Birthday 2011

This is my annual blog post to document the events of my birthday celebration. One of my usual goals of having my birthday be fairly low key was successful, but it was also still a lot of fun, thanks to some great friends that I have here in Baltimore.

First picture is to document my EARLY birthday present from my friends Emily C and Lauren. We went biking together at Assateague a little while ago, and they were both horrified that I didn't have/never wear a bike helmet. (I know, I know.) Anyway, Emily and I went biking this past Saturday on the B&A trail. (We biked to Annapolis! It sounds impressive, but since the trail starts closer to Glen Burnie and not Baltimore, it's only about a 27-mile round trip.) On the way, Emily gave me the early birthday gift from her and Lauren, a helmet! Haha! We took this picture on the trail, to send to Lauren. (She couldn't be there; she's currently home in Michigan for a few weeks studying for her med school boards.) Now my "precious cargo" (as Emily says) will be protected.

Anyway, now for my actual birthday. First of all, I've been needing to get a haircut, and I had an appointment at a salon downtown (well, Fells Point). Although I think it might still be a bit too long. (But she cut it exactly how long I told her to; I think I need to readjust my thinking. :) )


Afterward, I got a croissant at a bakery near the water, and enjoyed it while walking along the harbor.

Then I needed to head into work. While I was driving, my car (which has been acting up the last few months) started doing more weird things, so I decided I should drive to my mechanic first instead. That thought was apparently prophetic, because as I turned the corner to enter the freeway, my car stopped accelerating, and I knew something was wrong, so I pulled off to the shoulder. My car was in fact totally dead, wouldn't even restart. So I was stranded on the side of the interstate for awhile.

But I called AAA and they sent a tow truck out to my rescue and we took it to my mechanic. And they fixed it. So for my birthday, I got a new alternator! (Which isn't actually that exciting, but fortunately, the repairs were cheaper than I thought they might be.)

I did eventually make it into work. I had a birthday lunch at the cafe at Space Telescope and ordered my favorite menu item, the mozzarella, tomato, and basil sandwich. And I'm convinced that the sandwich is bigger when you order it for dine-in, as opposed to go. Okay, maybe not. But it was still tasty!

For dinner I met up with two of my friends, Emily C and Emily K. (Have I mentioned that we have at least five Emilys in our ward right now?) We ate at Paper Moon Diner, which is one of my favorite places to eat in Baltimore. Emily K brought me these lovely flowers!

Emily K's dish came with a pickle on the side, and so Emily C asked for one too, and our waiter brought us a plate of pickles. (I don't actually like pickles.) Here they are chowing down on them before our dinner came out. Our waiter was passing by as I was taking a picture, so hopped in, unbeknownst to the Emilys. Ha!

Why yes, I did order a plate of mac and cheese and sweet potato fries for my dinner.

Me and Emily K.

When we ordered drinks (waters all around!), Emily C told the waiter to bring her a really big glass of water. He brought her two glasses initially, and this is what she had by the end.... (Yes, those are ALL hers.)

After dinner, we met up with a few more friends at Emily C's apartment because she had made me a cake. (She was pretty eager to volunteer to make one earlier in the week, even when my first response when she asked me was, "I'll think about it.") But clearly she knows me, she made me an oreo cake!

There were no candles for the cake, but fortunately, Emily C had candles already on her table so she lit them up and they sang to me. (And you can see Lori and Jessie too, proof other people were there.)

I blew them out in one breath.

The cake was amazing! Not only was it chocolate (my favorite) and had crushed oreos in the frosting, but she also put a layer of oreos between the two cakes. Brilliant! It was a little tricky to cut through, but it tasted amazing! We topped it with mint chocolate chip ice cream, and it was perfect.

All in all, a good birthday. I picked up my car today (day after) and it's working much better. (For example, it turns on now!) It's still acting a bit quirky in the way it did before it died, which is sort of disappointing because I was hoping the problems were related and would all be solved. I guess it's like when you bring someone to the ER and they have a broken leg and no heart beat, the doctors will solve the heart beat problem first. I'll keep an eye on it for awhile and see if things get worse. I guess it's just showing its age (it's 11 years old), and trying to keep me on my toes. And who knows....maybe it'll require MORE repairs and soon I'll be paying more in repairs than I would in car payments which would mean I'd get a new car. Not that I want to get a new car. Filbert and I have been through a lot together and I really like having him around! Anyway, we'll see.

Thanks to my friends in Baltimore for making my birthday great! Thanks to my family for singing happy birthday to me on my voice mail! And thanks to all my friends who wrote on my Facebook wall. Seriously, I love birthdays because they make me feel like the most popular person on Facebook. Here's to another great year!

San Diego roommate reunion

I've just returned from some wonderful travels! I'm going to try and blog about them all in the next few days or so.

It all started when I flew to San Diego for a great reunion with some of my roommates from BYU. We weren't all there, however. Angela and Becca, we missed you guys lots!

I flew in Monday, and Amy and Christy picked me up at the airport. Every time I go to California, I always think the same thing: why don't I live here? The weather is perfect all the time, why go anywhere else?

Well, anyway, over the course of the next few days, we did lots of fun things including going to the San Diego Zoo (my first time), eating pizza on the beach at sunset (why don't I live in California again?), going to Disneyland (and eating lunch at the Blue Bayou!), and going to Sea World (also my first time). Here are some pictures.

Me and the flamingos at the San Diego Zoo. Part of my usual series of pictures that Amy calls "Elizabeth in Front of Something Interesting." I guess it's true, I do take a lot of pictures like that. Ha!

Amy, Auburn (plus Maren), and me at the beach. It was really bright. I cheated and kept my sunglasses on.

Seth was pretty much Christy's best friend during the trip. It was cute and funny. (He never wanted to ride the rides with anyone else!) Here they are on the Bug's Life caterpillar ride at Disneyland (California Adventure? I don't really know). I think this picture is super cute.

Amy and I on the Buzz Lightyear ride (my first time on that ride/game). I was just shooting randomly, I have no idea how I got any points.

We celebrated Amy's birthday by going to brunch at this delightful little outdoor cafe overlooking the beach. (I think it was in La Jolla?) And Seth is pretty much one of the cutest kids ever.

Brunch.

Also went to Sea World. I thought the turtles were really cool. (Again, "Elizabeth in Front of Something Interesting." :) )

Christy, Amy, Auburn, and Maren in the walk-through shark display. Cool.

Me, Auburn (and Maren), and Amy hanging out. The lighting wasn't the best for pictures in there.

We even saw Shamu. (I wish I had taken pictures at the dolphin show. The theatrics cannot be described in words. Haha!)

The next morning I managed to wake up early enough to go to the temple before flying out. (Auburn told me she was sure she'd come out the next morning and find me still asleep. Yes, clearly she has been my roommate. :) I even surprised myself in this instance.)


It's been far too long since I've seen these great friends of mine, so I'm happy that we were able to reunion this year. As Amy said, you know you're good friends when you can not see each other for eight years (as was the case with Amy and me) and your conversations start right back up as if you'd never been apart. I'm so lucky to have been roommates and friends with such great girls! Let's hope it's not so long between the next time we get together! :) Thanks again for the great time!!

Smarter Phone

So I recently got a smarter phone. It's a Samsung Fascinate. I chose it because it seemed decent enough and I could get it for free by renewing my current contract. So why not? I've been putting off getting a smart phone because I probably spend too much time online as it is. Though typically when I travel, I curse the world that I don't have one. I'm traveling next week (first San Diego, then the Great Utah National Park Tour of 2011*), and not bringing my laptop (shocker I know), and decided it was high time.

Besides the fact that I've just been needing** one for some time, I thought it would fun to be able to update my blog (and Facebook) with pictures from the road, since I won't have my laptop and will be away from civilization.*** And good to have access to email on the road. And, I'm sure, comforting for you all to know that I'm not stuck in Blue John Canyon preparing to cut off my own arm.****



* I'm still searching for a killer title for a trip that will be most epic.
** i.e., wanting
*** They have cell phone reception away from civilization, right? j/k
*** Although Aron Ralston recently became one of my new heroes, I definitely don't plan on reenacting his fateful hike. (Unlike other morons in the world.)