F*ck the Fire Marshall or No, I don't have a plan B.

I didn't know what to name my birthday weekend post - those were the two finalists. Alas - it was quite and interesting blog worthy weekend. Drove down to LA and after visiting with my cousins and uncle for a bit - I got ready and headed to North Hollywood for the big birthday dinner at Tokyo Delve's. We had 11 people showing and I had said that we should try to meet at 745 - since our reservations were at 8pm, figured that would be good. I got on the freeway at 705pm and immediately got stuck in traffic, then I took the 605 to the 210 and got stuck in traffic there. Stupid LA drivers. Anyways I got there at about 755pm and found Joel and Ivan there already. Ivan is a friend from college who found me on myspace and I haven't seen him in about 10 years. So the rest of the gang starts showing up and due to lack of parking in the area - people were walking in from blocks away. Scott and The Ang from Scottytime fame were there as well, along with Carol, Hope, Xochilt, Waymond, Sophia, Juan, and lovely ole me. Dinner is supposed to start at 8pm - I don't think we got inside until about 820pm or so and they apologized by having a mini keg of beer and sake waiting for us (important). So our waiter Scott introduces himself and asks us if we want anything - we say maybe water and Juan had enough foresight to order some edemame (again, important). We dilly dally enough and finally get around to deciding what we want when Scott the waiter comes back and tells us that the fire marshal is outside threatening to shut them down for the night for overcrowding and therefore not taking any food or drink orders because if they do shut them down -they would have to give it to us for free. I look around and everyone is seated - but apparently (by apparently I mean, I'm totally guessing) that since we were waiting outside for so long it proved a problem out there that they figure was going to translate inside. Ok - so Scott of Scottytime, the Ang, and I do a sake bomb and the edemame shows. We dig in. We are all chatting and I do another sake bomb and then its official - they shut the place down. Ok - now comes one of my favorite parts of the night - the trying to leave portion. I wanted a souvenir of the night and was joking with Scott (the waiter) that we should be able to take the mini keg home and he says no, I said fine what about a nice sake set, he could even autograph it for me. Again, he said no. So me with me empty stomach and two sake bombs (oh yeah, I was way buzzing) we go outside. We were outside waiting for the gang to figure out what plan b was - I mean, seriously on a Saturday night, no reservations? Yeah, kind of screwed we were. Waymond comes out with some sushi on some shells - ok - remember, we didn't order anything. The boy was scavenging from other tables! My kind of friends. Since I was in no shape to drive, I hopped into Juan's car and off we went to Citywalk. We lost Joel, Waymond, and Sophia to their respective homes (damn their responsible thinking) so we were down to 8. We made our way to Camacho's on Citywalk and now I wanted mariachis to serenade me. After Scott puts us down for a reservation (with a 45min-1 hour wait) we hit the bar. Why did I order a margarita?!? Why?!? I don't know. So we were chatting and my friends were getting to know one another. I was telling Joel that I was a bit nervous - you know when all your worlds meet? Anyways - everyone seemed to get along just fine, no fist fights or drinks being thrown. I thought it was funny hanging out with Scott - we haven't seen one another in about 5 years - we talked on the phone a while back, but with the blog, its like we chat everyday. It was all good. During dinner - I remember being really loud and (allegedly) embarrassing by yelling at the mariachis while they were on their break and asking them to sing for me for my birthday. Yeah, that didn't happen either. Had to call it a night about 1145pm. I have to say that I had such a great time and I thank all my friends for showing up. Yes, I'm working on the move....I will keep you posted!

This is a great sake set that I received as a present...aren't they great?!?!

Sunday I went to my niece's birthday party and it was so cute to watch all the kids play around. My cousin let me participate in all the games since I was a birthday girl too. I got my ass handed to me by a 9 year old in a coloring contest. Dammit. Ok - so maybe I'm mean, but I was dying when the kids opened up the pinata and when the candy fell out, my niece just lost it. She started crying hysterically! My mom said that we used to do that too but I dont buy it. I was just rolling - she even ran into her room (the party was in the patio of their apartment complex). Then we go get her and do the 2nd pinata and when the 2nd one blows - so does she. I felt bad that I was laughing at her, but the way she was crying it was as if her pet had died. I lied, I dont feel bad, it was pretty funny.

Ok - my grandmother is a nut and I have a story about the present she gave me, but it has to be its own post. So that will be going up later.