[Super Duper Fantastic] ISFP/INFP. 4w5. World Explorer. Super Hero. Rose-colored Glasses.

me: I’m turning 20-lame!

Matthew: I’m glad I got over that and made it into 30-meh.

I keep joking that I’ve turned 20-lame. The real reason for being out of the loop is that I’m studying for another failed exam *hangs head in shame* and also wanting to save $$. I recently paid off my car – just decided to lump sum it, so I wouldn’t have to keep track of it. It’s #72 on the list.

072 – Finish making payments on the Prius.

Following along the theme of turning 20-lame, this year’s birthday was a mellow one. I woke up, went to work, ate dinner at home with the parents, played a few games on the Wii, and then grabbed Asian desserts with RV and the sister. No happy hours, no late night drinks. And unlike last year, no ditching work to explore the city. The bigger celebration I had in mind took place a few weeks ago when I thought I’d be getting my jaw broken, but as it turns out, that didn’t really happen.

A small brunch this Sunday has been deemed the celebration. On Tuesday, I walked into work and found a gift bag on my desk. For a moment, I wondered if my coworkers had somehow found out it was my birthday. Of course, I looked around, and there were gift bags on other desks also. One of my coworkers recently came back from a New England trip, and she brought back maple syrup from Vermont for everyone. So we’re having French toast this Sunday!

The weekend after RV’s birthday celebrations, I took him up to Fort Bragg to show him what all the fuss was about. We were originally supposed to attend a music festival from 9pm to 3am and then make the drive up, but there was a mishap with the free tickets, and we ended up not doing that and getting up to Fort Bragg at 1am, instead of at 5am. So rather than a nap, we ended up having to sleep in the car Friday night. Boy was it uncomfortable, and we were so glad to finally check in to the bed and breakfast when Saturday afternoon rolled around!

To kill time between the uncomfortable sleep and check-in, we explored Glass Beach. It was his first time, and while it was my third, we still managed to find some new stuff to look at. On the suggestion of a man in a kayak who had spearfished a ling cod, a black cod, and some other random fish, we wandered over to the southern side of the beach where the glass was at least a foot deep. Where Keane and I had wandered before was just a thin layer of glass!

Of course, took a lot of photos. Here’s a set of a furry friend we came across while at Glass Beach:

I started out pretty far away.

Then got closer.

And closer.

Until I was up in its face.

Will update on the rest of the trip with more photos!

It’s RV’s birthday today! We’ve already begun celebrating, and there are lots of other festivities to be had.

I planned a surprise [aka "sheer terror"] party for him a few days ago, which ended up working out. I had to sneak my set of the keys over to a friend first, so that he could let everyone in. I went out to dinner with RV, while the handful got into place. His apartment is small, so I had to limit the number of surprisers. Everyone was so quiet when we got to the apartment that I wasn’t sure if they were actually there! It was awesome. There was ice cream cake and wine, and we all had a good time. I was able to invite one of RV’s older friends, which was a nice surprise for him.

On the actual birthday [today], a casual wine happy hour with friends. We were able to reserve a wine bar nearby, so I am looking forward to that. And in a week, I’m taking him up to Fort Bragg for fishing/crabbing. When Keane and I were up there a few weeks back, the bartender we talked to gave me a card of a local charter that went out. RV’s been wanting to go crabbing for awhile, and the fishing/crabbing is on my 101 in 1001 list, so there’s no better time than now.

RV’s been such a significant part of my life in the last year; I really wanted to make his 25th memorable. Hopefully the wine happy hour and fishing/crabbing trip will be fun!

Another weekend came and went. They never seem long enough. We had a few days of sunshine at the end of the week, but by today, RAIN! It’s the kind that comes and goes without warning. One second, it will be dry. The next, it’s pouring buckets. So unpredictable. RV’s lent me his car for the week again, just to be on the safe side. 4WDing through puddles, while requiring more gas] is much safer than sliding around in the Prius.

This weekend’s festivities included a friend’s birthday party at Orange Photography. As usual, a fun time in front of the photo booth. When I go back and look at all these pictures, it reminds me of what fun we always have there. The joys of being silly! It was supposedly 90′s themed, but I was one of few people who got dressed up for it. I picked out a rather large t-shirt from my closet and super baggy pants… Boy were those comfy days back in high school! Aside from the party, the weekend seemed to have been spent mostly catching up on sleep. The weather wasn’t so great anyway, so a little extra sleep didn’t hurt. In between naps and eating, there was a little bit of studying and working too.

It started with a kiss at midnight.

When we woke up, RV made me breakfast in bed. I took the day off from work [he did also], so it was a nice and relaxing morning. Nowhere to rush off to. I made a list of a few San Francisco sites, and we spent the rest of the day at these sites, taking pictures and essentially knocking them off the list. A few of them were on my 101 things list, which will be posted shortly. It was a gorgeous day out, almost perfect. In the late afternoon, we grabbed a delicious meal at PPQ with Donna – a filling dinner of crab and garlic noodles. YUM!

Afterwards, a dentist appointment and frozen yogurt for dessert.

It was nothing too crazy, but definitely a birthday to remember.

As evidenced by these photos, brunch at Lime was a success. It was surprisingly empty inside, and we were seated about 10 minutes after we showed up without reservations. RV ordered the Eggs Benedict, and I ordered the Huevos Rancheros, which ended up being very similar, except mine had tortillas and beans, while his had hollandaise sauce and a muffin. Mmm, poached eggs.

We didn’t have time for the Soapbox Derby, so we missed out on that. We did get to the rest of our errands though – shopping for his clothes and picking up necessities at Costco. With a little bit of a time crunch, we settled for crappy Chinese food take-out for dinner. Hah! Originally, I had wanted to have some sort of theme with my party, but with little time to plan, it was just another gathering of friends at a bar. We were also supposed to make a stop at a new club’s grand opening, but the lines were too long. Instead, we joined in on another friend’s birthday up the street. Good times!

Today, while I wanted to check out the Trolley Dances, we ended up just having a delicious lunch and visiting Joe, Deanna, and Faye. Faye was supposedly due today, but she ended up being a little early. So cute and so precious! I’ve never been a fan of babies because I don’t know what to do with them. I get all tense when I’m holding the little ones, and I was like that today with Faye. I loosened up only a little bit later, but I can imagine being completely sore if I held her any longer.

More partying tonight!

And so the birthday weekend commences. It’s funny because already things are not going as planned. I wanted to check out a sushi place in the East Bay, but by the time we were at RV’s neighborhood, we decided on staying local instead. Went to Fresca instead for Peruvian. Turned out to be quite delicious! Afterwards, we bought some cookie dough and made cookies to go with a DVD. Mellow Friday night.

This morning, we’re supposed to shop for RV. We’ll grab brunch at Lime if we can [I say "if we can" because every other time that I have gone there, I haven't actually eaten there! Either it's too crowded or something else comes up.] and then head over to the Red Bull Soapbox Derby if there’s time. I have a spa appointment to get pampered for my birthday. We’re also supposed to fit a Costco run in there before the evening of partying in North Beach.

I feel like I’m trying to plan everything out, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter as long as it’s a good time.

I turn 27 in one week! Not really a big deal, but it’s another year gone by. Wow, this year has flown by with a lot of changes. Who’d have thunk it? New friends, new guy, same job, but at least I’m farther along in my exams than ever before. I’ve been a little less motivated these days, which I need to work on. Must get back into gear. I lasted an entire year without a real lengthy vacation. I should pat myself on the back for that one.

I’ve been celebrating all month long, and this coming weekend is going to be a madhouse. The parents are leaving for vacation on Wednesday, so there is even less pressure for me to stop in at home for dinner. After all, neither Donna and I will be cooking. What remains is checking in on the dog and making sure that she’s fed. I plan on cleaning house a bit, so people can actually come over, and then I’m not such a bad doggie parent after all.

Today is a hot and sweaty day.

I will be spending more than just a few hours in Concord. It’s likely to be over 90 degrees. Yikes! But it will be fun to get away. A friend is having a BBQ/music event in her backyard in Concord. Festizio, my friend Keane‘s band, will be playing. Food, music, and good times. I’m excited to get out of the city and just hang out.

Lucky for us, Keane’s driving! After the show/get-together, we’ll be hightailing it back to the city. There are several birthday parties to attend to…

This weekend has gone by rather quickly. I’m barely getting enough sleep. I have a feeling that I’ll probably recuperate faster DURING the week than on the weekends. It’s such a busy lifestyle, being social and all. Tomorrow, Amanda will be back from her Hawaii trip. We’ll be doing our usual meet-up at Philz. Then, I’m headed for a show with JM. YAY. I won tickets to see Lunatique Fantastique. Here’s the blurb: Using plastic bags, plastic forks, foam, and even bare skin, the award winning Lunatique Fantastique ensemble tells the epic story of the Avian Flu from the birds’ point of view.

Try as I may, I have not contacted or been contacted recently by anyone else on that dating website I signed up for. I’m just not that way. One at a time please! I think it’s probably also because I’m so busy with everything else – work, studying, lazying around the house. On the flip side, most in my circle of friends are signed up for the website now. I live vicariously through their stories about awful first messages and awesome first dates. Good times. I love seeing them all so happy/giddy over this.

I’ve already decided on the theme for my birthday party this year. Actually, I wasn’t even going to have a party, but what the hey. It’s just another excuse to gather the friends at a bar. Here’s a clue as to what the theme is this year: