Last night I enjoyed a great dinner with about a dozen of my closest friends. I received several fabulous gifts, including:

• A bright blue Vishuddha thong and dove chocolate bar from Shannon
• A gift certificate to the Tattered Cover Book Store from xero_sphere
• A handmade, fairtrade necklace made with reused materials; low-acid coffee; two leaves and a bud chai tea and caramel hot chocolate from my mom (wow, does she know me, or what?)
  
• One paper pickle and a gift certificate to whole foods from Mark (every girl needs a paper pickle)
  
• A very sweet card and donation to the greenhouse fund from Tim and Holly
• A lovely card with old ladies drinking wine from Glenda
• Three books from Arthur - One on organic gardening, and two on Frank Lloyd Wright (I'll add titles at some point)
• A homemade and very clever card from Mike and Anne, along with two books (Invisible Man is one; the other title escapes me, so I'll add later)
• other gifts associated with my birthday: Lunch treats from Amy, Sarah and the fabulous Jody Reale. Dinner from Susannah. Free dessert from Sushi Hai. The single long-stem rose and chocolate from Indulgences Day Spa. The "thanks for being born" comments from Tori, Mark and others. All the messages from facebook. Hugs, kisses, squeals.

And, the opportunity to hang out with some of the coolest people on the planet. I love you guys.

I really love the tea and the Frank Lloyd Wright books. And the necklace is just amazing. I'll have to upload a copy of the card from Mike and Anne so ya'll can see.

MOE from my birthday:

5. Getting such thoughtful and lovely presents
6. Having the surprise guests Xiren, Aaron and Barb
7. Feeling as if some of the hurt feelings between myself and Aaron have healed. He gave me a hug!
8. Being introduced as "one of the coolest chicks in town"
9. Realizing that I can't think of one horrible thing that happened to me last year
10. The Frank Lloyd Wright books - I eyed similar publications last year during a road trip, and am so excited to have them as inspiration fodder for the ecovillage.

And early this morning, Arthur and Mike and I went to Commerce City to pick up a truckload of office furniture that was given away for FREE. We don't yet have a new office to put it in, however, so the furniture is on our back patio until the end of the month. So MOE #11 was finding out the furniture was still available, and getting so much of what we need so easily.

Okay, I'm now really tired. Going to bed for now, but thanks to all of you who made my 28th birthday oh-so-very-special.

I'm going to try keeping track of my moments of ecstasy (MOE) for the next month. Who knows, I may go longer - but these are the really juicy, lovely parts of my life that fill me with gratitude, happiness and satisfaction. So here are yesterdays:

1. I went to lunch with Sarah and Amy, the lovely staff people of the business alliance. We had decided to have more fun this week, and the lunch was also in celebration of my birthday. (Happy birthday, me!) MOE #1 - having vegetarian buffalo "wings" with an awesome beer in the middle of the day! Mmmm, it was tasty and decadent!
   
2. Friends of Jim got married at the Gothic Theatre yesterday, and I attended the reception with him later, at the bowling alley-bar-music venue next door. MOE #2 - On the way to the party, we passed a Smart Car dealership. I LOVE smart cars! They are so adorable and small and efficient and wonderful! And there's a whole lot of them in south Denver. Who knew.
   
3. MOE #3 - At the reception, they had an entire table filled with chocolate and vanilla cupcakes. 'nuff said.
   
4. And to top it all off, Maris the Great, the most amazing zombie in Denver, walked into the party. I haven't seen Maris in eight years. He's stunning, in all his gory zombie glory. I met him at a party not long after I got married - a CD release party at Xiren's house (which is where I met/chatted with Arthur, although I hardly remember it.) Anyway, Maris and his band, The Faggots of Death, hunt and kill (and then eat) rivaI Denver bands. He's a music critic and stages the most gruesome zombie feasts I've ever seen. Not that I hunt down zombie gore, but I love it. I was so excited to see Maris! I think of him every now and then, hoping he's well (or...at least, still thriving in his undead-ness) He of course wouldn't remember me, but he growled and snarled at me, and asked me to pass along a message to Xiren: the next time he sees you, he will kill you. MOE #4 - Seeing Maris the Great.
   

Today is my birthday. I'm so ridiculously happy to be alive.

I've spent the entire weekend celebrating my birthday, in true make-up-for-lost-time form. And today, I really turn 27.

On Friday, G and E took me to the Original Pancake House for my favorite pancakes ever. On Saturday I got to hang out with A and we had my free "birthday burger" at Red Robin, followed by "The Last Mimsy" (which I highly recommend - great film) Yesterday we went bowling for my birthday, and my mom and Peri brought birthday cake, ice cream, birthday hats, and funny gift bags for everyone that included candy and silly toys. I'm not a good bowler, but it was so fun to hang out with some of my favorite people.

Here's a silly photo of me from the party:


Tonight we're going out for fondue, and I'll get to hang out with more of my favorite people.

I have such a wonderful life. Thanks to all of  you for being a part of it.