We have a newspaper subscription bundled with our cable package. My roommate tried to cancel it, since we usually read it online anyways and we don’t want to kill unnecessary trees - nope, sorry forests! I wondered if there was a way to get the paper boy to deliver it directly into our recycle bin.

Today, while sorting the recycling, I actually sat down and looked at the glossies. To my surprise, I found coupons for things that weren’t limited edition 9-11 twenty dollar bills (”commemorate this terrible tragedy by ordering today! Nine and eleven make twenty, get it?”) or fairy angel Precious Moments snow globes. Then I did what I have never done, and what I used to tease my old roommates for doing - I clipped some coupons.

But where to house the coupons? I almost clipped a coupon for a coupon organizer and decided that was too meta. I ended up finding a box lying around somewhere and wrote “coupons” on all four sides of it, so my roommates wouldn’t throw it out or throw pens in it or something, because that would be just too dire. Then I decided that the box needed jazzing up. So I lined the top with some extra wrapping paper left over from wedding presents. Like this:

At some point during the middle of this crafting, it occurred to me that this is something Dad would do. It even looks like his handwriting. Is this what year twenty-five has in store for me, morphing into a female version of my father? If I start hanging bugs in my yard, please do me a favor and call for help!

I turned twenty-five yesterday! Nothing super noteworthy about the number, but according to what krissy and her friends say, that is the year when a single girl becomes a Christmas Cake - looks good before the 25th, but nobody wants it afterwards. Let me say that I think this is absolute bullshit, as all the single twenty-five year olds I know are more like tiramisus and red velvet cakes (that includes you, krissy!) that are too good for just any common folk to bite into! But I’d ended up obliging and knitting a Christmas Cake for krissy to gift to one of her friends for her 25th.

Though the number itself doesn’t do much for me, the actual birthday was pretty fantastic. Eli took me out to breakfast at Milton’s, where I had a delicious salmon omelet and some coffee. Then work, which was…work, but I got a lot accomplished. After work, Eli and I hit up the Liberty Hall / La Prima Tazza birthday freebies. I wasn’t sure what to rent and almost picked up “Ma Vie en Rose,” a movie which I’d been meaning to see for the longest time - but then Eli randomly picked out a DVD titled “TAKE CARE OF MY CAT” from the Korea section, and those who know me best know that I had to go with that one (sorry, Golden Globe winning movie!). Hopefully this movie will help us prepare for any Korean travel plans.

Now Eli had hinted about making reservations for dinner on my birthday, and anybody who lives in Lawrence knows that this hint narrows down the options to two possibilities, the only places in town where you’d need a reservation on a Tuesday night. So I tried not to guess, and was pleasantly (half) surprised when he led me up the stairs to Cafe Beautiful! This intimate and lovely restaurant deserves its own post, but suffice it to say - the food, and basically everything about this dining experience was sublime and far, far too excellent for silly old me. Elijah takes birthdays very seriously, being an only child and all, and definitely deserves the award for best boyfriend!

During the meal, which was a seven course affair (!), the chef opened the windows for us. While eating, I spotted a familiar car parked across the street. “Hey, that’s Krissy’s car! Wonder what she’s up to,” I said, between delectable bites of thinly sliced fish, shaped like rose petals. “Oh, probably just cattin’ around,” said Eli, and I thought nothing of it, since Krissy often likes to go trotting around Mass St. I thought to call her after dinner to possibly meet up.

Then, during dessert, I heard familiar, distinctive laughter floating through the window. The laughter of…Joseph, my roommate! “Is that Joe?” I said, and Eli said “Probably not, he’s been busy working.” Then I heard it again, and ran to the window. “It is him! And John and Suzie are with him! Should I holler at them?” I asked, classy as always. I opted instead to run downstairs and say hi before they vanished. They looked a little surprised to see me, and mentioned that they were having a few drinks at Vermont St., and that I should join them after dinner. “Krissy’s downtown somewhere too,” I said, pointing at her car. “Maybe I’ll give her a call and we can all meet up!” I ran back upstairs to give my thanks to the chef.

When we finally went to Vermont St., we were greeted with collective yelling: “surprise!!” A good bunch of my closest friends were all there, presents (and beers) on the table! Many were thinking that the surprise had been ruined, due to the aforementioned signs…luckily, however, I am somewhat dense

Right now I’m feeling pretty loved and blessed, and lucky to be friends with such awesome people!