Gordon offered to throw me a birthday party, and he kept his word – to an astonishing degree! When I asked what I could do to help, he said invite people and show up!
How remarkable. I’m used to not only manufacturing my own celebrations, but also cleaning up after. Gordon is such a good friend, along with being an all-round nice guy! I even left the guest list up to him, inviting precisely two people of my own volition.
Everyone else heard via the host or from other friends, and that meant the turnout was quite an interesting mix of beloved friends and people I’ve never met before. The whole thing was great fun – the best birthday party ever! Plus it was not actually on the cursed day, so more people showed up than I expected. This included (but was by no means limited to) Daphne, and Pete, and mad scientists, and and and…..
In fact, Andreas later marveled Why does Bee live in Europe, when she belongs in San Francisco?
Why indeed. We’ll leave that mystery for another day and proceed with a tour of the festivities:
Cake not made by me- plus they asked permission before singing to me!
Dawn Riddle wore earrings shaped like an ipod:
Me & Zack from the Bus Stop (oh, how we commiserated on the loss) who also graciously shot my publicity photos:
Jonathan, as beautifully turned out as ever:
Champagne bottles popped over and over but given that it was a Sunday we made it an early night – despite Pete’s observation that Gordon wasn’t working the next day.
I wandered off into the night in a state of bliss, and was woken a few hours later by the fact that Byron needed to go to the emergency room. Fast.
Luckily I’d done the research and knew where to take him, but the cab ride was in fact dodgy – he should have had an ambulance.
I’m definitely the person you want on your side in these situations; I remain calm and always have an eerie grasp of the details and information required to get the attention of the correct doctor. Plus, instead of being grumpy, I was rather pleased to see the sun rise. I’ve never had that experience in San Francisco!
After a few hours of fitful sleep it was time to collect one kid from the train station in Oakland, then zoom back across the bridge to meet the other kid at the airport in SF, to proceed with the family portion of the Not Birthday..
Pretty good times, all considered.
Presents? Why look! It is a cute lil’ ipod! Technically I picked it out, and hassled people endlessly for the vote between sweet and practical. I love it!
More images of loot, including the very awesome contributions from Gordon, Hiya, and Jonathan:
And the bittersweet from my mother; a collection of Lavender family photographs (parents wedding day lower right):
On the actual night we went out to dinner with Hiya and Jonathan (Gordon was invited but had to stay in and wash his hair). My thirty-seventh birthday was absolutely astonishing and wonderful in every possible way!
