the birthday (1.52)
Posted: November 29th, 2010 | Author: Olivia | Filed under: go52, oDays, oFoodie | No Comments »better late than never, no?
a little over a week ago (seems much longer), my girlfriends and wonderful boyfriend celebrated my quarter of a century birthday with me. from what i hear, the planning started months earlier, including hundreds (literally) of email exchanges, phone calls, gift purchasing (in steph’s case – gift returning) and so on. i can’t express how appreciative, blessed and thankful i am of these 4 people that i love like my family… because they are my family. <3
saturday . november 20
“be ready by 11 a.m.”
i’m pacing back and forth because that’s just what i do as i sneak peeks out of the window blinds. the dogs whine a little because they know something is up. i have my bags packed with extra clothes and makeup, and two new dresses i recently bought at urban outfitters. i’m ready… but for what?!
the doorbell rings and the dogs go into a frenzy. g opens the front door as steph hands him the cooler we left at her place and i walk through the garage – met with kat’s huge camera lens. hello.
got in the car and quietly waited for the day. i had no idea what to expect. was met with giggles and snarky comments. awesome.
they drove me out toward 35 & 30 and i felt like i was going to austin. and it kind of was. we pulled into a quant little area that reminded me of south congress back home, or part of washington, dc… it was a breath of fresh air away from dallas. they walked me to a restaurant called hattie’s where i had bacon-wrapped meat loaf that cannot be described other than delicious. after some much-needed coffee, we left for the next mysterious adventure.
at this point, steph and kat decided to be uber annoying and started speaking in mandarin so i could not understand what they were saying. i swear. i will learn mandarin and not tell them so they can’t do this to me any more!
we drive for a bit and pull into white rock lake, which i’ve never been to except for the dog park. they pull out a teal blanket (more on this later), hand it to me and say “you’ll need this” – i follow after them as they giggle. after walking what seemed like 1 hour (jk, it was like, 5 minutes) steph finally is satisfied with a spot overlooking downtown dallas, lays her longhorn blanket on the floor and they both grin at me. they planned a little relaxing sit down and chat time. it was lovely. <3
after awhile, steph begin suffering from the cold (did i mention it was really windy, haha) so we pack up and go chill at steph’s apartment. they warn me not to go into her room, which as they should know, only makes me want to go in more, but i can control my urges. steph’s phone rings and i can immediately tell it’s jessi. steph just smirks at me. 30 minutes later, they pack me back into the car and here we go on adventure #3.
they make me close my eyes as they drive and i have no clue where we are. i feel the car stop and i ask “can i open my eyes now?” steph exclaims YES! and i open them and see a cement wall and a road. i turn my head around and see this:
chocolate secrets! i have been wanting to go here ever since i took g to al biernet’s for our 3 year anniversary and we passed this place on the way. i skip and hop around joyfully for a little bit before they drag me inside so i don’t embarrass them. (jk) they’re prepared some already set cheese, wine and chocolate tasting. it was delicious. jess also orders herself a crepe and since it was only 3 hours before dinner, steph kept eyeing jess as she ate and kept saying “stop eating… stop eating”. jess forced me to eat a bite of her crepe and fed it to me like a baby. oh, and they kept speaking mandarin. jerks.
took me back to steph’s apartment where they decided to thoroughly spoil me with lavish gifts. they really spoil me too much. i don’t need to say any more except that they got me too too too much. then it was time to get pretty. =] afterwards, they whisked me away into the car to dinner.
we arrive at the ritz-carlton, which houses fearings (!!!!) it was so good. great company, yummy drinks (and free drinks from fellow november bday buddies)… not much else i can ask for.
but no, there was more. after dinner, the girls accompanied me to my house where g had gathered more of our friends. party hardy into the night. and then i officially turned 25.
sunday . november 21
i wake up a little groggy, but happy. today is dedicated GOON time. g tells me to look in the freezer and i find:
i. love. pinkberry. i goggle some up for breakfast but am hungry shortly after. g tells me he has three options for me to pick from to do that day. all outdoor activities. 1. go to the fort worth nature center and do a hiking trail with the dogs 2. dallas arboretum 3. something i forgot that i’ll fill in later all in which we can have a picnic lunch. i go with number 1 choice but sadly, due to the events yesterday and the windy, windy weather, we decide to postpone the outdoor activities to a later date. i decide i want some dim sum so we head up to plano to grab some to eat. then we run some errands to get shoes for varun/arti’s wedding. luckily for me, i find my shoes super fast. we go home and relax, which was really nice.
we have dinner reservations somewhere in the shops of legacy, so we get dressed semi-fancy and go out. g takes me to seasons 52, where i seriously had the best flatbread (artichoke and goat cheese) ever. he tells me he has things planned for many weekends to come that will be “new” and thus, tying into the name of the restaurant we went to. 52 new things in the upcoming year. and this marks 1.52. love. i’ll try to document these exciting 52 things by putting it in the title of my posts.
and as if my birthday wasn’t enough to taunt me, my body decided to as well and i pulled my neck early sat. morning. it has finally stopped hurting over a week later. =P
1.52: turning 25
some photos courtesy of katherine fan.
