Turning 29 again

One of my co-workers said that all women over thirty and under 40 say that they are 29, so, I guess I turned 29 again. Looking back at past birthday, I am realizing that the birthdays where friends would buy you drinks until you couldn’t remember that it was your birthday, much less your name, are now long gone. I actually can’t remember the last time I drank too much on my birthday that my head hurt. That was probably my 24th birthday which is only clear to me because my friends retold many stories the following weeks.

For this year’s birthday, things started off with a few surprises from coworkers. In the tradition of my team, my cube was trashed with balloons, signs, random crap from the cafeteria or around the office and lots of well wishes. Here is a photo:

There were probably a good 25-30 pink balloons in my cube. Some of them were filled with stuff like pistachios, salt, pens, markers, relish, hershey’s kisses, cough drops and even a dollar. One of my coworkers was kind enough to even pick up my favorite Chinese white cake with fruit and whipped cream as a special treat. (Thanks JC).

On Saturday, we celebrated my birthday with a few friends in the Golden Gate Park. We lucked out with some seriously sunny weather (a bit off beat for SF). Kevin organized the whole deal with sandwich fixings for everyone and other people brought drinks, desserts, and other snacks. Before heading out to the park, I decided to go to Walgreens to pick up some necessary picnic games. I bought a copy-cat Aerobie frisbee, some bubbles and a Finding Nemo kite. The frisbee and kite were HUGE hits and so much fun to play with. Here’s some pictures of our kite flying:

Everybody really needs to fly a kite again! I probably haven’t flown one since I was a pre-teen. This was the first time that some friends flew a kite. It was certainly the first time that I’ve flown a kite and it didn’t either get stuck in a tree, or broken. So, I’ll definitely be flying this kite again soon.

Lastly, on my actually birthday, which was also Mother’s Day, Kevin and I tried a new restaurant in SF called “Anchor and Hope”. It opened in late April by the same people who own “Town Hall”, one of our SF favorites. This place had a beautiful interior and an interesting selection of seafood (Its supposed to be a classic fish house). While we both enjoyed our meal, I probably wouldn’t rush back. I had a soft shell crab dish which Kevin was a bit freaked out about. I don’t think he likes what still looks like a little animal on your plate. He had a sea bass dish. We started with a beet, watercress and hazelnut salad. The restaurant also allows you to order individual oysters and crab legs. I had one oyster and Kevin had one crab leg. Oysters are pretty new to me. I’m usually not down with anything raw. After eating the oyster, I haven’t changed my policy on raw seafood. Bleh!

All in all, I got a lot of cards and well wishes from friends and family on the phone, mail, Facebook and email. Thanks Everyone!