Rob's Birthday

Friday, September 5, 2008

Rob's 32nd Birthday fell on a Friday this year. Sadly, he had a rough work week. When he got home from work, he said he wanted to keep his celebration "low-key". Unlike me, Rob is not a big birthday person.

So, we started out with his favorite brew.

Then, we went out to our favorite hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant. Our buddy Kevin came along for the ride.

Sanamuluang Cafe
5170 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027

If you click on the photo of our feast, each dish is named.

CIMG1421, originally uploaded by RobisCooking.

Because we ate year old cake for our anniversary and felt cheated, I ordered this for Rob's Birthday.

Cupcake Collage, originally uploaded by RobisCooking

I custom ordered it from Leda's Bakeshop. They were delicious, but a teeny tiny bit pricey. Of course, we had to snap a few pictures with the oh-so-cute cupcakes.

I have Rob in the palm of my hands... MUHAHAHAHA

And then we decided to play with our food. We came up with this...

and this....

Bella is 10

Note: I've been happily working on a multitude of design projects. So, I've been a teeny tiny bit behind in my blogging. This means that there is a blitzkrieg of design-oriented posts on their way. In the meantime, here's another personal post.

Sunday July 20th
I trekked out to the O.C. for my niece Bella's 10th birthday party. (Bella was a Jr. Bridesmaid and Reader at our wedding last year.) Rob had to work. So, I was on my own. Bella's mom, my cousin Janine had planned an Ice Skating party. I was stoked. I haven't ice skated in years. As I was getting dressed and frantically searching for a pair of jeans, my oh-so-brilliant husband said to skip the jeans. He added , "It won't be that cold at the rink. You'll be fine." For the sake of argument, I put on a pair of shorts. Bad idea.

When I arrived fashionably late courtesy of L.A./O.C traffic, my hopes of landing a triple axel were dashed. (Okay, I exaggerate about the triple axel. It's more like my hopes of circling the rink were dashed.) It was freezing - teeth -chattering, lip numbing cold. Thankfully, I keep a hoodie in my car for such occasions. The hoodie helped a little, but not enough to prevent hypothermia. So, I huddled with the other "grown-ups" in the party room, which was a couple of degrees warmer. There would be no ice skating for me. I would have cried, but the tears would have frozen onto my cheeks.

I have no culinary photos to share. Contrary to popular belief my whole existence does not revolve around food. Besides, this was a kids' party. The food spread consisted of every kind of pizza imaginable, cake, chips, dip, and the politically correct fruit tray. I was in heaven. I am not too high brow to appreciate the deliciousness of junk food.

Bella - the Birthday Girl & Me

Bella in action

Janine lights the candles

Cake Carnage

Bella's Birthday from Anne K. on Vimeo.
I love the way kids sing "Happy Birthday". Their level of embellishment cracks me up.

After the party, I hung out with my relatives at their house in Rancho Santa Margarita. We watched Bella open her gifts. The rest of the night was spent with catching up and goofing around. For those that don't know, I come from a family of comedians. If you're not quick-witted and thick-skinned, you have a rough time. I had a great time and snuck in a little after midnight.

Birthday at the Bowl - Recap

Sunday June 22nd - A recap

First, I must make a statement. I really am not an attention whore. I know this may seem contrary since I had two birthday celebrations this year. I have some explanations for this. One is that I haven't really celebrated my birthday in years. The last couple of years I haven't done anything exciting except have a nice dinner with Rob. Keep in mind Rob and I have lots of nice dinners. This birthday extravaganza makes up for lost celebrations.

The other reason for the second birthday celebration is that I wanted to include Rob. He was a bit miffed when I told him that I had planned an all-girl birthday party. He knew that all-girl meant he or anyone else's husband/fiance were not welcome. I also wanted to include my newfound friends' significant others and some of our other friends.

The Hollywood Bowl seemed like the perfect choice. Music, picnic, and friends - what more could you ask for? An added bonus, Thievery Corporation was performing.

Here's a description of the group from Wikipedia.

Thievery Corporation is a Washington, D.C.-based recording artist and DJ duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton and their supporting artists. Their music style is dub, acid jazz, Indian classical and Brazilian (such as bossa nova) fused together with a lounge aesthetic.

The plan was great in theory. Rob was going to make a delicious spread of appetizers and cheeses. Everyone else was just going to contribute cash to pay for the food. Then, Rob had to go out of town. Our scrumptious picnic delight went out the door. I would have cooked, but no one would have eaten. I pride myself in knowing my strengths and weaknesses. Cooking is most definitely not one of my strengths.

To compensate, I decided to provide liquid refreshment. LOTS and LOTS of liquid refreshment.
I try not to do anything halfway. My friend Kevin and I went bonkers at the grocery store. In my wheeled cooler, I had placed 1 bottle of vodka, 3 bottles of rum, 5 bottles of San Pellegrino Sparkling Mineral Water, 1 bottle of Iced Tea, and 1 bottle of Pink Lemonade. The idea was that our companions could make Italian Sodas or the mixed drink of their choice. All this variety was not without its price. The cooler weighed a ton and poor Kevin got stuck with the duty of having to tow it up the hill to our seats.

Margarita Cookies - photo by Jordana Hazel

There was an abundance of food. Natalie made a delicious orzo salad. Jess brought all kinds of goodies including some very strong jello shots. Aside from the beverages, Kevin bought a sandwich platter from Dave's Chillin' and Grillin' from our 'hood. The highlights for me were Jordana's Margarita Cookies and the cupcakes Carmela generously picked up from Yummy Cupcakes.

The show was fantastic. I had my fair share to drink and danced my butt off. It was fun. Sadly, no too many others drank. So, Kevin, Jess, Eddie, and I ran people over with the my cooler on the way back to our shuttle bus. It was not a pretty sight.

Here are some photos from the festivites.

View from our seats - photo by Jordana Hazel

Yours truly - photo by Jordana Hazel

A quick snapshot of Jordana

John and Keren, who was also celebrating her birthday this past weekend

Natalie & Greg

Kevin hiding behind his beverage, Eddie, & Jess

George & Carmela - photo by Jordana Hazel

Chris, Jordana's huband - photo by Jordana Hazel

Last, but not least Joellaann - photo by Jordana Hazel

I had a blast. The only thing I could have wished for is for Rob to have been there. I'm a so excited because this show marks the beginning of Bowl Season. This is only the first of many shows that I wish to attend. Who wants to join me for more?

Birthday Blowout - A Recap

Birthday Portrait by Jordana

Typically, my birthday celebrations consist of a quiet dinner with Rob and one or two friends. This year I decided to turn my birthday into an two-part Extravaganza.

The first part was on Thursday, my actual birthday. I had invited a few of my closest girlfriends to meet me for dinner and drinks. I haven't had an all-girl birthday since I was 6.

We started the evening at Camilo's California Bistro, which is in my 'hood. Service was unbelievably slow, but the fantastic company more than made up for it. I ordered one of the specials - Grouper with prawns. It was delectable.

My yummy dinner

Here are my lovely dinner companions.

Joellaann & Natalie

Paola & Janice

Keren & Marisa

Jenny & Jeannette

Wendy, Ali, & Jordana

As if dinner and fantastic conversation weren't enough, these marvelous ladies presented me with a cake, a card, and a gift.

photo by Jordana Hazel

Although not aesthetically pleasing, the cake was delicious. Jordana baked the cake. The buttercream frosting was delish although not "built for the heat" and melted en route to dinner. The fact that the cake was imperfect and a hilarious story to go with, made it the perfect cake for me.

I loved the card. It was hilarious and fitting.

Here is my birthday gift. A Craft Robo - custom die-cutter!


These unbelievable ladies got together to purchase my gift. Sneaky Wendy had asked me a few weeks prior what I was planning to purchase next for my design business. I had no idea that she was stealthily gathering intel. I was so surprised that I started to tear a little. As an added bonus and inside joke, Jeannette gave me a plethora of accessories. Rob will be pleased.

After dinner and cake, we headed over to Colorado Wine Company.

Paola, Jordana, Ali, & Keren

Natalie, Janice, Wendy & Jeannette

We got there a little later than I had planned. Thankfully, Jen the owner took care of us. We gabbed and drank until nearly midnight. The only reason why we didn't stay out later is that poor Jen had to close up shop and go home. We had kept the place open a half hour past closing time.

This is one of the best birthdays I've had in years. The celebration was better than any that I could have imagined. Thanks again, ladies.

Wheeee.... I'm 33!

I can't believe it. Today's my birthday and I'm 33. It's so cliche, but I can't believe how quickly the year flew by.

I spend a little time on every birthday assessing my life. I look at my goals. I pat myself on the back for what I've achieved and figure out what my next moves are. Most importantly, I count my blessings. I am happy.

My life is nowhere near perfect, but I am very grateful for all that I have. I have husband whom I love very much (even if he does get on my nerves from time to time). In the stress of wedding planning and wedding day chaos, I was reminded that my two oldest (as in length of friendship) friends really did have my back. I don't know what I would have done without Cicely & Neleh. My family reminded me in oh-so-many ways why I love them so very much. They drive me crazy, but it's the crazy part that keeps life interesting. I am also very grateful for rediscovering the value of female friendships. I have an amazing group of friends that are better than I could have wished for. I lost a job that I never really wanted and discovered I was much happier being my own boss. I really am a lucky gal.

I hope that the coming year will be as wonderful as the last. I have birthday festivities that I will blog about tomorrow... if I'm not too hungover;)