February 8, 2009

Best Birthday Ever

I can honestly say that this was the best birthday ever. It has even trumped my 10th birthday when I got my first stereo and trust me when I tell you that was an exciting birthday for me, not so much for my parents whose bedroom was right beside mine. I actually still have that stereo.

On Friday, I got a couple cards in the mail. One was from my aunt who always sends me scratch-off lottery tickets. I won $100. I also received several other thoughtful cards (one from Marguerite-thank you!), many of them mentioning my "29th" birthday. Sweet.

Yesterday, I slept in. When I woke up, Mr. BBM made me breakfast. The girls gave me cards they had made themselves and they also gave me that Live Strong t-shirt I saw a couple weeks ago. It says, "100% Back" on it. I'm wearing it today.

At noon, I had a manicure appointment thanks to Renovation Girl and her called in gift certificate. I came home, showered, packed and we were off. We dropped the girls off at my parents house and headed to the hotel. Right after we arrived, one of my friends arrived at the hotel to drive with us to dinner. He brought with him a beautifully wrapped gift and wished me a happy 29th birthday in Japanese (He's a friend from karate). Inside I found a gift card for Ann Taylor Loft. Does he have good blog reading comprehension skills or what? Although I did not at all expect gifts, I was elated. Thank you E!

We drove over to Bahama Breeze for dinner and while we waited for our table, I drank a mojito (ok, actually two mojitos). I nursed the second one all through dinner because it was STRONG and I had some dancing to do later. We had a lovely dinner. I had almond crusted salmon in a lemon butter sauce with tropical rice. It was delicious.

So was the spinach dip which is why my friend Stacey is covering her mouth and we are cracking up. Ok, the cracking up part may be due to the mojito.

We headed back to the hotel and the nightclub afterward. First, I did a quick wardrobe change. I couldn't decide what to wear so Mr. BBM told me I should be like a celebrity hosting an awards show and switch tops, so that's just what I did. He was apparently kidding, but it was a suggestion I couldn't ignore.

I wasn't the only one with a wardrobe change. Ikigai ended up having to borrow one of Mr. BBM's shirts since t-shirts, even nice ones, were not allowed. Yep, that's right, no t-shirts allowed but bring on the leggings, cheesy hot-pants, fishnet stockings and bikinis. Oh, how I wish I were kidding about that part.

Here's Ikigai playing the role of Mr. BBM.

We arrived at the club and were shown to our VIP room. The VIP room was a bunch of comfy couches, six televisions that looked like a kaleidoscope, and a great big comfy ottoman. This was surrounded by long white flowing pieces of fabric. It was like our own little cocoon.

That's my sister and her boyfriend in the background. He was googling himself, like usual.

The VIP room came with a specialty drink for all of us to share. It was quite good and didn't last very long.

I'm just thankful I had some good help getting rid of it. That's Stacey's husband Richard. You may recall him from this post.

Here's another picture of me and my sister. I never really thought we looked anything alike until I saw this picture today. Clearly though, we're leaving the chest area out of this comparison. One of these things is certainly, and sadly, not like the other.

Ikigai (seen below) dared me to go out onto the dance floor to get the party started and I told him I haven't met a (reasonable) dare I haven't liked. So, out I went. Ikigai's girlfriend, "Foxy Citrus" (also seen below and also celebrating her birthday), joined me after a lonely minute and things started rolling. Someone has to start the party right?

We had an unsolicited dance partner who didn't smell that great, so we decided we'd go sit back in the VIP room to let him cool his engines.

The club had a stage where only ladies could dance and at some point, they called me up there. I went and took a posse of girls with me. We truly had a blast.

I believe that's me doing my best impersonation of nai hanchi stance. Actually, on second thought, I think I was just getting low and stuff.

When my friend told me this club was cheesy, she neglected to tell me that there were "cages." That would be my sister leaning way back there while holding the bar and that would be me standing in the cage laughing. No one can say we weren't adding to the entertainment value at the club.

With the exception of one party pooper (see "google" image above), everyone from my party got out on the dance floor at some point, even those who swore they were like T.I. as in "alright, ok, I don't dance, no way."

Of course, my sister and I don't use that type of logic. We're always ready to dance.

My knee held up quite well all night long, and although none of us made it to the 2 a.m. closing time, I didn't mind because they started playing really craptastic music. See my face expression reflecting this below. And for those who only tolerated last nights music in honor of me and my birthday, zip it, I already know what you're going to say about the music that preceded the end of the night's craptastic music.

My friends all put in a good amount of time at the club. I had a great group of people, a great group of friends, and a really fantastic time.

Tonight I went to my Mom's for dinner and cake. My Mom and the girls made me a cake. The girls decorated it almost completely by themselves and they did a fantastic job.

I've learned that one of the keys to having a good birthday is having it fall on a weekend. This was definitely one for the memory books! Thank you to everyone who made this birthday special by sending me something sweet, typing me birthday wishes, or getting your groove on. I truly have the best friends in the world.