Day Between Actual Birthday and Party Day

November 18, 2005 - Friday
Packed with activities.

Morning was lots of last minute errands: borrowing projector, getting the rest of martini glasses and borrowing keys to Dennis' place so I can bake. After lunch I double check my guest-list for my building security and sent out any last minute details to friends. The rest of the afternoon I baked cupcakes for the party. The idea was to bake about 40 cupcakes so I could spell out my name and have enough for everyone attending. It would serve two purposes: birthday cake and signage for website. I used Martha Stewart's recipe for chocolate cupcakes. It involved a lot of cocoa powder, butter, sugar and sour cream. Yummy. Recipe seemed simple enough but turns out without a KitchenAid mixer it's hard work. Took longer than I'd hope and well let's say my first batch of 18 didn't make it to the party. Second batch came out like fudge. Good fudge but fudge. I will have to retry when I have a mixer or ask Lena to bake some and send them to me for comparison.

I wanted and needed to make another batch but I ran out of time. It was 6 o'clock and I was to meet Dennis at 7. He's taking me to Carnegie Hall for a concert. It was partly birthday treat and a thank you. I took time out of my busy schedule to be home for the shipping company that he hired to pick up and ship his double bass case he borrowed from a friend when he moved here. He's so lucky to have a neighbor who works part-time and is sweet enough to do such a good deed. We was going to buy me dinner as a thank you but I'd mentioned to him that I'd rather see a concert with him. I don't have a lot of classically trained musician friends and I rather enjoy doing stuff with people who are expert in a field. Like going to a baseball game with someone who knows stats of the player. Turns out it's a completely different game seeing with someone who knows the game. So I thought it would be cool to go to a concert with someone who knows music. And in our earlier conversations I mentioned how I've never been to Carnegie Hall. Dennis not only been in but actually played there. Isn't that wild? As if fated Dennis' friend Lisa was playing with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall this very weekend.

Having never been to Carnegie Hall but having watched many films involving Carnegie Hall, I got dressed up. Really dressed up. I did my hair differently. Wore a dress. Put on my high-heeled shoes and even wore pantyhose. It's Friday night and I'm going to a symphony concert. A perfect excuse to get all dolled up. I think the last time I got this dressed up was to see "Wicked" with my community center gals. Geesh that was a while ago.

Carnegie Hall is beautiful. I recommend everyone going there at least once. We were sitting in the balcony section so we could see the whole orchestra. The acoustics was amazing. The symphony sounded like a recording, clear and vibrant. I especially enjoyed seeing the movement of the string section. It looked like currents in water.

Afterwards we went to the back door to meet up with his friend Lisa. Well it turned out to be a reunion of sorts for Dennis. He was running into people he played with in various orchestra or from Yale where he also met Lisa. This is where I realized I was shortsighted about my dress. It was freezing that night and I didn't dress for the weather especially to be standing more than 2 minutes. Next time I'm gonna have to opt for warmth than looking good. Actually who am I kidding. I'm gonna make this mistake again.


We ended up in Lisa's hotel Novetel's lobby/bar. Had drinks and some food. I was starving. Didn't eat anything since lunch. I don't eat when I bake. Luckily the food at the hotel was good and the company was good. Lisa turns out to be Korean. Her friend Eugene is also Korean. They found out I was Korean almost 2/3 into the night. We quickly bonded not because we were Korean but because we didn't see ourselves as typical Korean. Kinda funny. They were cool. I had a good time.