Blow by Blow Birthday Post

Shocked by the thought of year 37...

Yes folks it's true. As of the 18th of this month I firmly planted my foot on the path that leads me one year closer to death. I know that's morose, but what can I say? I'm an old bat to the depths of my yarn encrusted soul. Don't think that stops me from whoopin' it up for the annual celebration of my birth. This ole bat enjoys carousing with friends, big heaps o' pressies and your general eating, drinking and making merry. I'm a Taurus after all and that aspect of my nature tends to outweigh any nay-saying put forth from my inner geriatric bat.

True to my astrological nature, I began celebrating my birthday the weekend preceeding the actual date with the purchase of these very cool items at an amazing shop near to my mother's home. I'm not ashamed to say that I buy gifties for myself. After all, I'm me and I know what me likes. And me very much desired these awesome antique dressforms:

It's a boy!



And a girl!



I think that me is very adept at choosing gifts for, eh, me. I am sounding a bit like Cookie Monster at the moment. Moving right along.

Myriad celebrations ensued following my weekend shopping spree. Last Thursday, I was treated to a birthday luncheon away from the cube farm acreage at Clementine by the lovely and talented Idea du Jour proprietor (and sometimes spokesmodel for this here bloggy), Briana! We had wholesome, ruddy bowls of roasted tomato soup and egg salad sandwiches. Yum! Thanks Bri!

Saturday night I celebrated in style at one of my family's fave restaurants with the marital unit, the parental unit and my subsidiary. We cooked raw meat and veggies atop a grill located in the center of our table. My offspring loves this process and because of this now widely known fact, my family frequents this restaurant at her behest more often than not.

Non-crocheted/knitted meat...



My gorgeous daughter...



Finally, Sunday was spent birthday lunching on Japanese style risotto and curry with L.A. Elle at The Blue Marlin just walking distance from my domicile in an area of the city I affectionately refer to as Little, Little Tokyo. This stretch of pavement is flanked by myriad noodle houses and boba establishments as well as some very cool shops that sell a range of items from hipster threads to Japanese language books and dvds (yes peeps, lots of Japanese craft books to be had). Catering to many of the Japanese exchange students at UCLA, this is a little slice of Tokyo right here on the Westside and we love it! Some of the highlights of the birthday stroll included clothing stores such as Anap and Black Market (which doubles as an art gallery oh btw), everything but the kitchen sink stores such as Giant Robot and its sequel, GR2 (also shows art), and of course every Japanese craft book aficionado would enjoy a perusal through Asahiya Bookstore. If you're in Los Angeles and you've yet to discover this part of town, come on over! You will not be disappointed.

Now let's do some pressie recap!

Ellen gave me gobs of crochet-related paraphenalia...



Natasha sent me a big ole box of yarn luv...



Jannikinz also sent me some yarn luv from Down Under (not for my birthday, but just because)...



Also received a very generous and welcome spa gift certificate and bath goodies from the marital unit and a lovely little beaded bracelet from my incredibly talented and bee-you-ti-ful offspring!

Am I lucky or what???

Thank you all for your lovely gifts, e-cards galore and well wishes! I am deeply touched and I feel so incredibly blessed to have you all in my life.