A fantastic birthday :)

Thank you all for thinking about me on my birthday and sending gifts, cards, emails, text messages and messages on Facebook! You all really made my birthday extra-special :)

It was a really good! decision to take yesterday off. J and I were able to sleep in a little bit and when I got up, it was a good time to call my sister and congratulate her on OUR birthday. Pretty much my whole family had gathered at my sister’s place, hence I was able to talk to all of them shortly which was really nice!

I had baked myself a birthday cake [marble cake – one of my favorites :)] and had a piece with my first cup of coffee, while opening the birthday mail that had arrived at our place over the last couple of days. I really cherished the moment!

J got me a really sweet card and two gift certificates – one for L’occitane [Skincare & Bodycare ] and one for Victoria Secret. Oh yes! :) I also got a really cute card from Kim along with a DVD that I had wanted for a long time: Momo, a film based on the novel by Michael Ende [thanks so much, sweetie!]. Sanni und Sebi sent me a Pearl Jam DVD [awesome!], I got a really cute keychain from Ute and Justin and my roommate Kari got me a cool thermos mug from Starbucks!

My Mom and my Dad were going to give me some money [because I am saving up for this baby here] but they also sent me a really nice birthday-booklet that moved me to tears. I miss them… especially on my birthday!

After a really nice laid-back morning, we got ready and left for the Bay Area around 1 p.m. We first stopped at the Berkeley Marina for an awesome view of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather was sunny and warm, but a little windy. We walked along the pier and took some pictures.

Then we drove to Rockridge and walked up College Avenue into Berkeley. We had café latte/beer at a little café and then we went back to the Marina and had something to drink while watching some wind surfers in the bay.

We had dinner reservations at “Skates on the Bay” at 6:30 p.m. I had wanted to go to this restaurant for the longest time. I’ve been receiving their online newsletter for at least two years and usually they send you discount coupons for your birthday. That was the perfect opportunity to finally check it out.

We got there at 6:00 p.m. and sat down for drinks in the lounge. I had a “Lemon Drop”… OMG! Dangerous. Especially on an empty stomach.

We transferred to our dinner table right at the window around 6:45 pm and had a breath-taking view over the San Francisco Bay and the onset of a beautiful sunset. It was perfect! Look at that!

Our dinner started off with two delicious appetizers: Hot King Crab and Artichoke Dip and Seafood Deviled Egg Trio. As an entrée I chose the Grilled Seafood Brochette with fresh salmon, prawns, jumbo scallop, and hazelnuts. J went for the Rack of Baby Back Ribs with Hawaiian BBQ sauce. It was really, really good!
Since it was my birthday – and I had noted that in my dinner reservation – the nice waitress brought me a slice of key lime pie with a candle for dessert. I wasn’t going to order dessert, but oh well… it was delicious :)
With a free dessert and a birthday discount on top of that, we really made a sweet deal last night!!

Considering the fact that I couldn’t see any of my family or friends for my birthday, J and I made the best of it and had a really, really fantastic day! :)

For all photos go here.