The first was the perfect way to start: Besty Birthday with my Kate. She and I were born only a few weeks apart, so we like to get together sometime in the middle and celebrate each other at the same time. This year, we splurged at The Melting Pot where I ate more than my fair share of the chocolate fondue, and the excellent waiter gifted us both with bottles Garlic and Wine seasoning to take home - yummy! We also laughed and cheered when we realized we'd found each other highly nerdy and completely perfect gifts.
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| Kate and her vintage USS Enterprise shuttlecraft, complete with Captain Picard action figure. When we got on TRAX after dinner, a young man exiting the car said: "Is that a shuttlecraft? Like, from the Enterprise? That's so cool!" He sounded jealous he didn't have one. Sorry, dude! |
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| Me and my warm, fuzzy TARDIS blanket. It is warm and big enough to wrap around my body and still have enough fabric to cover my toes. Fantastic! |
The party with the family is always a highlight, and this year was no exception. My mom cheerfully cooked the weird menu I requested (Monte cristo sandwiches, strawberry salad, caprese salad, Brussels sprouts with bacon, and chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting), I was showered with gifts that included repairs at my condo, movie gift cards, and a new popcorn popper, and I had a satisfactory conversation about Harry Potter with a couple of my siblings. I even played a round of Clue with Adam, Lindsey, and the G-unit, and I won!
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| David's face in the background kills me |
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| My nieces prepared a little song and dance for me, and Dave expertly accompanied them. They even provided an encore -- be still my live-performance-loving heart! |
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| Adam's homemade cards are always spot-on and awesome. He should go into the business. |
My actual birthday was over Labor Day weekend. It's always nice when I have the day off from work, and even better when my friends do, too! I spent the morning at Jordanelle Reservoir with some friends from church and tried paddle boarding for the first time. I was surprised when I liked it as much as I did. A couple of the other ladies were jealous I was able to move from kneeling to standing without falling into the water (thank you, yoga!). Such a lovely, chill activity. I miraculously wasn't even sore afterwards.
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| Did I mention it was 66 degrees that morning? It warmed up a little, but I'm grateful I didn't fall in the water. |
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| Angie, Pamela, DeEtte, me, Melia, and Angela |
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| Melia and me |
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| I bought these shorts on sale at the reservoir shop that day. I've been looking all summer, so I found them not a moment too soon :P Right after we took this photo, I realized that it was easier to maneuver if I held onto the handle at the top of the paddle. The more you know! |
Phase two of the actual birthday involved some quiet time during which I ate a frozen treat from Nielsens Frozen Custard (maple walnut), did my favorite restorative yoga routine, showered, and made treats for rehearsal the next night.
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| Looks a little like a gnarled old man wearing a hat, doesn't it? |
In the evening, Liz and Chantryce joined me for some barbecue and an action flick.
(Come on, folks. How am I still single?)
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| I walk past SugarHouse Barbeque every week on my way to church and it always smells amazing. It was darn good. I need to go again soon because I did not eat enough. |
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| Gorgeous dates. (Can you see my tiny tiara?) |
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| Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation was just as action-packed and entertaining as I'd hoped. Also, I want forever more to sit in a lounge chair when I see movies, even if Liz commented that we're one step closer to the human predicament predicted in Wall-E ;) |
Later that week, I invited her and some more of my favorite people* to join me for dinner at Brio Tuscan Grille (a place I tried when I could only eat meat and salad and wanted to return to when my diet restrictions were eased -- a good idea, it turns out) and The 39 Steps in West Jordan. Dinner was delicious, and the play was delightful. We were surprised when Larissa and our server realized they had done a play together several years ago, and then he went out of his way to make sure we were all well taken care of, including gifting me a certificate for a future visit. We were late to the play, but we were able to catch on fairly quickly, I think.
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| Ann, Jamie, me, Nichole, and Larissa at Brio. The lamb chops and the sweet potato risotto are delish. |
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| I had to get a photo showing how we'd unintentionally dressed to match. Nichole's shoes were pink, tying into my pink shirt. Great minds think alike. |
The last official birthday celebration was dinner at The Garden with a group of dear ladies I did theater with as a teenager. I am thrilled that we've reconnected, and that they were free do laugh and eat and talk and talk and talk.
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| Lifelong friends Katie, Suzanne, Laura, Theresa, and Suzanne |
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| Suzanne brought her tiny baby and let me hold him for as long as I wanted. Such a sweet, kissable, huggable little boy. Thank you, Zanny! |
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| He got fussy, so I got fussy. Solidarity forever! |
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| We decided to get one of every dessert and share. Best decision so far this year. I especially recommend the creme brulé. |
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| A view from the restaurant. Nice shot, Theresa! |
Pretty great, right? Who is this lucky? It wasn't even a milestone birthday! I am grateful to everyone who took the time to send texts, post on my wall on Facebook, choose a thoughtful gift, and/or spend some time with me this year. I am a blessed woman. With friends and family like you, there's no way this year can be anything less than wonderful!
*On several occasions recently, people have commented that I seem to have a lot of close girl friends. I didn't realize until then that this was an odd thing. I'm a single lady, and I have a LOT of interests that I like to share with cool people. Hooray for female friends, and hooray for excuses to see them as often as possible!
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