Tag Archives: birthday party

Another Quick Santa Barbara Day (or Celebrating My Niece)

Posted on February 28, 2024 | Comments Off on Another Quick Santa Barbara Day (or Celebrating My Niece)

I don’t go to Santa Barbara too often, even though it’s not that long of a drive. But I do go up at least a few times a year to see my family. I go up for my niece’s and nephew’s birthdays, and I’ll continue to do that as long as their birthday parties are family parties. I don’t know how many years that will go on so I have to take advantage of them when I can.

Since it’s an easy drive, I only go up for the day so I don’t need to pack an overnight bag. I really can’t remember the last time I stayed overnight in Santa Barbara since I’d rather not have to bring all that stuff and like to sleep in my bed. I still end up feeling like I bring a lot of stuff with me, but it’s usually because I’m bringing stuff to give to my parents so I don’t have to ship things to them. And my parents usually have a bag of things to give to me as well. Typically, my dad is bringing me some tools or things that I mentioned would be helpful to have. This last time, I mentioned not having clamps to hold things down when I glue them, so he got me a set of clamps.

I went up recently for my niece’s birthday party and I really didn’t have much to bring with me this time. I did have her birthday present, but that was all I had to remember to put in my car. But I did get a new-to-me camera recently (it was a trade with a friend), so I brought that too so I could practice taking some photos with it since it had been a while since I had used anything other than my phone to take photos. I got the camera mainly to do self-tape auditions, but learning how to do more on it is a good idea in case I want to use it for photos and other things.

The drive up was pretty easy, and I felt lucky about that. The day of the party was supposed to be a very stormy day, but I didn’t have much rain on my drive. I lucked out with the storm because it only rained a little bit going up so I didn’t have to worry about extra traffic caused by people who aren’t good drivers in the rain.

Most of the birthday parties that my niece and nephew have had before only had a few friends there. This time, there were a few more friends than at their past parties (I’m guessing my nephew will have a lot of friends at his birthday in about a month). It made things a bit more hectic, but I ended up talking to my parents most of the time. The kids were doing different crafts like decorating cookie boxes (which had glitter so I was trying to stay away from that) and playing with all the toys they have. Once my niece opened her presents, they started to play with those things too. I got her a dress-up set, but she got a lot of dress-up stuff so she had a lot of new things to open up and try on.

The party only lasted a few hours before all my niece’s friends started to head home. I stuck around a little longer to talk with my parents about a few random things, but once it looked like the rain was about to start, I knew I needed to leave too so I could try to avoid driving in a crazy rainstorm. I don’t love to drive in the rain anyway, but to drive 90 minutes or more in the rain sounded awful. Just like with my drive up, my drive back down home only had a few minutes of rain and then it was easy for me the rest of the way. I’ve done the drive up and back enough to have experienced a lot of random situations that make the drive harder or longer, but this ended up being one of the easier drives I’ve had.

Hopefully, when I go back up in a little over a month for my nephew’s party, it will be just as easy of a drive. And I hope it won’t have the threat of rain so the party can take advantage of the bounce house they have been using for other parties since that is always a big hit with everyone!

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It’s My Birthday! (or Being A Bit Overwhelmed By Love)

Posted on August 9, 2023 | 2 comments

I’m 40 today! I’ve said it before, but I’m not that worried about being 40. I know it’s something everyone says, but age really is just a number. Nothing has changed about me because yesterday I was 39 and today I’m 40. I also think that where past generations were at 40 is very different from where my generation is at 40. And a lot of my friends are older than me, so I have a lot of examples of what a 40-year-old could be like. Some of them at 40 were married with kids and others had similar lifestyles to what I have right now. And I’m lucky that none of my friends or family pressured me to feel like I had to be at a certain phase of life at any age.

I also have said before that my 30s were so much better than my 20s, and I think that things will just continue to get better. A lot of this feeling is not caring as much to fit certain stereotypes or what others may think about me. If I want to enjoy my life a certain way and it’s not hurting anyone else, I should be able to do that without shame. If I want to spend a day reading, that’s fine and I shouldn’t feel embarrassed that others might see that as a wasted day. And the sense of freedom I’ve had as I have gotten more confident about not caring has been amazing.

I’m not really doing much to celebrate my birthday today. I have my workout, going to the picket line, and working my day job. I might end up doing something after work, but I have a feeling I won’t be up for much since I tend to be tired after work. But that’s ok because I had a small birthday party thing this past weekend!

I haven’t celebrated my birthday with friends for a while, but I figured I should do it this year for a milestone birthday. I didn’t want anything too crazy, so I organized a hangout at a lounge attached to a bar near my place. I invited a lot of friends because there are so many people I hadn’t seen in a while and about 15 people were able to come.

I didn’t take any photos because I was busy talking with everyone, so I’m grateful for a friend who was there that took these candid ones. And it was such a great birthday hangout!

I had friends that were there from different friend groups, and it’s always crazy to see how people know each other when I had no idea. For example, one friend I have known since I was in college knew another friend I know through union service from an acting class they were in 20 years ago! And another friend from one friend group knew another friend from a different group but they hadn’t seen each other in about 15 years. There were several moments when I just sat back and watched my friends talking to each other. It was so awesome just seeing new friendships being created and old friendships catching up. I didn’t need or want to be the center of attention, I just wanted everyone to have a good time. And I think everyone who was there did.

I didn’t think to tell people to not bring presents because I honestly wasn’t expecting them. And I was surprised how many people brought me a card or a gift. I felt so loved, and a little embarrassed that I didn’t think I deserved so much fuss. But I also know how much I love to give my friends gifts, so I appreciated the time and money others spent on me and finding the right gift to get me.

I don’t really have any other big plans for my birthday. There are some birthday traditions that I need to schedule still, so I will still be celebrating turning 40 for at least a few more weeks. And I think being 40 is something I will be celebrating for a while because I really am excited about this next decade and I really can’t wait to see what will be coming my way and what my future has in store. I know that I have built a life that I really enjoy and have surrounded myself with people I love. And whatever happens for me in my 40s will just be adding upon that. I know it won’t all be amazing and positive, but I have a feeling there are some incredible things ahead for me!

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A Santa Barbara Birthday (or Happy 2nd Birthday Presley!)

Posted on February 22, 2023 | 1 comment

This past weekend was my niece Presley’s 2nd birthday. I was happy her birthday fell on the weekend because I was able to drive up for the day to celebrate with everyone. I wasn’t able to do that for her 1st birthday, but I still was able to go up the next day to be a part of a mini-celebration. But I was excited that I could be at her birthday party this time.

It was a small birthday party. The only non-family people there was another family that has 2 little boys around the same ages as my niece and nephew. But I think a bigger party might have been overwhelming for my niece, so a small party was perfect. And it was a really nice afternoon.

For most of the party, all 4 kids were busy playing with all the different toys my niece and nephew have. They have a few different little motorized toys, like garbage trucks and bulldozers. And they are still young enough that they weren’t turning them into bumper cars or anything. But what I think was one of the biggest hits was actually a gift I got my niece and nephew for Hanukkah this past year. I got them a mini-bounce house that was set up in the backyard. It was the perfect size for all the kids to play on it and they all kept going down the slide into the grass.

I’m so glad that my niece and nephew loved the bounce house since it can be tough to pick out good gifts for kids. But I had a good feeling that would be a hit and it was nice to see that it was!

Of course, since it was a birthday party, there were presents and cake (but cupcakes since it was a small party).

Opening all the presents was a bit overwhelming for Presley, so she opened most of them while I was there. But she did open the gift I got her, which was a little flower-building kit, while I was there and she did start playing with it right away. So I think that gift was another hit! I know that she has a lot of toys already, but I wanted to find something fun for her. I’ll probably try to find non-toy presents in the future, but it was fun to find something cute this time.

After a couple of hours, it was naptime for all the kids. So the other family headed home so their kids could nap and then my brother and sister-in-law worked on getting my niece and nephew down for their naps. Both kids were probably over-exhausted and were fighting a nap, but they went down after a bit of a fight. And when they were asleep, that was time for me to head out.

I could have stayed and hung out with my parents for a few hours, but I was going to see them again in a few days when they got to LA, so there really wasn’t a discussion or plan for me to stay in Santa Barbara through the afternoon. And I had things at home that I wanted to get done, so I was fine making the drive home so I could have the afternoon and evening to get things checked off of my errands list.

My nephew’s birthday is only about 6 weeks away, but since his birthday is on a weekday I’m not sure if I’ll make it to his party. I’ll just have to wait and see what day his party is planned for. I did give him his birthday present early since I didn’t want to have to ship it (and he wouldn’t really know the difference between getting it now or later). If I don’t make it to that party, I’m sure I’ll make it to Santa Barbara another time in the future. And I’m so glad that I was able to make it to Presley’s birthday party and have a nice family afternoon with everyone!

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A Big Family Day! (or A Birthday Party and Meeting Presley)

Posted on April 6, 2021 | Comments Off on A Big Family Day! (or A Birthday Party and Meeting Presley)

This past weekend was my nephew Rory’s first birthday! It’s so crazy to think that it’s already been a year since he was born, but then again it was one of the craziest years of almost anyone’s life with the pandemic. But even with the pandemic, I knew that there would be a small party for Rory to celebrate his birthday. Plus, we had to celebrate my niece Presley being born!

The birthday party was just going to be family. My parents and my sister-in-law’s parents have all been vaccinated. The day of the party was going to be 1 day before I was considered fully vaccinated (which is pretty close to being there). And my brother was vaccinated at the end of last year. So even though we all still have to be careful and cautious, this was a pretty safe gathering since everyone except my sister-in-law and the babies would be vaccinated.

I got to Santa Barbara as Rory was opening his gifts. He got a lot of really adorable things. I got him a set of fabric tents and tunnels that can be used by themselves or combined to make a bunch of different things. He seemed curious about them, but I’m sure the gift will be a bigger hit with him when he’s a little older. I think his favorite gift was the kid cleaning kit that my sister-in-law found for him!

I hadn’t seen Rory in a while, so I had no clue if he’d remember me or not. And he takes some time to warm up to people, so I knew that he might not want me to be super near him. And my guess was correct. He wasn’t upset by me being there, but he didn’t want me to hold him or help him with toys. But that was ok because I had my new niece to hold!

Presley is about 6 weeks old and she’s very tiny! And she stayed asleep almost the entire time I was there, so she was calm and quiet. I think she looks a little like Rory did when he was born. She’s got the same long fingers as Rory, so I wonder if they will both be piano players one day. And I thought she was super cute and adorable. Hopefully, the next time I’m in Santa Barbara she will be a bit more awake and alert. And I can’t wait to see what her little personality will be like.

The birthday party was a very low-key day. After Rory was done opening presents, my brother cooked burgers on the grill and we all ate lunch outside. It was fun getting to hang out with my family and I hadn’t seen my sister-in-law’s parents in a while. I was supposed to see them this past November, but I missed that trip to see everyone since that’s when I got vertigo. I haven’t had a lot of social time with people lately, so any meals I get to have with someone is great. And having it be with family makes it that much better!

And of course, Rory had to have a birthday cake. I joked that he was going to act like their cat and push the cake over the edge of his highchair tray. And that’s exactly what he tried to do! I don’t know if he was trying to get more frosting or what, but it was really silly. And of course, we all took a ton of photos of him with frosting all over his face. The cake wasn’t Cookie Monster themed, but I joked that the photos looked like he ate Cookie Monster.

And of course, I had to get a photo of Rory with my brother and sister-in-law.

After he was done smashing his cake and eating some of it, Rory was having a bit of a sugar crash and it was time for him to take a nap. Since he was going to be sleeping and Presley was still asleep, that pretty much was the end of the party. So I went with my parents over to the rental house they were staying at so I could see Tucker since he was at the house during the party.

Tucker was as silly and goofy as always. He is finally recovered from his knee surgeries, so it was great to see him running and bouncing around without him being in pain. But he also looked a lot older this time because he now has a ton of white fur on his face. It’s like he became an old man overnight! But he still has so much energy and he was so happy to see me there.

I spent some time hanging out with my parents and the dog outside before I headed out. I actually had something else to do that afternoon in Santa Barbara (more about that tomorrow).

I only spent a few hours with my family that day, but it was one of the best days I’ve had in a while. I don’t know how much more often I would be seeing everyone if we didn’t have a pandemic, but this past year has made me appreciate any family time I get at all. And I appreciate having anything to celebrate right now as well. So having 2 things to celebrate with my family really made the day that much better!

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A Special Birthday For A Special Friend (or Celebrating A “College” Friend)

Posted on July 30, 2019 | Comments Off on A Special Birthday For A Special Friend (or Celebrating A “College” Friend)

I’ve written about my amazing friend Marie on here so many times. She is the one who hosts the parties I usually go to for the Oscars, Halloween, New Year’s Eve, and the 4th of July. There have also been so many random parties that she has hosted over the years, plus her wedding and bachelorette party! I’ve had so many adventures with Marie over the years, so when she was celebrating her birthday this past weekend, I knew I had to be there.

It wasn’t a huge gathering, but every single person who was there loves Marie as much as I do and we all consider each other family. It’s the most incredible group of people and I am always so grateful to be considered to be a part of them.

I think the reason I feel so grateful to be a part of this group is because of my history with this group and how I became friends with them. I met Marie and most of this group 17 years ago. I just joined an improv group and was taking classes and doing shows. I wasn’t the youngest person in the group, but I was close to the youngest. And I seemed to be the youngest out of the group that I was hanging out with. Most of the people in the group I would hang out with after class or shows were in their late 20s or their 30s, and I was still a teenager. This did occasionally cause issues when we were trying to hang out in a bar at night, but besides that, I was never looked down at or was considered something like the annoying little sibling.

Of course, I looked up to everyone like they were my older siblings. And I looked up to them even more because they treated me like one of their peers. Having that respect really made me feel special and like an adult. I think that was part of the reason I didn’t get along with people at my college too much. I was used to being in an adult world and I wasn’t related to my fellow students as much. In the last 2 years of college, I hung out with my improv friends more than the students in my classes. So I started to joke that these friends were my real college friends even though they all finished school quite a while ago. I even used my improv friends as the actors in different projects I had in class so they felt like a real part of my college experience.

If I had only been friends with everyone while I was in college, that would have been special enough. I was about a decade younger than most of the group and that was unique. But the fact that we’ve maintained this friendship for 17 years is just amazing. In a little over a year, I will have been friends with this group for half of my life. There aren’t that many people that I’ve known for half my life, and this is a big group! Again, it’s so special to me and I appreciate it all the time.

Marie’s birthday party was a very fun and relaxing hangout. It was a potluck and there was a ton of food! Everyone was hanging out and having fun celebrating Marie. It was hot out, but their backyard has shade and there was a bit of a breeze there. I don’t love the heat, but I was managing it the best I could with drinking lots of water and staying out of the sun as much as I could.

And of course, there was a birthday cake. Our friend Mandi, who also made a cake for Chris and Marie’s wedding, made an amazing cake for Marie’s birthday. It had 2 different cakes, a lemon cake and a chocolate peanut butter cake. And it was decorated with things all about Marie and things that we love about her.

After enjoying some cake, I started to get a bit exhausted (a combination of lack of sleep, a long day, and the heat), so I made my way around to say my goodbyes to my friends there. But I took my time talking with Marie because I really wanted her to know how much I love her and appreciate her friendship.

She is the glue that holds this friendship group together. I know that she is the one responsible for making this group as strong as we are and making sure we are as connected as we are. We can all turn to her when we need something and she is always there for us. I only can hope that we do the same for her, but honestly, I don’t know if I do even a fraction. To have a friend like Marie is one of the biggest gifts and I don’t know how to even express how lucky I am (which is one reason why I’m writing this post).

I have so much to be grateful for with this group of friends, and the center of this group is Marie. Everything that I have with this group is because of her and I am so lucky. I think I can speak for the entire group when I say that we feel this way and that every time we get to hang out with Marie we feel more and more grateful for this friendship. I know that every time I see the group I feel like I have a boost in my life that I didn’t know I needed. It’s the best feeling and I only hope that everyone has someone in their life that makes them feel that way.

I love that Marie and I have been friends for almost half my life. That means that almost half my life has been blessed by her friendship and awesomeness. That’s amazing. There’s a bit of time before we will have been friends for half of her life, but hopefully, when we get there I will be able to make her feel as lucky as I feel.

Marie, I know you are reading this, so I just wanted to say again how much I love you and am so grateful for you and everything that you do for the Mammoth Lodge group. We are all so lucky to have you as the center of the group and I don’t know how we could ever repay what you have done for us to you. Happy Birthday and I can’t wait to keep celebrating birthday, holidays, Oscars, and randomness with you!

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Celebrating A Friend’s Birthday (or Not Letting Feeling Gross Stop Me From Being Social)

Posted on July 24, 2018 | Comments Off on Celebrating A Friend’s Birthday (or Not Letting Feeling Gross Stop Me From Being Social)

I’ve been pretty good about not letting my recurring nausea get me down too much. I still do my workouts, even if I have to do a ton of modifications in order to get them done. And sometimes I can barely do the workout, but I figure doing something is better than doing nothing. I’ve felt like this for the last year and a half (since I started having the nausea issues) and it’s never been something I’ve thought twice about. And I’ve never had issues with working when I feel sick either. It does help that I work from home and I can work from my bed if necessary.

Even though I am good with maintaining my workout schedule and not asking for time off work, I am not always dealing with my nausea in the best way. Obviously when I’m sick all day and it’s one of the brutal days I don’t expect to be able to do anything. But even when it’s only mild I have used it as an excuse from time to time. And that’s something that I really shouldn’t be doing because it can isolate me 50% of the time. I need to work on pushing myself to do more when I’m not feeling totally perfect and this past weekend gave me a good opportunity to do that.

My friend Marie was having a small birthday gathering at her house. She’s done this for the past few years but I’ve never been able to make it before. Sometimes I have had to work and sometimes I had a previous commitment that prevented me from going. But this year I happened to be free that afternoon/evening and I wanted to make sure I showed up.

Her birthday gathering was an all-day movie marathon. I knew I couldn’t be there for the first few movies because I had work and my workout, but I was determined to make it for at least a little bit of time in the afternoon. I was having a nausea day and after my workout ended up taking a nap to try to make myself feel better. Unfortunately I wasn’t doing that much better after my nap but I just told myself that I had to push through. I took my medications that can help (they weren’t really helping this day but it was better than nothing) and told myself that I was going to make an appearance and could always go home after being there for a little bit.

Besides wanting to celebrate Marie’s birthday with her, I had a little extra motivation to go. They just adopted a dog and I wanted to meet her! She’s a cute little puppy that was rescued from Thailand so she’s a bit skittish. But she was getting more comfortable in her new home so it was ok for people to come over to see her.

I got to the party while one movie was just ending so I headed to their backyard to just hang out and chat with the friends who were there. And when the movie ended and people came out to join us, I was having a good time talking to people even though I just saw many of them a few weeks ago for the 4th of July. But like I always say, I love just spending time with these friends and I’m grateful for any opportunity I get to see them.

When the next movie was starting, I debated about going in to watch it. But I still wasn’t feeling great and was thinking about leaving soon so I decided to stay in the backyard being social. Some of my friends wanted to take my phone to swipe on dating apps so that ended up being entertainment for a bunch of us. And of course we were all watching the new puppy and seeing all the fun things that she was doing.

I ended up staying at the party much longer than I thought I would. I probably stayed a little bit too long because I was feeling really nauseous on my drive home and was worried I’d need to get off the freeway so I could be sick. Fortunately, that didn’t happen and I made it home without any incidents. But it did make me much more aware of the signs my body gives me when the nausea is about to take a bad turn.

While this wasn’t the most active thing to do, it still was something that in the past I would not go to because of how I was feeling. But I’ve been more and more open with my friends regarding the nausea so they are all very understanding. If a wave of nausea hits me and I just have to breathe to let it pass, they understand and don’t freak out or overreact. I need to remember this more often because I use my fear of how my friends will treat me as a reason to stay home when I feel sick.

I know that it’s going to take some time to get into the habit of not letting my nausea stop me from being social, but I’m glad I had an opportunity to try it out and prove to myself that I can do it. And of course I’m still hoping that in the near future I will figure out some plan that will make my nausea go away and no longer be an issue for me.

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Bonfire At The Beach (or A Winter Birthday That Feels Like Summer)

Posted on December 12, 2017 | Comments Off on Bonfire At The Beach (or A Winter Birthday That Feels Like Summer)

My friend Dani had a  birthday celebration at Disneyland last week, but she was celebrating a milestone birthday so she had to do multiple birthday parties (which I totally support!). She had been trying to figure out what to do for her birthday and she finally decided on a beach bonfire! I hadn’t done one of those in a while, so I was super excited to get to celebrate with her that way.

I had a few things to do before meeting everyone at the beach and the sun was setting as I arrived. It was a gorgeous sunset and I’m glad I didn’t miss it!

And since we’ve been having a bit of a heat wave lately, it wasn’t that cool on the beach when the sun set. Dani and her friends had gotten there much earlier so they already claimed a bonfire pit and had everything set up. It was a much better setup than when I’ve gone before. They had chairs, blankets, and a table for all the food. And the fire was going by the time I joined them all.

It was just a good old-fashioned classic beach bonfire. They had hot dogs that we roasted over the fire and lots of snacks to have with them. And we also had s’mores. Dani recently got nice roasting skewers so we didn’t have to search the beach for sticks or anything. And all the food was so good, even if I did burn a hot dog or two. There were a few hot dogs and hot dog buns that fell into the fire, but it just added to the flames. But watching everyone have random fails with trying to cook the food gave us all a good laugh.

From the beach, we were actually able to see the glow from the fire in Ventura County. It was weird to see that and it reminded me how close the fires are to us. The fire closest to me is not as bad as it used to be, but the fires that are a bit further are still not contained and houses are burning down. And we also saw fireworks from Marina Del Rey from our beach. It was a weird juxtaposition to see the glow from flames plus fireworks and having a bonfire on the beach. I think we were all a bit weirded out by that, but we tried to not think about it too much.

But what was best about Dani’s birthday party was just getting to have a fun nice relaxing on the beach with awesome people. I didn’t know a lot of the people who were at the party so it was nice to get to meet new people. And Dani was just so happy to see people from different parts of her life joined together and having a good time. I can totally relate to that feeling because that’s what makes me so happy when I’m hosting a party too.

I had a date about a month ago where I was telling the guy I was with that I never made it out to the beach during the summer and I figured it would be a while until I made it out there. I never thought I’d have a bonfire on the beach during the winter but it really was awesome and I’m glad I got to get to the beach. I know I need to take advantage of being so close to the beach more often but it’s not something I think of doing on my own. So I’m glad that Dani wanted a beach bonfire birthday so I got out to the beach at some point this year!

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Happy Birthday Grandma! (or Double Birthday Celebrations)

Posted on November 24, 2017 | Comments Off on Happy Birthday Grandma! (or Double Birthday Celebrations)

When my family gets together for Thanksgiving, we also celebrate my grandma’s birthday. Her birthday is usually the week of Thanksgiving and the tradition in the past was to go out to celebrate the day after Thanksgiving for a fun celebratory meal. More recently, we changed the tradition to be the day before Thanksgiving so the day after could be leftover day.

This year, my grandma’s birthday was the day before I got to San Diego so I missed the celebration on her actual birthday. But plenty of my family was there and my mom cooked a steak dinner for everyone. My mom is such a good cook and I wish I had been there for dinner (but fortunately my mom saved me some leftovers for when I got there the next day).

I’m sad that I wasn’t able to be there, but it would have been a bit difficult for me to get there a day earlier. And I know that I can’t always be at everything that I want to be at. But I’m glad that my grandma seemed to have a great time and that she was able to celebrate turning 90 with lots of family with her.

But we did have our traditional day before Thanksgiving birthday celebration for my grandma. We went to an Italian restaurant that we’ve gone to a bunch of times in the past for her birthday. It works out well being there because there’s a private room that we can have (we had 14 of us in the group this time) and my cousin’s kids can run around a bit without worrying about other people in the restaurant. And it works out well for us to have our own room since we all move around so much and I’m sure we’d annoy other people in the restaurant.

The room is nice to have but the table always seems too big for the group. There is a lot of wasted space in the middle of the table so it can be tough to talk to everyone there. But since we moved around a lot during dinner everyone was able to talk to each other. And since this was my first chance to see some of my family on this trip, it was nice to get to have time to chat and catch up. And I knew that I would be spending a lot of time with everyone the next day so if I didn’t get to catch up with them as much as I would have liked, I wasn’t too worried about it.

The dinner is always good, but that’s not the highlight of the meal. It’s always seeing everyone having a good time and talking around the table. And while my grandma has difficulty hearing and couldn’t always participate in the conversation, she looked happy seeing everyone together. But we all did take time one at a time to go over to my grandma and talk to her. It’s easier for her to have a conversation with one person and she seemed to like having time with each person who was there.

I’m sure we were a pretty loud and crazy group, but that’s why the private room works out perfectly for us. And then when the waiter brought out a dessert for my grandma with a candle in it, we could sing as loudly as we wanted to!

It was so great to see my grandma so happy and enjoying herself. I know how important any time I get to spend with her is and I try to take advantage of it the best that I can.

Turning 90 is a big accomplishment and I’m glad we were able to celebrate my grandma’s birthday twice. And while I was only able to be there for one of the celebrations, I’m glad that I could be there at all. I know that I’m lucky to be able to travel for this and my work is flexible enough that I don’t have to worry about taking time off.

I’ll do the rest of my Thanksgiving trip recap next week. I hope that you all had a great time doing whatever you decided to do for Thanksgiving and you got to eat some delicious food!

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Birthday Party Adventure! (or Another Traditional Celebration)

Posted on August 15, 2017 | 2 comments

I’ve celebrated my birthday at Bodega Wine Bar a couple of times now. It’s such a great place to have a casual birthday hangout so when I was trying to plan what to do for my birthday this year I had going back to Bodega at the top of my list. I looked at having a party at other locations, but I kept coming back to thinking Bodega would be perfect. So I gave them a call and they were able to get me the same section I’ve had in the past for a birthday party this past Saturday! So it was another Bodega birthday adventure!

Before my party, I actually decided to go to DryBar to get a blowout. There is now a DryBar right by my house, so that’s so much easier than having to drive 10-15 minutes to another location. I could walk there, but that day was so hot and humid and I didn’t want to ruin my hairstyle on the walk back. Fortunately there was a meter right in front of the salon for me!

The blowout only took about 30 minutes so that gave me plenty of time to go back home so I could relax a bit before getting ready to go out. I didn’t take a photo of my outfit, but I decided to try to be dressy and casual at the same time so I wore a basic black sundress with some cute heels. And then it was time to head over to Bodega!

And I lucked out with a parking meter again! I found one that was right around the corner and it was free since it was after 6pm! It was perfect and I walked right over to see who was an early bird for the party.

I’m glad I wasn’t the first person to arrive because I always hate waiting for people. And right after I got there more people started to arrive. I’m glad I got a reserved section again because it made things much easier for us. The bar was a bit crowded with some other parties and this way we didn’t have to worry about finding space for everyone. Although at one point there were maybe 15 of us there and it was getting a bit crowded. But I don’t think that anyone really minded that.

I hadn’t had a drink since my birthday party last year, but I knew I’d be ordering one at my party this time. My liver surgeon has told me that I can drink, but I haven’t been drinking since I don’t want to put more stress on my liver than I need to. But this was a special occasion so I figured it was a good time to have my first drink in a year!

I knew my tolerance for alcohol would be down, but I was actually surprised how low it was. I’ve had time without drinking before and it never seemed like I lost too much of my tolerance. This time, I was able to drink maybe about half of it before I felt like it was hitting me. I ordered food to help me feel a bit better, but I ended up not drinking any more of my drink. It was delicious, but I guess I need to realize that I can’t drink the way I could before (at least not for a while).

But I didn’t have my party to be able to drink. I had it so I could hang out with my friends and have fun. And that’s exactly what happened! I love when different groups of friends come together and meet. And this had people from so many different parts of my life there. It was so fun watching my neighbor talk to someone who is part of the leadership of the Unite for Strength slate. Or to see one of my Disney friends talk to someone from my WIF mentoring group. It was just awesome sitting back and watching people get to know each other and have my worlds combine!

I didn’t want any presents (although I did tell people if they wanted to do something they could donate to Unite for Strength) because I wanted this to feel more like a regular fun hangout and not a birthday party. I didn’t want anyone to sing Happy Birthday to me or make anything a big deal. Some of my friends did pay for my food and drink, so that was special and I wasn’t expecting it. All I wanted from my friends was to have them there and get to have fun with them.

We ended up being at Bodega for a pretty long time. It was getting a bit noisy and I think most of us aren’t usually late night people so by 11:30 we were all ready to go. People had been coming and going all night so it was a rotating group of people there, but pretty much everyone who was still there decided to leave when at the same time at the end.

I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday adventure. It was fun and no-stress. Everyone there seemed to have a great time and that’s what I wanted. I always want everyone else to have fun and that’s what makes me happy!

While this was the main birthday adventure for me, what I have to write about in tomorrow’s post was almost the grand finale of the birthday fun!

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Not Drinking At A Bar (or A Birthday Party At Neat)

Posted on April 12, 2017 | Comments Off on Not Drinking At A Bar (or A Birthday Party At Neat)

After doing my 5K race (and getting almost no sleep that night), I was ready to be at my house the rest of the day and being pretty lazy. When I got home around 11am after the race, that’s pretty much exactly what I did. I showered and got into comfortable clothes and then pretty much didn’t move from my couch for several hours. But I did have to move eventually because one of my workout friends was having a birthday party that night!

I don’t get to see many of my Orangetheory friends outside of workouts. Even though I really enjoy hanging out with them at the workouts, we don’t always get to socialize outside of class. So when I get a chance to see someone in normal clothes, I totally take advantage of that! And since they don’t usually see me in something other than workout clothes with my hair in a top knot, I decided to make a bit more effort than normal in picking my outfit.

I don’t usually wear red, but the theme of the party was to wear something red and I found that belt on Amazon. The way I dressed was pretty different from what I’m used to, but I was feeling pretty confident and now I’m looking at ways to dress more like that more often!

I was a little nervous going to the party since the only person I would know there was the birthday girl. I’m a bit shy in situations like that and always feel so awkward going up to people I don’t know to join in on a conversation. But thankfully, my friend was awesome and was introducing me to a bunch of people that night. She knew that I didn’t know anyone else there and I appreciate the effort she made to make sure everyone was having fun and not feeling left out!

The party was held at a new bar called Neat. In full disclosure, the manager is the brother of a friend of mine (who I hadn’t met until that night), but I have to say that this is such an amazing bar! I don’t have a ton of bars that I love because so many bars in LA are either super fancy or are just too showy. I like being able to go somewhere and not stress too much about how I’m dressed or if I’m making a good impression on others. That’s one reason why I also love Bodega Wine Bar. But to find a bar like that is tough to find and it seems like when I find one they end up closing down.

But Neat was pretty awesome. There was a semi-private space in the back that was reserved for the birthday party that still was a part of the action. And in the main room most of the tables are on the edges of the room so there is a lot of space in the room that makes it not feel too crowded. There were a ton of people there, but since I didn’t have to keep going around chairs or tables it didn’t feel that bad.

And they do have a pretty epic drink menu too! I would have loved to have tried a drink or two, but I can’t really drink right now. But that didn’t matter since the staff at Neat was so cool. I talked to my friend’s brother and he asked me what sort of flavors I liked. I told him I liked citrus and then he got to work. I don’t know everything that he used in my drink, but there was some lime in it and before I knew it I had a custom non-alcoholic drink just for me!

It was so nice to have a festive drink at the party since it can feel a bit weird only ordering water at a bar. But I felt like I was included in the fun because I had a drink that I really liked! It was pretty tasty and reminded me a bit of a margarita. Even when I can drink again, I would totally consider getting this again because it was so nice and refreshing.

I really had a great time at the party, but I was getting pretty exhausted right after the birthday cake was brought out. I had been up so long that day and my legs were starting to feel a bit like cement. It’s not easy to wear heels a few hours after doing a 5K race! So I decided that it was time for me to go home and get some needed rest.

I’m so glad that I went to the party. Not only is it fun to get to see someone outside of Orangetheory and get to meet new friends, I got to check out a bar that I have a feeling I’ll be going to from now on. It’s always great to find new places in LA that I love because I do get stuck in ruts from time to time. But I busted out of that rut at this party and now I’m excited to get to go back to Neat again in the future!

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