my birthday

my birthday was wonderful! the day is coming to an end and i am left feeling very cared for and loved.

the celebrations started saturday morning. the four of us had breakfast at a favorite french brasserie of ours on second street in belmont shores area. we all indluged in one small cherry cupcake, topped with sweet cream and chocolate flakes (maggie's choice)-- it was very moist and not too sweet. i followed with a panini sandwich of fresh mozzarella, basil and tomato, eric had a french baguette with scrambled egg, bacon and avocado and maggie enjoyed some pickings from each of our plates with a fruit salad; ryan gulped down a digested milk produced version of all the above.

the middle of the day was filled with me running around the house picking up, dusting and cleaning. my house had been looking remarkable like the aftermath of a english jumble sale,-- a lot of toys, books and games misplaced, the dust bunnies looked like they were ready to host their own dinner party. strangely enough, this was a treat to do. i'm not known for keeping a clean and tidy house but i have been going a crazy stepping over the clutter and sporadically picking up the dust bunnies whenever they crossed my path.

saturday night eric and i went out for a date and found ourselves at mahé, a restaurant that offers amazing sushi. i'm telling you the sushi was melt in your mouth good. my stomach was full and my chopsticks were still reaching out for another roll -- talk about food comma. the atmosphere in the restaurant was perfect for the occasion too. live acoustic music was playing, a fair mixture of people from the trendy air-heads to the "i'm only here for the good food" type.

my birthday morning was just as picture perfect as it could be. it began with the four of us were laying in the california queen under the covers, the kids in between eric and i, catching an extra twenty minutes of shut-eye. it was so lovely to have three pairs of blue eyes staring back at me and wishing me happy birthday. maggie wished me an earnest "happy birthday mommy" and promptly asked about cake, ryan gave me his "melt your heart" smile and eric rolled out off bed with the kids to give me an extra twenty minutes under the covers. when my twenty minutes were up, i was presented with three lovely cards, one from maggie, one from eric and another one for swedish massage and aromatherapy treatment.


my mum rang mid-morning and dutifully sang a full verse of happy birthday down the phone line, as she does every year. we caught up with each other a bit, I filled her in on my birthday plans and enjoyed a quick chat with my dad before hanging up with the promise of a call back later in the week. i also caught up with my birthday twin from england (hi kat). we joked about how quickly the year has passed and marveled at how insane it was that we had basically spent a whole year trying to set up a phone date since out last birthday. my very dear friend, dannielle, came over to visit and presented me with some very thoughtful gifts (thank you again dannielle) who then took me out for lunch at pfchangs in long beach. ryan was extremely cooperative and allowed us to catch up the only way girlfriends do; all while eric hung out in the car with sleeping beauty (maggie).

i also got emails, cards and lovely voice mails from other dear friends and family of mine, all which just made me feel so incredibly grateful. and on that note -- the last few years of celebrating my birthday i have been feeling that it should be less about me and more about the people in my life. the people who fill it with joy, with happiness. people who make me a stronger, people who make me a better person. it's a little too cliché to present it like this i suppose, but it is how i feel. after all, i am no more than accumulation of the people in my life. if you're reading this blog, please know that i love you, i admire you and am so glad to have you in my life, as a part of my life.

thanks guys :-)