gâtée

 my birthday was earlier this month. i was, of course, stressed about it. and while it was a little strange to be away from home, i was so well loved and it ended up being a really great day.
to start off, i was woken up by a flower delivery.

one of the top ten ways to be woken up

i did have to work (pauvre moi) but one of my classes had heard that it was my birthday and brought me in a cake with candles, chocolates, and coca-cola and threw me a little surprise party at the end of class and sang me happy birthday (in english!).
some very sweet and thoughtful people sent me cards and packages ahead of time so i got to rip into some presents!
early that evening i went to kerri's where there was another cake and happy birthday singing and time with friends & community.
after that we went out to sushi with some of the assistants.

sven getting a little fiesty with his chopsticks

they gave me some awesome presents including a book, a pretty bell for my bike, and a sunflower that's bigger than i am. 

literally

we almost took out a light trying to get it out of the restaurant.

and thanks to sweet madeline for all the pictures!

then we went out for drinks and met up with some more friends. if you're looking for the best band covering 90s alternative on a tuesday night in aix, i can now tell you it's at splendid.

this is what a spoiled & sugared-up 23-year-old looks like

 and since i'm an old lady now, i promptly went home and went to bed.