Thanks for the birthday wishes! I had a great 31st birthday.

It started out as just a normal busy workday (it was a 4-day workweek because Friday is Labor Day), and then after work SS picked me up to take me out to dinner. I was really surprised to run into Hank and Jenny on the way into the restaurant; they were going to the same place for dinner. “What a coincidence!” I thought. “Do you want to eat with them or eat alone?” SS asked me. “We can eat alone,” I said.

But then when the waitress asked if we were there for the party, I knew something was up. SS threw me an awesome surprise party!

The restaurant was off a little street, nestled in a bunch of trees, and we ate out on the second floor deck. The weather was perfect… cool and pleasant. It was a “Mediterranean Italian Restaurant,” so we enjoyed good food and wine all evening. Fun times!

I also got some presents, including a year-long gym membership to the nicest gym right in my neighborhood (I recently told Hank and SS I’ve decided to break my life-long gym boycott because I’m clearly not finding other ways to exercise)!

So it was great.

In other news, SS was denied her Japanese visa because of a paperwork technicality, so we’re going to Phuket, Thailand instead (this will save us a lot of money, which was one of the reasons SS was able to throw such a nice party! ha)