Spoiled Rotten

Why settle for just a birthday? This year, I decided to celebrate a full birthweek. It started at Sunny's dinner party the weekend before my birthday, when my friends presented me with a tiara and a surprise cherry cobbler with way too many candles. The tiara brought back memories from childhood birthday crowns at Burger King! (Boy, have I come a long way since then.) Good thing I have learned to share—everyone wanted a turn with the tiara:A couple days later, my friends took me out to dinner before I left for New Mexico. Another Happy Birthday song, another dessert, and another candle—wow, I am spoiled.

Finally, I had a wonderful time spending last weekend and my actual birthday day in New Mexico with Aimee. We did a yoga workshop, visited several hot springs, shared many delicious meals, and enjoyed the warm sun and desert... I will post a photo album of all our pictures soon, but here's a preview:

Sunset near Taos upon arrival: View from our front door the first morning:Another view from our house that morning—hot air balloons in the Taos Mountain Balloon Rally: Aimee and I on October 27, best day of the year:And here's one of many promising signs of the strong blue streak in this swing state!

After an amazing weekend, I returned home to Anchorage (at a chilly 12 degrees, I might add) and found birthday greetings flooding my mailbox, emailbox, and even my doorstep. Wow! And to think I sometimes feel out of sight, out of mind all the way up here in Alaska... Thank you all so much—I'm so grateful to have such wonderful people in my life. My birthweek truly could not have been any better.