Let's Party It Up

Sept 19,2008
i am starting to feel old, yes i know i'm only 25! it just seems like time goes by so quickly! i'm so grateful for all the friends and family that i have that i was able to celebrate with! i went out with my family to my favorite restaurant the shanghai cafe for dinner, we have gone there every year for my birthday since i can remember! i was missing a very important part of my family, the taintor's. i sure miss them, but there were there in heart.
after dinner we had a party at my parents and it was such a blast visiting with so many great friends! i just love my friends and truly treasure them!
we had some good laughs too! two of my favorite laughs of the night were: when my dear friend mary asked me to open her gift first just in case someone had gotten me the same gift she wouldn't be embarrassed, so she set the gift on my lap. my sister holly was sitting next to me and peeked in mary's gift bag and while laughing grabbed marys gift and said 'no open my gift first'...it was so funny, they had gotten me the same gift, which is my favorite book 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'.
then my best friend elizabeth leavitt gave me a stuffed animal lobster and had sewed ryan's name on it's claw. when we were younger we watched the t.v. show 'friends' and phoebe would talk about how lobsters have one partner for life and so liz would always tell me that we'd find our lobsters, so it was a very sweet gift. it was funny though, cause my sweet grandma joanne said,"oh my bobby(my grandpa) would always say 'love me and love my lobster', and i never knew what that meant". then my mom said,"i think that was personal and meant something different mom". of course most of you know my mom. my grandma starting blushing and giggling and everyone else got a good laugh :)
i can't skip the high-light of the night though, since my friend elizabeth was there (who speaks spanish) i thought it would be nice to call alba, my birth mom. oh how it made her day. they all sang happy birthday over the phone and it was just a joy to talk to them and to hear their voices. alba has the most sincere voice and laugh that i have heard in a long time, her laugh is just so lovely. while talking to her it made me think of how 25 years ago she made such a unselfish sacrifice to let me have such an incredible life that i have led, by giving me up. i've had incredible opportunities in my life and made so many life long friends and have such a supportive close knit family and it just made me feel so much gratitude towards her!