Happy Birthday? Yes, it was!

I realized what makes a really good birthday...

Feeling loved. It doesn't matter what your presents are or how many of them you get, where you are living, how many friends you have at your party or how many candles are on your cake or how much you weigh. Its how loved you feel.

This year, I felt loved, and it wrapped around me like warm marshmallow.
Richard is probably the BEST gift giver in the world. Its like he saw into my SOUL! His first gift was downloading a running playlist for me of 31 songs, representing each year that I have been alive (the song from 1981-- "Your kiss is on my list"-- it was kind of a dud year, musically). I started my day with a 10 mile run, and each song was a surprise and a trip down memory lane.

He also got me a sweatshirt from Oxford University to replace the one that got stolen when I left it on park bench during a morning run. The cookbook, "Professional Chef" by the Culinary Institute of America. A pair of yellow shoes. A kayaking trip for two. And the best gift, a compilation of memories he collected from friends and family members sharing their thoughts about me. I kind of felt like Sally Fields when she claimed her Best Actress Oscar-- "you like me, you really really like me!"

my birthday was capped off by one of the funkiest, coolest meals I have ever eaten at a restaurant called "Staple and Fancy Mercantile". It had a gazillion courses.
we were joined by our friends Brent and Andrea.
and this man who I love, who is the reason behind so much of my happiness.
and made me feel like the most cherished woman ever born in 1981!
and then there were these olives...
and chilled asparagus soup
and some kind of spread on toast things...
and fried oysters with roasted red pepper aoli
and soft boiled eggs with anchovies..
and some other kind of fish...
and scallops on peas
and linguine in a nettle pesto sauce
and gnocchi in a creamy gorgonzola sauce
and halibut
and roasted chicken with fingerling potatoes and chorizo
and chocolate cake
and panacotta topped with balsamic vinegar with an amaretti cookie
Making a birthday wish: (nope, not telling).

Am I exactly where I want to be as a person? No. But I like who I am and where I am going. 30 is awesome, and as Sandra Cisneros would say-- I still have a 29 year old inside of me, and a 21 year old, and a 15 year old, and a 7 year old. Heck, sometimes Anna and I are not that different after all.

I feel loved. I feel content. It was the best birthday ever!