Birthday celebration
My birthday is January 30, the day before Kira's. I will be on a cruise ship in the Caribbean with my friend, Karen, for my birthday - just as I was for my birthday last year. Paul is less than thrilled at the prospect of me going away without him for eight days, but the trip was planned long before he and I became a serious couple.
He took me out last night to celebrate my birthday in advance. Before leaving for dinner, he handed me a card and a small wrapped box. The card, as always, was a beautiful, sappy, romantic card...just the sort of thing I swoon over.
Tip: Guys, women LOVE sappy cards. For most of us, a sappy card means more than dinner at an expensive restaurant or a bottle of perfume. Do yourself a favor. Go to Hallmark.
I read the card and began to open the box. It was obviously wrapped by the store and nearly impossible to remove from the very tightly wrapped paper. The box was from a well-known jewelry store chain - not the sort of "10-pairs of earrings for $10" mall shop where I generally buy all my jewelry.
Tip: Guys, if you're in a relationship that seems to be heading down that road to commitment, avoid giving gifts in small boxes from expensive jewelry stores, lest you give your sweetie a heart attack.
No, it was not a ring. It was a very beautiful garnet (my birthstone and favorite color - red) and diamond necklace. In an odd coincidence, I had not worn a necklace last night, although I nearly always do.
We went to Olive Garden for dinner. We'd gone there following the "Virtuous Bitch" wager and Paul said he'd never seen me eat so much. He thinks I eat like a bird. At the end of the meal, the waitstaff brought me chocolate cake and sang the obligatory embarrassing birthday song. They also handed me a dozen red roses, which clearly Paul had supplied. They're just gorgeous.
After that we went dancing at a club where Paul's favorite local band was playing. The band was great, but the place was uncomfortably crowded, so we didn't stay very long.
That's the Paul update for today, for the handful of you who actually care about all this sappy, romantic stuff. (I suspect that list may be limited to Kira, Gene and Tom! And THEY are probably just being polite!!)
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The Kitchen Renovation:
Is nearly done. Here are a couple photos:
posted by WordWhiz at 1/22/2006
18 Comments:
The kitchen looks awesome. Great job.
9:09 AM
Although the microwave doesn't fit it anymore. Come on, Whizzer, everyone knows that you have to colour co-ordinate your kitchen appliances?!? Get a red one....
9:12 AM
No, no. I am a serious "carer" about things romantic. Paul has excellent taste/ideas. Way to be, P.
I really dig your kitchen. The white cabinets are sensational.
12:46 PM
Paul: Thanks. I was a little concerned about the red counters when I first got them (it looked good on the little chip!), but now that they're in, I like 'em!
Merkin: The toaster oven is red, however it doesn't exactly match the red counter. Might be better to get a WHITE microwave, to go with the cabinets. I thinking I may need to replace the light fixtures now. The brown woodgrain just doesn't work. All the trim should be white now. It's never-ending!
Gene: Awww...thanks! I care about you too! And I'm glad you like the kitchen. Paul's coming down Wednesday to hook up the dishwasher, which is merely taking up space at the moment!
1:31 PM
You're wrong! Alex cares too! haha! No, really, that's actually the truth. He doesn't admit this around guys because he doesn't want to have his guy card yanked away from him, but he's a total romantic and likes to hear about ohter people being romanced and in love. I just read to him this post as he sits on the sofa right now, and he was VERY interested. I swear! Good job, Paul! I'm glad it was a special and memorable evening. I don't think we can celebrate my birthday on its date because we can only hook up over the weekends. As he is planning on taking me to a fondue restaurant (not kid friendly), I don't think it can be next weekend as they'll be with us. It will probably be the weekend after that. He has promised me my chocolate cake by next weekend, though, so the kids can enjoy it too...I guess it'll be birthday WEEK!
I think the red countertops are a great idea, esp as the rest of the cabinets are white and all. White countertops are a bitch to clean. It looks great! Dishwasher, running water...life is good.
2:47 PM
You can add me to the list if it isn't too late. I told you he was a keeper!
Kitchen looks lovely; wish it was mine!
3:26 PM
Wow..the roses match the countertops! How cool is that. I'm lookin' for a romantic like Paul. Send one my way if you find another one.
3:30 PM
Kenju: Thanks!
Poopie: It's a deal! Next sweet and sappy romantic I find is all yours! (Unless he's 18-25. Then he's promised to my daughter.)
No kidding - I am truly among the world's least demanding women; I'm very low maintenance. No offense to my male readers, but men (okay, perhaps humans in general) tend to give no more than what is expected. Because I've never demanded it, I'm not used to being spoiled like this. I love it (when I'm not dealing with the GUILT it tends to induce), but I never cease to be surprised by it. Corny as it sounds, I thank God every day that I have someone this kind and generous in my life. I'm completely overwhelmed!! And contrary to popular belief, there really ARE guys like this out there!! Don't give up, Poopie!!
3:45 PM
my birthday is jan 25th
mrs mcg is jan 29th.
such great people born this glorious month..
;)
5:30 PM
I love the kitchen! Will you come remodel my house??
6:09 PM
I tried to zoom in to see what the bottles were on the counter. I'm looking to add onto my own bar. No could do, though.
6:40 PM
McG: Yes, the very best people are born in January!
Amanda: Thanks! The red didn't turn out to be so jarring after all!
Big Dave: Two of the bottles on the counter were gifts and are just oil with spices floating in them - those decorative things you see in Italian restaurants. There's probably a name for them, but I'm not sophisticated enough to know it. I'm not sophisticated enough to spell sophisticated... sophistocated...??? I added a 6" wide base unit cabinet to my new kitchen (see the far left side of the tall photo) that holds 5 or 6 wine bottles. I like red wine and I am constantly trying new under-$12 bottles from my local store. I don't know a whole lot about wine, but I figured it would make me look classy to have wine cubbies in my kitchen. (Did it work??)Oh...the third bottle on the counter is a red wine, but it's one I've never had before. I could go look to see what it is, but I woudln't recommend it. I don't care for it. I tried one called Three Blind Moose recently. Sounds awful and I got it because the label was a conversation starter. But it's not bad and it's very inexpensive. There's a cabernet from Chile I really like. The name is escaping me at the moment. I'll email it to you when I remember it. It's probably my favorite.
8:12 PM
After all the trouble with the kitchen, it really looks great.
12:23 PM
Tip #2 is a very good one. I thought it was a ring, too.
I agree with Hoss. I'm a carer of all things romantic, too.
The kitchen is looking great!
1:52 PM
happy early bday!
5:16 PM
AC: Thanks. You're right, it's been a lot of trouble. That probably makes it twice as exciting that it's finally starting to look finished!!
BF: I honestly think I stopped breathing momentarilly when I opened the box. I can't describe the feeling. Email to follow. I thought I had another week before my next article was due, then rechecked the mail last night to discover that it's due TODAY! All I've done is collect some preliminary notes!! I'm going to be like the procrastinating student, writing my term paper the day before it's due!
Jordan: Thanks! I linked ya...did you notice??
7:58 PM
The kitchen looks terrific! And it sounds like you had a wonderful birthday dinner. Sappy guys are the best.
Enjoy your cruise -- ours is in March and I can't wait!
8:05 PM
I love what you've done to the place...clean, bright, functional. Everything a ktichen should be!
11:52 AM
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