A Cup of Coffey: It was a great birthday

My birthday weekend has come to an end. It was a wonderful, joyous birthday — and I still feel 15 years younger than my birth certificate claims. I woke up this morning feeling very loved and blessed for having a great family and so many friends.

Friday night: Mom had us over for steaks to celebrate my birthday and my brother’s birthday, which is two days before mine. Happy surprise: My niece, Lauren, came up from Georgia Southern. (She also gave me a tongue lashing since I haven’t written about her, so expect a Lauren post soon.) Had fun, too, with my nephew, Matthew; we played with my new cell phone. Dinner was delish, hanging with the family was nice, and I received some cool gifts.

Saturday: Birthday!!!!! Mom and I had planned to go to Madison for the day, but she came down with a stomach flu. I spent the morning lazing around (boy, did I need it after the last few weeks at work!) and answering calls and e-mails from loved ones. I spent the afternoon bumming around — flirting with the guy-only staff at Starbucks, visiting Mom, shopping for my summer perfume. It was a beautiful (but chilly) afternoon; the sky looked liked the opening credits for “The Simpsons” (yeah, I’m an arty girl, all right). I spent an hour doing one of my favorite Saturday things: just driving around, the sunroof open, singing along to R.E.M., the Ramones, Nirvana, and Neil Young on Dave FM.

Late Saturday afternoon: Paige and I met for our semiannual birthday sushi dinner at Circle Sushi (highly recommended for those in Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, and East Cobb). It was good to have just the two of us hanging, sharing sushi and beer, chatting about life.

Saturday night: We had a great time at Vinocity. (I took several photos, but every one is horrible, so you’ll have to take my word for it.) A few cosmopolitans, several glasses of great wine, yummy appetizers, fun folks. Clark selected a great syrah (Cape Mentelle winery, from Margaret River, Australia), and most of us drank that for the rest of the night. Closed out the evening doing one of my favorite Saturday night things: a late-night drive from one end of Peachtree to the other, with the sunroof open and good music blaring. In fact, while sitting at the traffic light in front of fellow March 25er Elton John’s high rise, Dave FM played — and I loudly sang — “Bennie and the Jets.”

Sunday: As covered in yesterday’s post, Dan took me to Table 120 for a birthday brunch, then we saw the Chuck Close exhibit. I can't say it enough: the new High is fabulous, and you have to plan a trip there this spring.

Sunday night: I closed out the weekend with a bottle of pink champagne and an old friend.

I received tons of great birthday calls, cards, and e-mails. I also received two beautiful vases of flowers from friends, as pictured below. Ruth sent the Peruvian lilies on the left; Karen sent the tulips on the right.