birthday re-cap

Wow, it's been quite a full birthday week(end)! Even my fingers are weak and too tired to type. So I'll do a quick recap of events:

Wednesday night:
Tom surprised me with ice skating! We haven't done that together in YEARS. We were a little rusty at first (as were our skate blades) but after a few loops around the rink we started to get more comfortable. My back had been acting up the last week so I was a bit cautious with speed as well as jumps and spins so no triple lutz toeloops or salchows for me. Plus the place was packed and there quite a few middle aged men showing off their hockey slides from their younger days and they were making me nervous. Oh one thing that was really funny was there was a hockey coach off to the side coaching some younger boys and after my second time around I yelled to Tom who was ahead of me, "Ok I'm warming up now, here I come." and the coach says, "Hey, slow down there, the Olympics are calling!" I thought it was funny but maybe it was one of those "ya had to be theres."


After skating we headed down to Laguna to Ti Amo for a nice dinner. It's our favorite place to celebrate special occasions. The atmosphere is so warm and cozy especially when decorated for the holidays. We love to try new places and there are always new trendy restaurants popping up all over the place but for birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays, this is one place we don't mind coming back to again and again. It also reminds me of some of our favorite places back in Chicago. I give it 4 stars and a strong recommendation to locals as well as out-of- towners.

Here's a pic of the fireplace in the dining room...


Thursday night:
I already posted about this night but I forgot to mention a funny story during the shopping event. The place is packed with people and there are open bars scattered throughout the departments and I had a full drink (my first at the shopping event) in my hand. It was a vodka soda and I was holding it in my right hand along with my cell phone. Tom and I had gone our separate ways to shop and I couldn't find him so I called him on his cell. I was still holding my cell as I was introduced to a gentleman in the clothing design business from the midwest. We were chatting about midwest vs CA living and then all of the sudden we hear a crash and turn around to see this woman cowering from embarrassment after her drink shatters to the ground. We were laughing and making jokes about whenever there's an open bar people tend to get carried away and how shopping and drinking should not be combined into one event. I was having difficulty holding my drink and cell in the same hand so I put my shopping bag down to free up my left hand for the phone when my slippery drink projectiles right out of my other hand and shoots directly at the designer guy! Of course this happens right as Tom walks up. Tom apologizes and shakes his head and asks me how many cocktails I've had and I tell him that it was only my first. The designer guy was super cool about it and as he wipes up his suit and sleeves he demonstrates to others who just witnessed my drink toss that his suit is basically waterproof because the drink beads up and rolls off. And it was a good thing I was standing on a carpeted area because unlike the previous drink dropper, my glass didn't shatter.



Friday night:
As I mentioned in a previous post, Friday night we were planning on going out to dinner with my sister and her husband. Well as it turns out we get to their house and she had a surprise birthday party for me! It was a complete shock and soooooo much fun. The weather on Friday was horrendous so I am very grateful for those who were able to brave the elements and make the party. We had lots of food and drink and played some very interesting games and danced to my new disco ball thanks to my friend and fellow sorority sista Anna! Also my sister made this very creative birthday collage of pictures that must have taken weeks to put together. I'll have to snap a photo of it and post it on here. She went to a lot of trouble to pull off the surprise and I am very honored and grateful. I had such a great time.

Saturday night:
My sis and I attended a Christmas party and I'm too tired to continue blogging right now so I'll have to finish tomorrow. So much for the quick re-cap!