Birthday No. 24

This weekend I celebrated my 24th birthday. I will soon have to start acting like a real adult, not just the pretend one I am currently. I assume that age (when I am expected to transition from pretend to real adult) might very well be 25, when I am trusted to rent a car without extra charges. So I've only got one year left of pretend adulthood. On the up-side, my birthday fell on a Saturday this year. So I took advantage of that timing along with the fact that neither Tim nor I were starting school on or around my birthday (which is usually the case), and we used the entire weekend to celebrate!

Friday Tim and I went out to dinner with two of my girl friends at a comedy club called DC Improv and thoroughly enjoyed the show! It was a low-key and enjoyable way to kick the weekend off right.

At DC Improv

Saturday started with a 90 minute massage. *sigh* Then it was off to the grocery store with Tim in preparation for the BBQ with friends at our place. Tim was, as always, the grill master working up yummy yummy hamburgers, hot dogs, BBQ baked beans, and grilled corn on the cob. He even put together and served appetizers as the guests arrived: cheese ball with crackers, chips and salsa etc. All very healthy and low in fat and sodium. And so delicious!

My dear friend Laura made birthday cupcakes which just made my day. She toted them all the way from her place near Georgetown on the Metro - a birthday fairy coming through the front door with shoe boxes lined with plastic wrap and filled with delicious individual desserts that spelled "Happy Birthday Kendra! YAY". You can see why I love her.


The BBQ stretched into the wee hours of the morning as we watched funny You Tube videos, danced to innumerable peppy songs (over and over), and just enjoyed hanging out. We started the evening intent on migrating to Cafe Citron for Latin dancing and mingling with strangers (that's what you do at Clubs, right?), but we lost track of time at "Club Seymour" and never moved on. I didn't mind.

The girls gather for a group picture at the BBQ

Sunday was more low-key. We girls went out for brunch at Founding Farmers (one of my favorite brunch places in DC) then saw Julie and Julia in Georgetown. A pretty perfect Sunday afternoon.

Founding Farmers Brunch

As it turns out, 24 is not so bad.

A Pacific Northwest Retreat

We spent three days over the weekend camping at Lake Pend Oreille in North Idaho with Tim's family and mine. Our time, though short, was blissful. I didn't realize how much I miss the Pacific Northwest.

Tim's little cousin Kirsten instructing him on how to arrange our tent.

The weather was less than ideal, but nothing dampened our spirits. We spent two days enjoying a reprieve from the DC humidity and heat, bundled up in sweatshirts, jeans and tennies. And standing by a campfire felt oh. so. good. I think the majority of my time at the lake was spent just enjoying the fire.

Tim's sister and cousin jumping off the dock.

Our final day on the lake the weather decided to cooperate and gifted us a beautifully sunny and calm end to our Northwest retreat. The lake was almost glassy, coaxing us into a 6:00 AM wakeboarding run. All the boarding, tubing, skiing and boating that day took a toll on our poor muscles and Tim got pretty badly burnt. The physical effects of our day of boating fun are constant reminders of the fun we had. And it was worth it to play in the water and be out in the sun on the gorgeous glassy lake surrounded by green trees and a blue sky.

Wakeboarding. *sigh*

Like I said. Bliss.