Note: due to HTML complications I wasn’t able to post for two months which just might explain my highlight dumping before the end of the year.

Welcome to the 31st Chapter of my life

This year I hadn’t planned on doing much for my birthday but I ended up celebrating more than anticipated. The following pictures sum up my October!

On The Sunday prior, I participated in the Race for the Cure 5k with my mother. I had never seen so many people coming together to celebrate life and boobs!

On Tuesday I was treated to a surprise dinner with my friend *Sam at Linger. I thought it was just a casual get together, but in fact it was one of the most amazing dinning experiences I’ve had. He had the server chose our courses, so dish after delicious dish came out of the kitchen, and it was exciting to figure out what was placed on the table. The picture below isn’t the best, but we had ordered the assorted Mochi however the only reason I wanted that dessert was because he mentioned Cherry Blossom flavor, but in fact we didn’t receive any. He managed to convince the server to get the cherry blossom just for me. I was SO spoiled – and frankly I enjoyed every minute of it (including the company and conversation)!

Thursday came around and it was time to celebrate life with friends. My friend Gino Velardi, a talented fashion designer, put on an amazing fashion show to raise money for recent medical bills. He has overcome many valleys in life and yet still comes out on top. We had a great time enjoying beats by DJ Rockstar Aaron and played “Bitch stole my look” for the few dresses I modeled before. I’m pretty lucky to have these people in my life for almost 10 years and still laugh that every time we take a photo I have to squat in order to not stick out as the “Token (tall) White Girl” (TWG).

Since my birthday was on a Saturday, I wanted to celebrate with work friends on Friday. Usually at the office someone buys a cake from the grocery store for the birthday person, we all come out and sing and then go back to work. Since I wasn’t throwing a big bash, I chose to buy my own cake because frankly – I wanted a damn good cake (and those that know me, know that I love cake). I purchased from Das Meyer, one of my favorite bakeries because of their moist cake and great fillings but it stinks that they are so far away (Arvada). While I loved the taste of this cake – I was kind of disappointed with the decoration as it ended up looking like a spring wedding cake. I had requested bakers choice but “not girly”, no “birthday” anything and she even asked if fall colors were ok, so you can say I was surprised by what I received. Eh, it was still worth it though. Plus, with Luisa’s surprise of a cake candelabra to top it off, it was perfect.

The three other photos below were from an older couple’s beautiful backyard wedding that I bartended at that night. Yes, I chose to work on my birthday – why not make money instead of spend it?! Plus I was lucky enough to work with my mother, brother, and friends Dustin, Matt, and Oeay. My birthday bouquet was composed of leftover flowers, that were going to be thrown away, that Dustin so sweetly put together for me. I have pretty thoughtful and awesome friends.

The following day was my first 5k at age 31. And it was a blast! It was cold out but it was great being downtown running (OK, walking fast with intermediate jogging) while the sun came up. And even though I am not a big fan of chocolate, hot chocolate and fondue were an awesome way to end the 5k! We even stayed to watch the 15k winners of the Hot Chocolate Run. In fact – I am ready to register for 2014!

This is my encouragement/ gift/ reminder of my birthday week from Luisa. If you haven’t caught on yet, I am truly grateful for such caring, beautiful, and fabulous friends.

To avoid boring you with the middle of the month, I will skip to the end. It was the last day that Eliches and I got to spend it with my niece Sara and mom. We got this VIP pass that allowed us to jump to the head of the line and we made sure to utilize it as much as possible. I was never one for theme parks but I am glad my mom bought the season pass. Looking forward to next year and spending more time at the water park and renting a cabana again. Overall, we had fun and it was a nice way to end October.

Next Up – November and December in Photos