feliz cumpleanos a mi

I celebrated another year of life today! The big 29.

I slept in after a long night with a headache. I didn't want to take any medicine, so I tried to get a dose of caffeine from about 10 chocolate chips. Worked like a charm. The only problem is that I dream about cakes and brownies and cookies almost every night now, so it added fuel to the fire. The first thing I did upon rising this morning was make chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I had a good excuse.

Actually, before I even got out of bed I listened to a voice message from Nash and Haven singing me Happy Birthday and telling me they loved me. Best little runts ever.

Nate told me to go shopping and buy myself some new clothes last week, so I was a good wife and obeyed him. My two favorite purchases:



Nate and I went to see Warrior before heading to dinner, and we were both really impressed. The story, the acting, the directing, the music... all very well done. I knew it was supposed to be good, but I didn't expect to get emotional during a fighting movie. Nick Nolte (of all people) tugged at my heart strings.

We went to Pepin in Scottsdale for dinner. I had the cheese tortellini with chicken in a manchego cheese sauce with diced tomatoes and fresh basil. Nate had braised veal shank in a chorizo, tomato, garlic, onion, mushroom, and red wine sauce. Both meals came with a side of Spanish rice and steamed vegetables. Ah! It was DELICIOUS! Xavier, our waiter, is from Spain and chatted us up about the culture and cuisine. And then he took our picture. I promise that's not tortellini in my belly. There's a baby in there.

In the car on the way home, I belched (so womanly) and said, "Mmmmm..." to which Nate replied something like, "You know the food is good when you savor the burp afterward." Very true.

I think I love a good movie and good food more than almost anything. In other words, it was a really good birthday. Thanks, Nate.