another year older (lyn)

Aside from representing another year gone, birthdays are a nice thing.  It’s that one day of the year that friends and family remember you.  Today I get many calls, emails, cards (virtual and real), and Facebook posts.  I hear from good friends, people I rarely speak to, and even past co-workers and high school friends I haven’t been in touch with for years.  It helps compensate for now having to say I’m a year older.

I meet Val, Abbey, Adam, Jason and his girlfriend Amanda for dinner at the Post House, a beautiful restaurant that specializes in steak.  (Unfortunately Alexander can’t come because he has to take a makeup test, and will now arrive home tomorrow).  In preparation for this special dinner, I have little to eat during the day, get my nails re-done a pale pink (the red polish I got on Tuesday looks gruesome today), and have my hair blown out (just to feel good). 

I decide to try using the tips I learned last week at Bloomingdales when ordering.  I ask for my strip steak “charred on the outside, medium rare inside.”  I remember the chef from Del Frisco’s saying, “If a restaurant can get this right, then they know how to do steaks.”  They get it right.  But when I ask Jason to ask for “the third cut” for his Porterhouse, the waiter laughs, and clearly has no clue what Jason is talking about.  It doesn’t seem to matter though.  Jason later describes his steak as one of the best he’s ever had.

It’s a superb dinner --- lots and lots of excellent food, and many laughs (as usual).  Amanda brings me a thoughtful scented candle, the boys write a card that almost makes me cry, and my sister hands me a bag that’s “just a little something.”  It’s a jar of La Mer Crème.  Only a user of this product (which I am) can appreciate how great a gift this is. The men at the table roll their eyes at my excitement.


Reluctantly, everyone agrees to let the waiter take a photo.  “Hey, come on, it’s my birthday.”  One snap, one picture.  It helps to have photogenic people.