Can you guys PLEASE PLEASE pretty PLEASE let me in on when and where to get the awesome weapons, accessories, PARTY MEMBERS, armor??

I dont wanna miss out on it... Oh yes.. and a question which i need answered... do either of these two things matter?

1: My birthday (aside from giving me a different astrological sogn)

2: How long it takes me to go places... (having a the date at the top of the world map makes me nervous as hell, and i wanna know if i have to make haste, or take it nice and slow, often going back and forth getting in unecessary fights for trouts & giggles... and exp // gil(small ammounts))