a belated birthday post

There are many belated posts I need to write, but let's start with this one; my birthday.  But first, a photo of Winston, who is shaved for the summer.  This is also the first time he's ever been shaved.  Check it out; he's wearing Ugg boots!

So my birthday came and went last week - 12/12/12.  The big 3-1.  I'm no longer "Thirty", I'm now "early Thirty's".  Sigh.

My birthday this year was quite spectacular.  It started off with one of my oldest girlfriends sending me a bouquet of flowers.  My lovely flatmate made me homemade marshmallows with my name on them, and a Maple leave drawn onto one.  I got to speak with my mother - who lives in Jordan, so it's no small feat arranging time differences - and a coworker took me out for a really delicious lunch.  I got quite the loot this year, all of it sentimental and spot-on "me".  I also had drinks with my friends a few days later, and ended the night with bad karaoke. 

One of my amazing cousins went above and beyond.  She knew the depth of my homesickness, so she sent away for a *beautiful* necklace: a real maple leave skeleton dipped in gold!  It's stunning, and I've been getting so many compliments on it.  And the sentiment behind it is just out of this world.

Plus, the day itself involved dressing up to the nines and drinking wine from crystal glasses in my favourite park - with my boyfriend (whom I've yet to tell you about). 

He took me on a night of surprises, and the piece de la resistance was the seasons tickets he gave me to the Belvoir Theatre Company!

And not only all of this, but I found out at my birthday party that I've been cast in a one-woman show!  (For those of you who don't know, I'm involved in theatre).

So so far, 12/12/12 was a very auspicious start to the year!