Out of this world 30th birthday celebration.

Well, I finally have some breathing space to write about the four day 30th birthday celebration and let me just say that it’s been one heck of a memorable birthday celebration to say the least – one that will stay with me for a very long time.

Friday was when things kicked off. Oh, I should say that I did a little bit of research regarding my condition of turning lobster red when I drink alcohol and it’s called Asian Flush Reaction. 50% of Asians have it and genetics most definitely have a role it in. In my research, I found out that if I were to take Pepcid AC which is an over the counter medication for heartburn, it helps reduce the redness. So, knowing full well that I’ll be drinking more than my fair share of alcohol, I popped one of those suckers and it worked like a charm. Now, I did have more than enough to eat and anyone will tell you never to drink on an empty stomach so I pretty much had all my bases covered. I left work at 10PM and arrived at the bar at 10:15PM. The server introduced herself and let me know that she would be taking care of the group the entire evening and I must say she went above and beyond the call of duty. She was given a very generous tip because I felt that she was more than accommodating to the group. As I arrived, Joe and Melissa were arriving the same time too. Melissa had baked me a cake and it was pretty hilarious seeing her carry the cake into the bar! More people started showing up later that night and we ended up with roughly ten people and let’s just say everyone had a fun time. There were so many hilarious stories that were shared. Talk about an amazing way to kick start my birthday celebration. A few of us stayed until the bar closed and by the time I got to bed, it was close to 3AM. I had every intention of waking up at whatever time my body decided to get up.

Lo and behold, at 7AM my body convinced me to get up. That just did not seem right. I had the day off from work and I really wanted to sleep in. I guess that’s what your body does when it’s used to getting up early regardless of the day. I finally got out of bed at 7:30AM and gave Kevin a call to see if he was going to be around so I could drop off Martha’s birthday card since I share the same birthday as her. Kevin informed me that Martha was at work, but he would be around. So, I dropped by and chatted with him for quite some time about the weekend in St. Louis and how significant the weekend was for me. Kevin has and will always be an amazing listener and it was just great to have him listen. I had some errands to run before catching the movie, “Forbidden Kingdom” starring Jet Li and Jackie Chan. It was a pretty darn good movie and I’m glad I got to watch it. I had a 4:30PM dinner reservations at the one and only Japanese restaurant that I’ll go to in DM, “Miyabi 9”. At that time I was the only customer and Mike, the chef/owner was more than ready for me. He started me off with this amazing snow crab and how in the world did he know I love crabs was beyond me. It blew my mind how sweet, juicy and just utterly decadent it was. Now, I’m not sure if he had planned on giving me the crab claw but he just had a big smile on his face when he saw how much I love crabs and pretty much hammered a claw and present it to me and said Happy Birthday! How cool is that? I had sashimi, mushrooms, sea urchin, sushi and when he asked me if I could still eat some more, I said I could and then proceeded to make me a what Mike called a Japanese Big Mac roll which was out of this world. I left the restaurant with a huge smile on my face. After dinner, I met up with John at the DM Symphony for the season finale and two out of the three programs were spectacular. Talk about a great way to end the evening and season. Actually, the symphony did one better by playing Happy Birthday! Now, you tell me how many people can have a symphony play happy birthday for them?!?!?! Not too many. I guess only Anthony could pull something like that out. Hey, it only cost me $5,000! Hahahahahahahahaha. Actually, the wife of one of the symphony’s major donor was celebrating her birthday and for $5,000 the symphony played happy birthday for her. How many of us that evening celebrated our birthday? Not many, I’m sure of it. John just cracked up when they played Happy Birthday and his exact words were, “Only Anthony can pull this off!”

Sunday was a great day because many of the residents were out and about since it was a gorgeous day. I had more than enough time to get my work done and prepare dinner with much time to spare. One of the former residents came back to play Scrabble and I know she missed me after not playing Scrabble for two weeks. It was fun to catch up with her.

Monday was the climax of my birthday celebration because I had the most important and influential people in my life at dinner. Joel and Kathy, Martha and Kevin, Charlene, Ann, Brian, Carola and John were there. We pretty much had the entire restaurant to ourselves and it was a great way to cap the festivities. We went to Phat Chefs where I had already paid for my dinner in advance and let the chef prepare whatever he saw fit for me as a birthday meal. All in all I ended up with a five course meal with wine pairing. I had scallops, a fall salad, an intermezzo, halibut, duck and a cheese course. I even had sherry with the cheese course! A spectacular meal to say the least. Everyone else ordered from the menu and no one was disappointed with the dining selection. Prior to dinner, I had informed everyone that they had to share with the group an Anthony story as I would be sharing be sharing a story about how each and everyone influenced my life. Trust me, there were some hilarious stories and some very touching stories. By the end of the evening, each and everyone at the dinner table knew why they were special to me if they did not already know that. Oh, the specially ordered dessert was utterly sinful and decadent – just the way dessert should be. After dinner, Joel and Kathy invited us over for a nightcap and we sat out on their backyard. The weather was perfect just for sitting and taking in the entire evening with a fire pit burning in front of us. We could all see some stars too. In every sense of the word, could I have asked for anything more on my birthday? I seriously doubt it.

Ann capped the whole evening best when she said that when all is said and done, it all comes down to relationships and how important they are to make our lives complete. Based on the relationship I share with these individuals, I have to say that I’ve been blessed many fold and life really can’t get any better.