Ish ma burfday

There were many times in the last week or so when I could have sat down to write a scathing review of my professional, and personal life. The job was rough, and treating me equally so, which in turn, lead to my personal life (or the lack thereof) being lackluster. There was more than one occasion when I was ready to pack up, and ship off -preferably to a foreign country on the other side of the world, where the presence of such challenges as learning a new language, or adjusting my ingrained cultural behavior would have been a welcomed change, and beautifully effective distraction from the frustration that my current situation has put upon me.

Instead, I am choosing to write about the glorious weekend that has just come to pass.

After a long week of exhaustion and disappointment, my Birthday came on Friday. I was informed that I was going to be treated to lunch by my bosses, and so generously accepted. My employer offered to drive me to the restaurant, and as we were approaching, Andrea was beaming with excitement. As we turned the corner, I saw that we were arriving at a quaint little establishment called Le Petit Café.

"We're taking you back to Paris for your birthday!!" Andrea gushed. I was touched. How thoughtful and generous. Alex, the other party of this husband-wife dynamic duo was there to meet us. After stumbling through a bit of French with the owner, and receiving "felicitations" for my happy "anniversaire", we were seated. I was happy to find a genuine French menu with plenty of variety. I ordered poached salmon, with fries - extra dill sauce. I savored the salmon, and used my experience with the French cuisine to mop up the extra sauce with the fries. Delish.

Over lunch, the couple surprised me with a small box, beautifully wrapped. In it, a necklace that, while I would have never chosen for myself, have proceeded to wear for the last 3 days straight. Even more, I returned to the office after lunch to find an array of beautiful cupcakes, worthy of Alice's tea party, and a group of singing office colleagues. ...I am spoiled, it is true.

That evening, my family met me at my apartment to don me with gifts, and treat me to yet another amazing meal.

The rest of the weekend was filled with friends, and plenty of outdoor activities - something that had been missing from my life the last few weeks. I took an extended walk/jog through my surrounding neighborhoods Saturday morning, went grocery shopping, cleaned, and kept every single window in my apartment open all day. It was fantastic. I went to a club with some good friends that night, and awoke Sunday morning to spend half of the beautiful day at the Rose Bowl flea market in Pasadena, where I practiced restraint and only purchased one dress, after talking the vendor down to 15 of the originally 25 dollar price. I caught up with a friend I had not seen in years over lunch, and proceed to catch up even further over a few chilly ones at a patio bar, and then all the way through dinner and into the night.

This was exactly what the doctor ordered. Now, if I could only get another dosage...