birthday recap

Not a lot of it was digitally captured, but I had a great week long birthday celebration.
It began with a quest for a new bicycle helmet on Wednesday. Stacey tried to surprise me and took me to 5 different bike shops in Portland. We eventually found out that what I'm looking for doesn't exist (or at least, wouldn't be obtainable that day - a matte brown skate helmet), so we decided to give up. We walked to the bike shop near our new house to make a donation (Stacey's 15 year old bike) and it turns out - they had a great helmet there for cheaper than any of the other places we went. We Win! When we finally got home there was a letter in the mailbox addressed to me from Chicago. Stacey got me a cat from our friend Steve who wants to draw a cat for you.

Stacey then took me out to our favorite and tastiest eatery for a wonderful birthday dinner. Thank you Stacey and thank you Veritable Quandary. We ended the night teaching Level 2 improv class at the theater to a great collection of students!
Thursday was a great show at Mississippi Studios featuring SUCKERS and LOCAL NATIVES. My friend Alex bought me a ticket for my birthday and she, Stacey and myself saw an incredibly tight set by Local Natives. It is obvious to me that they have been touring this album for over a year, but it sounded amazing. See them if they come to your town. Along with the ticket, Alex also got me this boss coffee traveler. Thanks Alex!
On Friday, my friends Allegra and Kristian (who both live in Brooklyn now) had a wedding reception at the theater. It was woodland creature themed and the theater looked awesome. Even in the day! - So it was nice to be at the theater on a Friday night at a party for two great people and not have to do too much work. It was a wonderful wedding reception. Thanks for including us in your plans Legs and Kristian!
Saturday saw our good friend from Seattle, Joel (who's birthday was on the 28th) come to town and we asked him to play in our show. It's always fun to play with Joel. He's a great improvisor and a great person to be around. I can't believe I didn't piece it together as the evening progressed, but throughout the night many friends of mine kept showing up during the show/at intermission. I didn't know why... I guess I was focused on the show - we had a sold out crowd, so I wanted to make sure everything went well. Turns out, Stacey had organized a surprise party for me. I had no idea and it was a perfect way to see all (at least MOST) my Portland friends together for my birthday.
Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate with me. I appreciate all the birthday wishes from my friends everywhere. I really needed it after a stressful couple of weeks. Things are really wonderful and I'm in a great place thanks to everyone around me!