I Just Turned 29

Yep, it was my birthday yesterday, and I turned 29 yet again.

I really am not a big birthday celebrator. I didn't celebrate or have a party when I turned 30, when I most wanted to, but then again, there were family issues and responsibilities that took priority and precedence. This year, my birthday was a little more celebratory than before, but still low-key. A surprise that I received this year was the number of Ravelers that private messaged me happy birthday wishes due to the little cake that pops up on people's avatars when it's their birthday.


Last night, my husband and I went to Roy's for dinner. Yum! The husband ordered the sushi while I ordered my favorite from the restaurant: butterfish. The very nice and exuberant waitress, upon finding out that it was my birthday, took a photo of us. She later remarked how lovely we looked in the photo and how I looked "like a model...and like a young Kristi Yamaguchi." I was a bit taken aback. I was certainly a nice compliment, since Kristi Yamaguchi is a beautiful and talent person, but the comparison was strange. Maybe she's one of those people that think all Asians look alike or that all black people look alike.

Now, if she had compared my appearances to Ming-Na, even though I don't think I look like her, the reference has been made by more than one person, including my own mother who said we kind of looked alike when I took her to see The Joy Luck Club and some of my husband's former coworkers. One of the stranger comparisons to the actress occurred on my honeymoon in Kauai 7 years ago. I was attending a lei making class in one of the hotels when a woman with young daughter asked me, "Are you an actress?" No. "Oh...you know, you look a lot like that actress from ER. Do you know who I am talking about? I forget what her real name is, but she's Dr. Chen. I really like her." Yes, I know who you are talking about. I think her name is Ming Na Wen. Thank you. "You're not her, are you?" No, no. Are you sure that you're not her?" Yes, I am sure. I'm not even an actress. (several seconds of silence) "Oh...you really look alike..."

Throughout the rest of the class, the woman kept looking at me. Then after the class, she and her daughter kind of followed me for a little bit as I walked from the the place where they were holding the class, through the hotel lobby and through the courtyard. They stopped once I got onto an elevator. I guess they wanted sure I wasn't the actress.

Anyway, the exuberant waitress at Roy's sent us a complimentary delicious and fabulous macadamia tart for dessert. It totally made up for the Kristi Yamaguchi look-alike comment. and Overall the service was great, however the food took a while and it made us quite late to meet my friends at the Napa Rose for drinks and dessert in the lounge. Zona and her husband ordered a Scharffenberger Chocolate Pate with a chocolate shooter. It was sooooo yummy. I also had two deliciously mixed lemon drop.


Needless to say, the dinner, desserts, drinks and good company made me and my stomach very very happy. I was relaxed and actually made it to bed by about 1:00 a.m. and I slept through until 9:30 a.m. Sleeping through 8 hours is remarkable for me. I usually don't sleep for more than 5-6 hours, and for the past week, I've been averaging 4 hours. I think this is a sign that I should go out and eat more yummy desserts and have at least 2 delicious cocktails.