Farewell, Birth-week #24

Everyone needs to start this birth-week thing. Screw birth-days - they are nothing compared to the birth-week!

So.... what did I do and what did I get and how did I party this past week?

Last Saturday, my mother and I went up into the mtns for our private b-week celebration. We did some shopping, some walking, some eating, some mountain viewing - you know the deal. It was realxing, refreshing, and it was wonderful to have a day just with my Ma.

The next few days were uneventful, as I had papers due for class and lots of hours at work. In fact, on my actual birthday, I had to work during the day and then go to class at night. What was the subject of my class on the day of my birth? Refugees and torture. Uplifting? No. Before class, Mara brought me my present AND a birthday balloon to carry to class. Pei also brought me a wonderful b-week present: cookies! Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the actual cookies - I ate them too quickly. But I have a picture of the empty box below if you would enjoy that.

Saturday night was the best birth-week celebration ever. It commenced with sushi-eating (or hibachi-eating for those of my friends with an aversion to fish). The hibachi guy yelled at me at one point! I was talking to Cameroon-Anna and he smacked his hibachi spatula on the grill and yelled, "Birthday-girl, PAY ATTENTION!" It caught me a little off guard and I was scared of him for the rest of the evening - after all, he yelled at me and he carried a knife! Dinner was great - a small group of my closest friends came, and I felt so priveledged to be surrounded by such amazing people.
















After sushi/hibachi, we moved the party up to The Lounge on Colfax. I love that place! Everyone came that I had expected, and we had a great time! Drinking, chitchatting, etc. Cate, in the security program, was at the Peace Corps BBQ before coming over, and she ended up bringing about half of that party also - which meant I got to meet some new PC people that have just started at DU. We took up the entire upstairs back room at The Lounge, and we even had to pull in a handful of chairs from the patio to fit everyone! It was a great time. After last-call, a few of us went back to one of Jersey-Matt's friend's places downtown. We just chilled, listened to really bad country music, etc. It was a great end to a wonderufl evening.

After dropping off Mara and Matt, Pei and I decided we were starving, and we ended up at Perkins. I was very sober after our 5am breakfast, so I was able to drive home safely and sleep in my own bed.

After 10 hours (8pm-6am) of birthday festivities, I was home safely and slept through the morning. Ahhhhh... the joys of being 24!!

I want to say thanks to everyone who came (especially those who brought me presents). A special thanks to Pei - my designated driver for the night! Now, we have to plan Mara's b-week - I can't wait!!!!