happy birthday to me!

click here to see the whole night

this weekend i celebrated my 28th birthday - after 21, birthdays seem to be mostly a let down - but this year was, by far, the best birthday i've had since childhood (you know, when mom was still in charge of the festivities) - the night started out with an amazing meal at a sexy restaurant with live music - then we headed back to my place, where we set up a full bar/balloons/cupcakes/the whole nine, on the roof of my building downtown - the weather was perfect, the company was perfect, the city lights were perfect - and just when i thought it couldn't possibly get any better...my friends surprised me with one of my favorite musicians - who serenaded us all for the rest of the evening - what a magical night!

we built this city

you know you're growing accustomed to life downtown when the sound of the traffic outside lulls you to sleep like ocean waves - the ebb and flow of the city begins to sound like music - and just this morning i was listening to the squeal of braking buses, and a chord emerged...i think it was c minor

'a flurry of groin-hugging spandex'

click here to check out the rest of the photos

last night i made my way out to the house of blues to catch a band called steel panther - it was literally like being in the movie spinal tap - take every 80's hairband cliche...exaggerate it - then add a lot of leopard spandex and incredibly offensive lyrics, and you get steel panther...so bad, it's good - there was actually a moment when the guitarist whipped out a mirror to check his lip gloss, and then proceeded to douse himself with hairspray - but antics aside, these guys are actually pretty amazing musicians - and it was one of the most hilariously entertaining rock shows i've ever been to