Happy Birthday, Jonah!

Went to Chicago this past weekend. At first I thought I was going to miss my flight but it turned out rather well. Jesse surprised me with an upgrade to First Class!! It was sweeeeet! I had a nice meal, free wine, lots of legroom, and they even hung up my coat and addressed me as Ms. Lao. Haha…I could get used to this. Once in Chicago we met up with Yong, Helen, Dayantha, Victor, and Susie. We all stayed in Hoffman Estates. We had a nice time hanging out at the house on Saturday in our pajamas and playing poker. Actually, all weekend we were either playing poker, watching poker on ESPN, or watching “Rounders” – a movie about poker. I also got to visit Linda and Shaun in Rockford! Linda had her baby early and I was there just in time to see the new addition to their family! His name is Jonah and is a little over 5 pounds. Jes and I got to hold the little tyke and it was pretty scary. He was so tiny and could barely open his eyes. Congratulations, Linda and Shaun!!

OK…now it’s my birthday.

Today is my 29th birthday. It’s also my brother’s 25th birthday. Some would think that celebrating our birthdays together would be a bummer but it’s actually pretty cool. This year is no different. We had dinner at California Beach Sushi in Newport Beach where they played loud music and served all-you-can-eat sushi. Jes even stayed in town to spend my last birthday in my 20’s with me. We had the immediate family, Pa Jim, Marie, Kenji, Kenneth, Pish, Debbie, and Cat come too! It was nice to have everyone together again. Happy Birthday, Brother!

It’s still my birthday!

Boy, another birthday dinner tonight…this time with Jes’ parents. We went to Black Angus and had over-cooked steak and a really yummy chocolate cake with ice cream. The service was so slow though…it made Jes’ dad late for his 7:00 meeting back at home. Oops.

What’s up with all the water?

We took Koa out to Huntington Dog Beach for the first time. I don’t think he really likes water but he slowly learned how to play in the waves and the other dogs. We had to pick him up and throw him in the water a few times. He didn’t seem too traumatized. It was such a nice day and the water wasn’t too cold. The water was pretty shallow too.
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Afterwards, we dropped the pup off at my parents’ house and we went to Hollywood Bowl to see Air. We met up wtih Holly and Roy and had come nice $3 seats. It was a pleasant night and a packed house. Stereolab played first and then Air came on with Beck as a special guest for 2 seconds. Overall, the show was really good including the iPod commercial-looking dude in front of us doing an interpretive dance to the music.

Birthday Dinner and Drinks

We celebrated Holly’s birthday as well as mine at Pane e Vino in West Hollywood. Patty, Johnny, Patti, and Howard came out to play too. We had a good time sipping wine and eating lots of Italian food under the twinkle lights and open patio. Afterwards, we went to The Arsenal in West LA for drinks.

Thanks, B.

Tonight was Brooke’s going-away dinner. She actually drove all the way down to Irvine to pick my sorry ass up. So sweet. Anyway, we had dinner and drinks at El Paso Cantina again and shared some chuckles and tears before she left. Good Luck out in B-town, Brooke!