My birthday: A photo essay

So, apparently Lindsey Lohan and I share a birthday two days, and ahem, 6 years apart. This is depressing to say the least. But, at least I do not have to spend the rest of summer behind bars sporting a bleep-worthy manicure. A decision I’m sure she is now regretting.

But, alas, I had a wonderful birthday which began the weekend before the “big day,” with a surprise trip to my second favorite city. It began with a lovely 5:30 wake-up call, which sadly is the time my bright-eyed daughter likes to start her day. We raced to get out the door, for what I thought was an 8am boat departure for Catalina, but instead we went here:

Of course, you can’t tell, but we are at Long Beach Airport…which is tiny, with portable buildings, one luggage ramp, and an art deco design makes you think you’re flying in the 60s. And we were flying to San Francisco, my second favorite city. Our mission: San Francisco for 30 hours, with a 30-mile bike ride through Golden Gate Park to and over Golden Gate Bridge, because it was my Golden birthday, in addition to turning 30. (Whew, that was a mouthful!) Only we didn’t quite make it 30 miles on the bike, or over the Golden Gate Bridge…because, well…did you hear that I was turning 30? I just don’t have the stamina like I did in my 20’s.

But anyway, we checked in to the Sir Francis Drake at Union Square before we picked up these puppies:

And because it’s just good common sense, I wore my helmet proudly.

Although, I have decided that I should probably wear one all the time as I ran into two poles and rammed my knee into a wall while OFF the bike. But, anyway, our first stop was Mission San Francisco de Asis. Our goal is to visit all 21 California missions.  (Yes, J and I are TOTALLY NERDY).

Our next stop was the totally touristy (luckily we fit right in with our bikes!) Painted Ladies, or Alamo Square.

After a quick photo op, we headed toward Golden Gate Park, where we ran into some Buffalo. Cause, really don’t you expect to see huge buffalo along the side of the road in a big city park?

Look at how refreshing J looks after 10 miles…

And, I look like this. Apparently, this is what I look like when I’m trying to pretend I’m cold. Obviously, I missed my calling as an actress.

And sadly, that is the last photo of bike ride. After 13 miles I could only focus on one thing: either pedaling or picture taking. I chose the former, because I knew there would be a hot shower and champagne waiting for me upon my return. But, I did snap this quickie before our well-deserved, carbo-loading pasta dinner:

In which we learned that after 25 miles of bike riding, J is unable to smile on command. And my arm is too tired to hold up my camera.

So, the next morning we headed back home to our baby girl where we promptly decided to have her first experience in the pool. Her reaction:

But all was made better with a few tosses and splashes in the water. (See, I told you she was a little daredevil!)

So, it was a fabulous birthday, and on my actual birthday, we went to The Counter to celebrate my birthday AGAIN, even though Daisy let everyone know she was totally sick of it by wailing the entire time, but it didn’t matter because the sweet potato fries were absolutely worth it.