take a moment to fangirl out

Oh baby, baby. Britney Spears turns 33 today, and we wish her the merriest of birthdays! It seems that with each passing year, we love this woman more and more. She’s already proven why, even after all this time, she’s still the most relatable celeb ever. Whenever I grab Starbucks in sweats, I think of Britney, and I raise my iced cappuccino to her in a toast. (And yes, I get iced cappuccinos, I’m one of those people. Don’t care, they’re delicious!).

Britney is a force, and I am happy to go along with her on all of her journeys, both the great and the not-so-great. It’s been intriguing to see how she’s grown up under such incredible pressure, and to see of her triumphs despite it all. It seems that too many people are ready to bash Miss Spears and that’s a damn shame. She’s built quite an impressive empire, she’s been through hell and back, and she’s still kicking ass.

So here are some reasons why she’s still the incredible, the unstoppable, the legendary Miss Britney Spears.

She just owned Las Vegas. No big deal.

One cannot deny the impressiveness of Britney’s Las Vegas residency. Called “Britney: Piece of Me”, it’s the top grossing show in Las Vegas. The first leg of her tour made an impressive $2,470,021 — and the first leg was just 4 shows! The second leg was 12 dates from January to February and made a whopping $8,011,280. According to Las Vegas Sun, she’s outselling some of Vegas’ biggest performers: “From the end of 2013 to the beginning of 2014, StubHub says Britney outsold the Colosseum at Caesars Palace headliners Celine, Elton, Shania Twain and Rod Stewart. The company added that “14 percent of their ticket inventory was sold just for her Feb. 14 show.”

She got rave reviews from fans and critics alike, and the show really is an homage to her fans, as Britney dons iconic costumes from days of yore, and sings all the hits. You go, Brit!

Have you seen her Vine account?

Britney is refreshingly candid on her Vine account. She takes time to answer questions from fans, like which of her parents’ cooking she likes more (her mom’s!) and the last song she listened to (“Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift!). She also posts videos of what she does on the weekends. FYI: She plays with her two boys. It’s super cool to see a celeb be so real and relaxed on their social media account. Which brings us to. . .

I’m hooked on her Instagram

Britney’s Instagram is chock full of realness and goodness. Like her Vine, she uses it to release moments of un-photoshopped truth in her life, from her Halloween costume to selfies with her latest boyfriend (currently Charlie Ebersol). When she posts a bikini pic, I don’t roll my eyes like I do with other celebs who do the same — I think, “hell yeah, you go, Brit!” P.S. I say “you go, Brit” waaaay too often, and I feel no personal shame or guilt about this. It happens. BUT REALLY, I admire how breezy she is with her personal social media. No doubt she has some sort of team, but she and the team are smart enough to realize that what fans want is a seemingly up-close-and-personal photo journey with the Spears.

Come on, it’s all about her songs

But above all else, the one thing that sticks with us Britney fans is her music. Those songs! So damn catchy — perfect slices of pop heaven. From “Hit Me Baby One More Time” to “Perfume,” we’re all about those 3 plus minutes of pure pop refuge. Because sometimes, nothing makes you work out harder than jogging to Britney. Because sometimes, you can’t get ready unless you’re doing your make up to Ms. Spears. Because sometimes, you run, and sometimes you hide. Get it?

And may I just say, you can fancy pop music and still love other styles of music. I love David Bowie and Britney Spears — the two aren’t mutually exclusive. It is very much possible to jam to rock and roll and/or hip hop and/or whatever and still totally dig pop music. I promise you.

So there you go — just some of the reasons why we’re still fangirling over the amazing Britney Spears. Brit, have a merry birthday, and a happy new year, and you keep doing you. We’ll follow. Cheers!

(Images via Breathe Heavy, Instagram, Popcrush, Giphy,)