averi's going to be in the south?!?!??!?

i cannot believe they're going to be in philly tomorrow--how incredibly frustrating is it for me to know that they'll be playing a show that close to me and i can't go? this is worthy of a grr of the big fucking variety--but it makes me very happy to see that they're expanding their touring locations--COME TO DC!!!!!! or at least stop by and visit. ;)

so yeah, i'm now an ancient 22-year-old, as of approximately 6:30 last night. all can rejoice...it was a very nice birthday. i have something about birthdays (well, mine, anyway), where i always look forward to them, but also wind up dreading them. what can i say? i'm overly dramatic and always wind up thinking birthdays are this huge thing and spend time thinking about the point of my life i'm at...yadda yadda. so no matter how nice a birthday is, at some point, i will be mildly depressed and introverted. it's by no means a reflection on the people i'm with or what i'm doing and it passes quickly.

this year, i'm doing things a little differently on the birthday front. since so many people from down here are currently braving the cold while they campaign in vermont, plus the fact that i have a visitor or two (is it one visitor or two?) coming down this coming weekend, the actual birthday weekend was spent with my parents, who came down to spend some time with me and shower me with affection (all that good stuff). so it was a nice, relaxing weekend, good to have some fun, spend some quality time with the family, and charge my batteries for the weekend of debauchery that is to come.

spent saturday reading, relaxing, waiting for the parentals to arrive. once they did, we did some shopping and walking about. and for my actual birthday, we took advantage of the absolutely gorgeous autumn day by going to the national zoo. now, i haven't been to a zoo in years--i think since going to the zoo in the boston area when i was a very small child. granted, i'd been to the safari at six flags in jersey a couple of times since then, but that's different. so this was neat--a chance to return, in some respects, to my childhood while realizing that i'm growing up. the actual zoo was rather depressing, in some respects--since it was the end of the season, for all intensive purposes, it wasn't as green and lush as a zoo typically is. and then there were the signs--saying that one of the camels is lame because it has arthritis (poor thing), that the white tiger they used to have there died a few months ago, and then the typical "this species is endangered, there are only so many of them left" type of sign. mom and i were joking about it--how there was all of this death (or potential extinction) around, and here we were, celebrating my life...but it was still a lot of fun. my mother's big thing was the pandas--she loves them--so she was all excited, which was adorable. they wound up buying me a stuffed panda so i would always remember the unique way of spending my bday, and i have named it tutu (short for two-two--it was my mom's idea and i thought it was cute). i was all about seeing the kangaroos (my australian obsession shining through, eh?) and spent much of the rest of the afternoon speaking in my almost-forgotten crocodile hunter voice, thus cracking up my parents. we were silly, it was fun.

went to dinner at maggiano's, an italian restaurant near my apartment. first of all, this place is as italian a restaurant as ever i have seen--with the waiters bustling about, frantically waving their arms at each other and charming the diners. i was telling a story, completely oblivious to the fact that two of the waiters were clearing the table behind me with a marx-brothers-like bustle and humor that was hysterical to my parents, who were trying so hard to ignroe them and focus on what i was saying (to no avail). when i finally realized that despite my charming story, i wasn't causing the tears of laughter to coem to their eyes, i whirled around to see the table looking spotless and the waiters simply pushing chairs back into place. one of them smiled at me, i turned back to my table with a confused look on my face, and my parents lost it. the food was delicious--the portions are massive (i ordered a half-portion of spaghetti and meat sauce and was only able to eat half of that before i was stuffed)--and you sit there wondering when the mob boss is going to bust through the place. i loved it. and dessert at the cheesecake factory (which is two or three doors down) completed the great evening.

so it was a great day--got some calls from people who love me and felt great about that. the last present i opened was the one sent via my parents from becca--talk about a wonderful, wonderful gift!!! the time that went into that tape was incredible, and i now understand the disclaimer that came with it (don't worry, bec--i viewed most of it today before work--thank you for the warning!!!!!!!!). huge thank yous to becca, baz and beth for making me laugh and making me cry--that's one of the most wonderful birthday presents i've ever received and i love you all for it. look for the coming email that will defend my good name!

and now i'm back at work for another day. the candy is still here in front of me, torturing me...i will be strong. :)

i'm going to take advantage of the fact that the office is pretty much deserted and will spend the majority of my day working on my novel. revel...revelrevel...