I turned 25 last week and had a good time with my co-workers and Troy. I received several cards in the mail which was nice and got a few presents too. With some of my birthday money I plan on getting some new hiking shoes and maybe a new purse that I've been wanting for a while. On my actual birthday, Troy drove me to work and saved me the trouble of walking. When I got to my desk, there were two presents and a few cards there. I got a book called "60 Hikes within 60 Miles of Seattle" and I also got a little dish to save my tea bags on. After about 30 minutes, Troy called and told me to meet him downstairs. He had bought me some asiago cheese bagels with cream cheese for breakfast!

For lunch, my co-workers took me out to eat at a sushi place called Red Fin. I got a Bento Box with a Seattle roll and a California roll. It was really good, but it was a ton of food! One of my co-workers made chocolate chip cookies for me for dessert too, so I was stuffed. Unfortunately I wasn't very hungry for dinner when I got home, so Troy and I waited to eat dinner until almost 6:30. He took me to an Asian place in downtown called Wild Ginger. We got three small dishes to share (family style): mushrooms with pea pods, duck, and mandarin chicken. It was all pretty good, especially the mandarin chicken. It was nice to go somewhere different.

That night we didn't do much since we didn't get home from eating until about 8:30. Troy made me a chocolate cake with chocolate icing (my favorite) and gave me some really nice flowers from Pike Place Market, a bag of honey roasted pecans from Chukar Cherries, and some nice fruit to eat that included a peach, nectarine, apricots, and a pineapple.

Then on Friday, he took me to see The Dark Knight at the Cinerama. I really wanted to see it in IMAX, but it was sold out until this week and I was tired of waiting to see it. I thought it was really good, great acting by Heath Ledger.

On Saturday, we drove to the Washington coast and saw the Pacific Ocean near Westport. We walked along the beach and drove around the scenic areas and saw an old lighthouse called Grays Harbor Lighthouse. We toyed with the idea of going to Portland for the night since it was just over 80 miles away, but figured it would be better to go some other weekend when we'd have more time there. On the way back we stopped in Olympia, Washington state's capital. We ate at an Asian restaurant called The Lemon Grass, which was pretty good, and then drove home.

It was a pretty good birthday, even though it was a little weird not seeing my family. I can't believe I'm already 25.

Click on the link below for pictures:


Video of the coast: