Browse Month: September 2008

So loved…

This is me (left) and Marie on my 3rd Birthday.  That’s 30 years ago!!!

I feel so loved.  The best part of my birthday is hearing from all my friends and family.  This year, it’s been through a combination of phone calls, voicemails, emails, sms text messages, a blog posting, birthday cards, and Facebook postings.  I’ve also had a pretty fun week of celebrating at Lawry’s, Disneyland, B Bar, work, Napa, and Luce and I’m ready to take on my 34th year of life.

And of course…Happy Birthday, Brother!!  I hope the pirates treated you well last night!

A Day in Napa

Today we went to Napa with the Bangs for a day of wine tasting.  The first stop was Patz & Hall where we tasted Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs that were paired with food.  I hadn’t eaten any breakfast that morning so the 6 small pours kicked in rather quickly.  The second stop was Etude.  They had a Cabernet party with chocolate truffles and cheese too.  That really topped off the day and I went to lunch with a nice long buzzzz…

We had lunch at Genova Deli, which is the same one that I LOVE in Oakland.  So, I got my very favorite prosciutto, mozzerella, basil, tomato sanwich.  SO TASTY.

It was a fun trip for my Birthday Eve!!  Here are the photos.

No Bento Box Here!

On Thursday night we had a Pre-Birthday Happy Hour at B Restaurant & Bar.  I was impressed by the number of people who came by to help me celebrate.  These people included: friends from high school, friends from college, friends from work, friends from our trip to Belize, and family too!!  I love bibimpap and I feel no need to compartmentalize my company like a bento box.  Just put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix it up!!

Turns out I may be a connector too.  Among the hodgepodge of people that gathered, we managed to make several connections:

  • Ranee (co-worker) is best friends with my cousin Ishya.
  • Michelle (college friend) was best friends with Ishya’s sister in-law (Debbie) back in elementary school.
  • My high school buddies went to Cal and so did Ranee and Jamie.
  • Van (friend we met in Belize) works at UCSF where he knows a fellow PT classmate of Ranee and Ishya.
  • Billy’s brother works at Yelp! and so does DikShun.

Neato Mosquito, huh?!

Anyway, I had a great time and it was so nice to see everyone together in one place.  I also got to try some yummy cocktails and had my share of the margarita pitchers we ordered at Chevy’s.  Surprisingly I woke up feeling pretty darn good despite the number of drinks I had last night.

Here are the photos from the evening.

over the top

At work, we choose names out of a bag each year and provide a special birthday treat for the person we pulled.  With my birthday coming up, I knew something was coming but didn’t expect it to happen so early.  This morning during our weekly staff meeting our Department Administrator poked her head in the room and announced that there would be a birthday treat for me at lunch.  Oh boy…it was quite a treat indeed.

There were banners all over my desk, I was greeted with a lei and tiara, and I got an ice cream cake!!  They sang “Happy Birthday” for me with party blowers galore.  It was a nice gesture but pretty embarrassing too.  All I can say is that it was definitely memorable.

She still isn’t 30.

God help me. Our precious Vyl turned only 29 on Tuesday. Ryan said a while ago that he’ll have to kill himself when she turns 30 so I guess he still has one more year to live. We celebrated on Tuesday night with some Italian food and wine. The birthday girl also received 3 bouquets of flowers that night. Aw…

Here are the photos.

Magical Pre-Birthday

On Saturday, I went to Disneyland with Brother, Joy, and Mommy.  Since we were about a week away, we stopped at City Hall on Main Street when we arrived and got birthday pins with our names written on them.  So, for the rest of the day, we were greeted with “Happy Birthday” from cast members and other people in line.

Joy also bought us all Mickey ears complete with our names stitched on the back.  (Thanks, Joy!)  We even had one for Mommy, which looked great on her.

I hadn’t been to Disneyland for almost 2 years so I finally go to ride the Nemo ride and Joy got to ride the canoes for the first time.

We also said “hello” to Pooh and Eeyore but missed out on Splash Mountain, which supposedly broke by the time it was our turn to get on with our Fast Passes.

We did, however, get through all the other rides in record time.

The only hiccup in the night was the threat of cancellation of the fireworks show (again).  But fortunately for us, they went through with the show and it was pretty cool.  They’ve gotten really fancy with their pyrotechniques and lights displays.  Here’s the Star Wars part of the show.

I’d have to say it was a pretty satisfying day with good weather, good company, and short lines. Yay!  Here are photos from the day.