It's far to early in the game to be doing this, buuuuuuuut I'm afraid I can only leave you with some pretty photos this evening. The follow-up to last night's "leadership is for dummies" post will have to be delayed until tomorrow.
I have received 2 birthday packages to date, and the most amazing one evar just came tonight. I spent many giddy minutes exulting over glorious gifts when I should have been blogging and accomplishing the other million items on my to-do list... NO REGRETS.
Thank you Mama B and Meagan - I feel so loved! Here are some birthday photos to tide the blog wave over until tomorrow.
I never get tired of this veiw from our apartment. This was the Friday before my birthday!
Green birthday dress.
Waterfalls for meee!
On top of the world.
The mountain gave me 1,000won for my birthday
I had a brilliantly wonderful and reviving birthday in the woods, with my man. Now to stuff my face with the Little Debbies from my mom and best friend! ;)
Carpe 29 x 365 diem.
BOOKS: Read during bathroom breaks at work!
SQUATS: 70, done
SPLITS: I neglected these yet again today. :'( But tonight was Zumba class, so I don't feel that guilty. ^^
Well, on the day that features my favorite number in triplicate, now seems a great moment to backtrack a couple of weeks.
Today, I'm thankful for my LIFE. I'm healthy, whole, happy. I have food and money and family and friends. I have travel opportunities and work options and optimism about the future. I have everything I need and more.
I made it to my 26th birthday on October 25th, and I'm so thankful for the beautiful kaleidoscope that is my life.
This might sound morbid, but during those special, crystallized moments when time stops for a couple of seconds and you realize exactly how amazing life really is - in those moments, I realize that I could die happy.
However, I have absolutely no intention of dying anytime soon, even though I did get all of the physical objects that I wanted for my birthday ^_^ :
Printed copy of the comic book Adam wrote for me!
Makes me tear up every time I read it
Little Anna and her magical visit to Narnia
Glorious pages
childhood dream fulfillment :)
Afterword Adam wrote to finish the print job
Dedication that makes me swoon
TOE SHOES!! (They are awesum.)
A strawberry Napoleon and a Cafe Viennois *swoon* :
These were the objects I wanted (and got!) for my birthday. But I got MORE, too!:
My husband, the most courageous of men, has just stepped boldly into his 28th year. And to commemorate such an event, I had no doubt as to what I needed to prepare for him: a scavenger hunt. Adam and I have a long history of plaguing each other with scavenger hunts as gifts. His favorite (before this one, of course) was probably the 1st hunt I ever sent him on, at the end of which I told him yes to entering a relationship with him.
This year's hunt was immeasurably less stressful - both for him and for me - and here's how it went down:
1.
Breakfast in bed for the birthday boy: eggs over easy, biscuits, bacon, juice, coffee, avocado slices, tomatoes, and roses for the presentation. His 1st clue was waiting on the tray as well.
2.
Clue #1 was a gift certificate for a hot shave at Aidan Gill ("FOR MEN"). This is BEFORE. *scruffy*
This is AFTER. *smooth as a baby's behind* The shave was SO close and intense that it shaved the color off his shirt, too.
Aidan Gill is a fun & swank barber shop that has old-fashioned barber chairs and uses brushed-on shaving cream and lots of hot towels - plus each customer gets a free drink of their choice :)
3.
The barber gave Adam clue #2, which was a gift certificate to his local comic book hangout. We lazily perused the shelves until Adam's hands were full o' books, and while checking out, the cashier practically had to hit Adam upside the head with his next clue (it was displayed prominently next to the checkout area, but Adam didn't notice it until the guy slapped his receipt on top of it. :D)
4.
Clue #3 was a bag of oatmeal raisin cookies from La Madeleine, one of my (and Adam's) favorite restaurants. We munched down dessert & drinks and Adam puzzled out his next clue. This was the only one that actually demanded some deciphering, though this was more due to my lack of artistic skills than cleverness. (image of clue below)
5. He figured out that it was supposed to look like "Pie-Rats, Car-Rib-Bean, WestBank" and we thusly set off in the direction of AMC Westbank Palace Cinema to see the new pirate flick. It's nothing brilliant, but it was fun nonetheless.
6. On the way to the theatre, we had some time to kill, so I pointed Adam down a quick detour to show him a tree I'd discovered at Audubon Park. Apparently it's called the Tree of Life, and a popular destination for an outdoor wedding. IT IS MASSIVE.
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7. After enjoying our cinematic experience, I handed Adam the last clue and congratulated him on making it thus far. The clue was a menu for a swank little restaurant on Magazine St. that we'd been eyeballing for a while, and we made it just in time for our 7pm reservations. I'd forgotten to pack a change of clothes for Adam (d'oh!), but these people were not as picky as Commander's Palace (which specifies on the website and on phone reservations that suits and jackets are recommended, jeans are not allowed.), and all was well.
They invited us to the bar to wait for our table to be ready, and when we were led to the table, Adam's BIG FINAL gift was pre-set at his seat on the table, waiting for him.
This was it:
In its case
Out of case! Voila - typewriter!
The typewriter above was just a stand-in - I wanted him to actually choose his own typewriter, but didn't want to just hand him a piece of paper with a photo of a typewriter on it. (lame) So I rented this one from a retro-antique shop for a week. :) He still hasn't made his final choice, but he's leaning towards a small, sleek Hermes Rocket, like the one pictured here: http://www.bluemooncamera.com/photo_essay.php?id=14
When his machine arrives, you can rest assured there will be pictures of the happy, noisy writer to follow.
We topped his birthday off with some spirited research as to what our next jobs will entail - we're both eager for the next chapter of our lives and it was fun talking through the options. Asia, France and Ecuador are among the discussion topics...Stay tuned!
