The Week Long Birthday Celebration...

Last Monday, April 14th, I turned the illustrious age of 28. Now, I was a bit apprehensive going into the birthday. Why? You may ask... well, mostly I've not really gotten to where I thought I'd be by 28. Now, that's not to say that I thought I'd be married and settled down (well, in high school I did, but who didn't think that when they were in high school??) or anything, but more along the lines of thinking I'd be DONE with school. Yeah, basically I was hoping I'd have my masters my now... but somehow other things happened instead.
Now, you may ask how my birthday (DAY being an integral part of the compound word) became a week-long affair. Well... you are about to find out!
Sunday, the 13th, I went to see a very special someone in Yokohama. We spent the afternoon being very lazy and then went and "played" in the department store in Yokohama (play = window shopping) and chose cake. Then we headed back to a great little pizza place near his place. We ate delicious (and that's saying a LOT!) pizza and headed to his place. We had cake and did presents. I am a very lucky/good/fortunate girl because I got an iPod nano for my birthday. Silver, but with a very sexy green case! ;-)

It was a great start to my birthday. :-)

Monday, I had my first class of the new semester, zemi. That went well. I jetted out of there for a very nice lunch with my friends Kassandra and Taka (aka brother). We had a great lunch at my favorite restaurant in Takadanobaba, The Cotton Club. Kassandra gave me some great gifts: funky socks, a HUGE (and awesome!!) Starbucks coffee mug, and a green pouchy thing from Uniqlo!
That day I also started my new job teaching at a boys high school in Ikebukuro. The teacher that I teach with, Ishii-sensei gave me a copy of the new Utada Hikaru album, Heart Station. :-)

Tuesday was my birthday in the US. I woke up to a bajillion messages and cards from folks back home. When I got home that night there was a notice that my parents birthday package had arrived. However, I had to wait until the next day to have it be delivered. And I got what I've been waiting for for ages: a watch!!! And not just any watch, but a cool Ironman...


Cool, eh??

Wednesday came and I taught classes and got to spend time with that special someone. Every class that I taught people wished me happy birthday!

Thursday, I got a super funky, cool gift from my friend Shivani. A really cool purse/wallet. It's kind of a mix between the two... and you'll be able to tell exactly why she picked it too!

Now, I may not be the most fashionable person in the world... but that is one cool purse! I love it. I haven't used it because I want to use it sometime when I'm doing something cool and fun. Hmmm... not sure when I'll be able to afford that kind of thing in the near future... but I'm going to try. ;-)

Then came Friday, the end to my birthday week. And what should come as I'm making dinner!?! My present from my best friend, Melissa. She sent me two books (am thoroughly enjoying The Time Travelers' Wife) and a scarf she knit (beautiful), running shorts (still haven't used them), and... gummies and Milky Way Midnights (why did they change it from Dark??). I was so tickled!

Even though I talked about lots of gifts (and posted pictures to make my blog more interesting...) the more important thing is that I stopped to remember all of the people who I care about and who care about me. Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes, gifts or just said happy birthday when you saw me! I really felt happy and loved last week!!