Well, my 27th birthday could have been more enjoyable. I had a great time relaxing in the hotel room, but I felt vaguely sick part of the time - oh well. Dinner at Inn of the Seventh Ray was fabulous, though I am making a late New Year’s Resolution to never visit such a pretentious restaurant again. If I’m paying $25 for my entree, I expect more than four ravioli squares. (I had wanted the butternut squash risotto but it wasn’t even on the menu.) I don’t mind paying high prices for a big plate of fancy food, but paying high prices for a TINY plate of food is ridiculous to me. I enjoyed everything I had - Oregonzola Blue Cheese Tart, Cauliflower and Red Pepper Soup, Vegan Mascarpone Ravioli, and Mascarpone Cheesecake - but the prices were just appalling. Dinner for two, including four courses, one glass of wine each, tax, and tip came to $175. Ouch.

The waiter who brought our receipt was not our usual waiter, and he said “happy birthday” to me. I wondered how he knew it was my birthday, and I figured it must have been on the bill. How tacky, I thought, to charge for a single birthday candle on my cheesecake! But when I checked the paper, I was tickled to see that we were actually charged $0.00 for “1 fire soup” - I guess that’s just how they noted the candle! How funny. There was a new age shop on the premises, and I had A buy me an $8 pendant with a little glass vial of pink fairy dust and a silver fairy wrapped around the vial. I think it’s adorable!

Tomorrow is our grand tour where we do all the cliché stuff - the Hollywood sign, the Chinese theater, etc. I am NOT looking forward to going home and having it be all cold and yucky. I know some cool stuff will have arrived in the mail though, so I am at least looking forward to that - and to grabbing and squeezing the first kitty I see!