Week 20: Turning 24

Week 20: May 14-20, 2023

A birthday does not have to last one singular day. Mine never does. Though the 16th of May is by far the greatest day for obvious reasons, I manage to maintain celebratory activities throughout the entire month.

This past week, Week 20, happened to be a week full of birthday celebrations. I was able to fill the days and celebrate with friends, do a Taco Tuesday Birthday Edition, and get an amazing dinner with my sister and brother-in-law.

I fear I am on the verge of a quarter-life crisis. The logic here is simple:

20-23: Early 20's

24-26: Mid 20's

27-29: Late 20's

Turning 24 officially places me in the Mid 20's category. We'll see what happens. Honestly, I sometimes feel like I've already had a couple crises.

Thankfully, this week was crisis-free, and I was able to manage my friends' differing schedules enough to plan dinner. I woke up for work and was delighted to see Shayna had secretly blown up a bunch of balloons while I was sleeping.

Working on my birthday felt borderline sacrilegious but it was balanced by the deal I had with some coworkers. I hoped that the Sales Team wouldn't bother me at all on my birthday, and they managed to succeed.

After we all were off work, my friends and I went to Fred's in Old Town for Taco Tuesday. It was a short-lived dinner, even though the margaritas and tacos were decent. The DJ was blasting super loud music and we couldn't hear each other. It was impossible to have a proper conversation without someone leaning toward you, scrunching their eyes and saying "What?" Even our server had to clarify our orders multiple times.

Frozen Strawberry Margarita at Fred's

Three Tacos for a Birthday Taco Tuesday

We got out of there quickly and enjoyed Oreo ice cream cake at home (yes, I may be 24 now, but my birthday cake hints at 6 or 7...).

I removed the candles by hand and blew them out away from the cake to avoid spreading germs

The next day, my sister and brother-in-law took me to a delicious, bougie meal at Kingfisher.

I got this pic from Yelp

I had never been there before and was blown away by the culinary expertise in each dish. I absolutely loved the maximalist interior of the restaurant. I felt so lucky and grateful to be treated to a special meal like that. From having friends in the fine dining industry and from all the cooking shows I've consumed, I think I have grown a level of appreciation for the work that goes into a good dish. I'm an easy sell when it comes to food, and won't ever turn up my nose at fast food or dive-y restaurants, but this was a different world. Even our server at Kingfisher mentioned how each course was going to flow together and advised us on which cocktails would feel the most cohesive with our selections.

Our drinks!

Beef Tartare

Baja Striped Seabass and Rice

Guava Daquiri

Smoked Dry Aged Duck

Three desserts!

For the first course, we got cocktails, beef tartare, and crispy chicken wings. That was followed by a striped seabass dish with seasoned rice. They insisted I get another drink, so I tried the guava daquiri. Everything was absolutely delicious, but the star of the show was definitely the smoked dry aged duck. It literally melted in my mouth and had such a rich flavor that my mouth is watering just typing this now. I think it was the star of the show because I rarely eat duck, and could never have the patience to prepare something like that. I'd eat that every day if it was financially possible and had no impact on my health. People often forget how much butter is actually used in good meals... (Well, duh! that is why the food tastes so good...)

We finished the meal off with a delicious vanilla flan (with miso cream!), raspberry ice cream and black tea ice cream from Chino Farms. They even brought a little candle with the dessert for my birthday. I saved my sister from having to sing by ushering them away from a few whispered lines of "Happy Birthday" and blowing out the candle as quickly as I could.

My sister was also the long distance flower delivery service for my mother, who gave me this gorgeous bouquet. "It's bright and colorful like you!"

Crazy and gorgeous bouquet from my mom

I love my birthday, mainly because I love celebrating stuff. I love getting to do nice things with people I care about. I am always up for any type of celebration and for a few days every year, its nice to be the reason for celebration! I am surrounded by great friends and family and feel so fortunate to have another year around the sun under my belt.

See you next week.