26

On Wednesday, I turned twenty-six. For some reason, I dreaded this birthday a bit, maybe because I would no longer qualify as a "young-twenty-somethin." But the day passed without anxiety; any worry was over-shadowed by my extreme happiness with being married to Keith.

My husband had class all-day. As a result, we decided to observe my birthday on Thursday though, as it turned out, my birthday was a two-day affair. On Wednesday morning, I brunched with an old friend, Nicole Baird, who was in-town with a group from the school where she teaches in Pasadena, CA. Then, I walked through Times Square, made a return to Crate & Barrel, and headed to the subway stop to return to Brooklyn. Directly adjacent to the subway entrance, however, were H&M and Zara, forcing me to make a quick scouting run through both stores with hopes of returning the next day with Mr. Miller. Sprinkled throughout the day were sweet e-mails, facebook messages, phone calls, and e-cards from friends and family, including notification of membership to the Met from my parents and a tour of Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty from the Haupts. That night our caregroup sang me "Happy Birthday" and served cupcakes!

On Thursday, Mr. Miller surprised me with my fire tipped roses (my favorite) and both the New York Times and the New York Sun! We spent the morning sipping coffee, reading the newspaper, and discussing the stories. After a couple weeks of the liberal and often debauched pages of the Times, the New York Sun was refreshing. The first editorial began, "Being among the minority of Americans who take a favorable view of the job President Bush is doing . . . ." I'm also inclined to like the paper because the elegant and conservative Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour started it. Black is partially responsible for making Mark Steyn.

Later, we listened to King Felix dominate in Wednesday's Mariners game against the Boston Red Sox and worked on school assignments. That night, we opened my snail mail cards and feasted on:

Chicken Kiev
Steamed Green Beans
60 Minute Rolls

which was accompanied by
Cabernet Sauvignon

and concluded with
Decaf Coffee and Double Chocolate Cake
from Tazza, my favorite local cafe and bakery.