Am now old! 28 years old! Only one more birthday in my twenties! Ack! At least everyone at work was surprised I was that old. Maybe next year I should turn 25 or something. Oh, ha ha, I don’t mind my age. I’m only kidding. I don’t want to be one of those neurotic women who lie about their age. But still…

Had a lovely birthday. Went to work, normal day (oh, was 2 minutes late because I stopped at a coffee shop to get coffee and a chocolate croissant) until noon when Mandy, a coworker, gave me the beautiful purple crown (with “Birthday Queen” on it and ribbons and bells and tissue paper flowers) to wear. Heh, that was more like it! The kids loved it, and even though I felt the tiniest bit silly walking around the store with it on, at least people were telling me happy birthday. Growing up, my family always made a big deal about birthdays. I’m not one of those to hide it, no sireee. So then I had a nice take-out lunch from a sushi place nearby, but I didn’t wear the crown to pick it up. Ha ha.

Went home, got all dressed up for dinner with George. New dress, stockings, heels, contacts instead of glasses, makeup, the whole nine yards. Quite out of character for me, but hey, a special occasion. George came over, gave me my gift (the new Irvine Welsh novel, but I’m going to exchange it for some yarn from a fancy yarn shop in the Quarter) and we went by the pub to wait for the ferry. As I’m usually dressed pretty casually (okay, extremely casually), there were a few dropped jaws when we walked in. A nice effect, I must say. Not enough to make me wear makeup more often, because then where would the surprise be?

I still didn’t know where we were going for dinner, but I knew it was somewhere in the Quarter because George told me we’d be walking a bit (and to wear “comfortable shoes.” ahh, boys really don’t have a clue, do they?) We made it to the restaurant, the Pelican Club, which I’d never heard of, but was really nice. Located in a very European alleyway off Bienville St. It was lovely. Ate yummy seafood (scallops, lobster, shrimp, mussels, etc, etc). A guy I went to college with worked there, hadn’t seen him in years, but he recognized me, which was nice. (Usually people don’t remember me.) He sent over a glass of champagne, which was really sweet. So after dinner, we walked to Cafe du Monde and had beignets and coffee. Mmmm. Love beignets. Perhaps a tad messy with a black dress on, but the powdered sugar came right off. (I’m not so neat. How can people eat them without getting covered in powdered sugar?)

By this point, my feet were killing me. Felt like I was walking on coal. Ow. Stopped to browse at a music store, then caught the ferry home. Stopped by the pub, was ooooh’ed and aaahhh’ed over some more. Ego duly boosted. Lovely birthday.

Tonight is my party, friends coming in to hang out at the pub. No heels tonight, thank God. Yay! Can’t wait!