25

So my quarter century birthday came and went and I have to say, it was probably my best birthday yet.  I had an awesome week, with so many fun things going on.

The day was great.  We had ice cream cake (my favorite), Charlie bought Italian for lunch (I got gnocchi, of course) and in the afternoon the boss man sent me shopping.  The best part of the day, however, was all the sweet phone calls, texts, emails, and cards.  It's always so nice to hear from all my favorite people.  Also, maybe my favorite thing about birthdays is all the cheesy renditions of the birthday song you get all day long.  So great.  Of course the best Happy Birthday voicemail was from Ryno.

That night after work things just got even better.

Here are the girls in the subway at Union Square, waiting for the 4/5.  That's Maria, Court, me, Jac, and Chels.  (Jac, you really need a blog.)

The night started out with Curtis and Zocalo for some yummy Mexican food.

I decided if I ever go on match.com or something this can be my profile pic.  I love the "Take out" sign in the background.

I got the enchiladas and a daqueri.  The chicken was soooo tender.  Mmmmm.

They have amazing chips and salsa.  Curtis was really sad when we ran out of our second helping of salsa.  He could drink it straight.

Then we headed over to Union Square to meet up with the girls at my favorite dessert restaurant, Max Brenner.  

Love love love Jac.  If someone told me I had to share a room forever, it'd be with her.

Court got the waffles.  Delish.

I got the Urban Smores.  Words cannot describe how amazing this dish is.

The chocolate was dripping from the dish and I figured, heck, it's my birthday.

I like them charred and caught on fire.  Love the burnt taste.

Our server brought a little chocolate square with a candle and they sang Happy Birthday.  Here I am, thinking up a good wish.

Drawing me a picture with the leftover chocolate and raspberry sauce.

Watching intently.

As Chelse (not to be confused with Chelsie) would say, "You're a tiger!"

For some reason we decided to take a picture with our server, who loved us, natch.

And then I proceeded to back that thing up into a cart full of dishes, woops, as Chels struck a pose.

A little restaurant Salsa dancing.

Fencing with our s'mores skewers.

After dinner we headed back to our apartment.  I don't know if we were hyped up on all the sugar from the restaurant or what, but we were SO crazy hyper.  It was great.  One of those nights where you're the obnoxious table, being super loud and just laughing hysterically and not even caring.  

I opened up my cards when I got home, and loved the card from my niece and nephew, Megan and Ryan, with a sticker that said AWESOME AUNT.  I took this picture so they could see how happy it made me, but the sticker didn't come out too clear.  :(

Of course we finished the night with an impromptu dance party, the best kind.  Curtis and Jaclyn gave us a lesson on wall dancing.

Thank you to everyone for making my day so special.  It was so nice to hear from all of you; I feel so lucky to have you all in my life.

A special thanks to my favorite New York girls for coming out and making my night so fun, and to Curtis for being able to hang out with all the girls, the delicioso dinner, and mostly, the subway serenade.  

bertoxxx-who are you?

Yankees game with Dad

My birthday week started off so great.  Tuesday night (June 3rd) my dad came into town and the Yankees happened to be playing.  I was super excited for this game because not only was in a Yankees game with my dad, but it was also Joba Chamberlain's first opening game.  

Just before Joba's first pitch.  

My dad's Boston hat stayed in the trunk of the car, where it belongs.  :)

So Joba choked and ended up being taken out in the third inning, and the poor Yanks were killed, but I still had such a great time just being with my Dad, as always.

Mike's bday

So my beloved Mikey Perky's birthday was back in May.  I organized a little din din and we ate at an Ethiopian place up on 113th and 8th.  (He chose the restaurant.)

I'm lame and for once didn't have my camera with me, so I don't even have a picture with Mike.  But here's me with Lisa Tadje.  (And actually, that's part of Mike's arm to the right of me.)

The food was, well, weird.  It wasn't quite as nasty as it looks buuuut, let's just say I don't need to go back.  Haha.  But hey, I tried it!!

Less than two weeks to California

These two will undoubtably be the best part of the trip.

Harbor Cruise

The weekend after Duck Beach was the annual New York, New York stake singles Harbor Cruise.  We boarded the boat off of one of the piers on the Hudson  at 7pm and then from 8-11 the boat cruised Manhattan.

We got some great pictures but, I have to say, this isn't something I'll do next year.  I didn't really like the fact that you're sort of held hostage on the boat for four hours, since you have to board an hour before it actually leaves.  Also, if you wanted any food you had to buy it, and the music?  Not good at all.  Plus the weather just wasn't great, at times it was rainy and windy and just cold.

But despite all that, the views, of course, were gorgeous, and we got some great pictures.

Waiting to board the boat.

Like I said, it was windy.

Adam is quite the lady's man.

A singles event is never as good without Paul Dozier.

That pole saw a whole lotta action.

Sara Borg-hilarious.

The Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.

Downtown.  My neighborhood.