A birthday

Yesterday was my 31st birthday. I ended up taking the day off in spite of my belief that I wouldn't -- a number of things happened the night before that convinced me work wouldn't be a good idea, including poor Scott being up half the night (and thus ... me being up half the night). He had a phone interview for a job yesterday afternoon, so it was my job to basically stay out of the house for as much of the day as possible. This was fine with me...so yesterday, I spent a lot of time adventuring.

First I headed to the Moraga Steps, a place I'd been planning on going for years. It lived up to expectations, but in hindsight it was probably not a good idea to go hiking the day after a half marathon. Speaking of the half marathon, it was amazing, and I want to do it again, and I have so much to say about it but it's all very emotional and will take a while (and a separate post) to put down in words. It's coming, but this post is definitely easier to write, so it's coming first. Anyway...the Moraga Steps.



The Moraga Steps are a ridiculously beautiful, steep, completely hand tiled art piece/set of stairs located at 16th Avenue and Moraga in San Francisco. This is a part of town I never visit, probably because it's pretty inaccessible from my house, but it's beautiful. A huge hill is the focal point of the Golden Gate Heights/Forest Hill neighborhood (the hill itself is Grand View Park)

And the view from halfway up? Ridiculous. I'm actually glad I took this where I did because the view from the top of the stairs was halfway obscured by trees. As you can see, this is looking west all the way to the Pacific ... so beautiful:



After walking around here for a bit, I headed down to Golden Gate Park, then decided to take a bus to the Haight and get some breakfast at Whole Foods. While there, I decided to get a simple lunch for Scott & I and head home to feed us before I had to leave again (his interview, which was on the phone, was at 2pm). So we dined on black bean soup & black bean/quinoa salad for lunch, I took a too-short hour long nap, and I was out the door again, this time so Scott could have his interview.

I really, really wanted to go to yoga, but there were no classes that matched the time I needed to be gone, so instead I decided to spend my time at the gym. Now, if you're thinking this might be dumb considering I'd just run a half marathon the day before and a surprisingly strenuous hike earlier in the day ... you would be right. But I did it anyway, and I think it's worked out OK. Unfortunately my left foot really started to hurt while I was on the elliptical, but it's feeling much better today so I think I just overworked it. I ended up hanging out at the gym after my workout doing yoga poses to stretch out my tight leg muscles, which felt great -- but the icing on the cake is that Scott moved on to the next step of the interview process! Fingers, you know, crossed and all that jazz.

Last night we got to go out to our favorite wine bar, Hotel Biron, to celebrate my birthday. Yes, I ate cheese and yes it was worth it -- this is one of, like, two times a year I indulge, and it's very special. I also had my favorite olives in the universe, and great Spanish wine. Plus the wonderful company/conversation <3 I must be growing up or something, because I went to bed by 10:30pm and didn't have a hangover this morning! Ha. You think I'm kidding, but that surprised even me. Responsibility and fun can mix?!

So now I am 31. Here are my "birthday photos" Scott took of me last night before we left the house:

The dress is from Modcloth & the tights are from Target. A classy broad, indeed! I had a wonderful birthday and I am facing this year with determination and an open mind.