28th Birthday

I had a **fantastic** 28th birthday celebratory extravaganza!! Here are the details…

Thursday–This was my actual birthday. I started the day in class, which wasn’t ideal but turned out to be great. Luckily, I am loving this class, so I was actually looking forward to it. And the day got even better when Amy showed up with a birthday cake for me!! She miraculously managed to bike this cake to campus from her house, and she lugged over candles, matches, plates, bowls, forks, spoons, whipped cream, and a big container of sugared strawberries!! She is quite the friend! The class sang to us (I made everyone include her, as her birthday was a day after mine) and we blew out candles and enjoyed her delicious homemade angel food cake.

After class, Nik and I went out to lunch and then headed over to Freeport Bakery to pick up my champagne cake. We couldn’t resist the chocolate chip cookies, so we picked up some of those, too. After we got home, I opened gifts and Nik and I ate cookies in bed and took an afternoon nap. In the evening, we headed over to Bistro 33 for my birthday dinner with our friends. We had a blast, ending the night drinking “fun drinks”(-April) at a local bar.

Friday–On Friday morning I headed down to LA. Mandi picked me up from the airport and we went to lunch at Turquoise, a cute Mediterranean restaurant by the beach. I’d been craving their tabouli for a really long time, so it hit the spot. That afternoon my mom and I ran some errands (including a stop at the scrapbook store) and then headed home so that I could get ready for dinner. My dad, Martha, Mandi, Justine and I went to the Melting Pot that night. It was my dad and Martha’s first time there, and we had a blast. We laughed a lot!!

Saturday–I started the day with a manicure and pedicure at my favorite nail spot, and then met my mom to run some errands. I had an afternoon appointment with the wedding planner, so I headed over to Manhattan Beach to meet her. I ended up having some extra time and it was a warm, gorgeous day, so I tanned on the sand for a bit. We then had a great, fun, productive meeting. That evening, my mom, Mandi, and I headed to Petro’s for a mouth-watering Greek meal. Feta bruchetta, Nikos saganaki, feta-crusted rack of lamb, and mojitos!! OMG, so delicious. We had a really fun time, also laughed a lot, and then headed home for cake and gifts.

Sunday–Happy Easter!! My mom worked really hard on making Mandi and I Easter brunch. Tamales, French toast, potatoes, fruit salad, sausage, bacon, and mimosas!!

My birthday and birthday weekend were just fantastic. I felt really loved by all of the wishes and celebrations. Thanks to everybody!