Quarter Century Crisis

I know everyone is just dying to hear about my birthday so here goes! The first fun birthday themed thing occurred on my birthday eve. My friend and Mom of the maligned Neville Longbottom baby (see prior post) took me out to lunch. What was really clever was that I had no idea she was footing the bill. After we were done she revealed that fact and confessed she hadn't told me because she wanted me to order whatever I wanted. I decided this was a good idea and next time I go out to lunch and want to pay I am going to use this surprise tactic, then people get what they really want. Another good thing about the element of surprise is if the other diner orders lobster, steak, and a bottle of expensive wine you can just change your mind, not pay for them and they have no idea. That might have been tacky to write.... oh well.

Now fast forward to the morning of November 9th. I was awakened in bed by Neil and a plate of scrambled eggs and toast and a big wrapped box. The breakfast was great but the box of gifts was better! Neil presented me with a box of chocolates, a big fluffy bath robe (like the one in our Paris hotel), and an envelope. Inside the envelope were pictures of the downtown Hilton(pictured above), we were going to stay there for the weekend!!! ParTay!! So we ended up going down town and shopping at the galleria. For those of you unfamiliar with the galleria it is a big mall and when I say big I mean it has an ice skating rink inside it. They have all the normal stores and then some fun posh shops. There is a Tiffany's, a Giorgio Armani, Kate Spade and pretty much anything else you can think of. They also had a Cheesecake Factory where we had a delectable dinner. When we got back to the hotel there was some sort of fundraiser going on because people in formal wear were everywhere, it was rather fun to spy! We had a tasty cake with Neil's family later on that weekend. Needless to say I had a great birthday.