Birthday Celebration

Ok, I have to be kind of quick about this because Lena and I are leaving in a little while to go camping and we still have to eat and pack and stuff.

My birthday was interesting. Very fun, but very interesting. First, thank you to everyone who sent me birthday wishes on vkontatke and facebook, and texts, even people who haven't spoken to me since May (you know who you are sir). I miss you all very much and would have loved for you to be with me last night and enjoy the experience I had. Second, thank you to Lena for throwing me a wonderful party and caring so much about me and making sure I had a good and memorable time. Я тебя люблю! Third, thank you to Misha and Dima and Lena for actually getting me gifts! How cute and sweet! (Especially to Lena for telling the guys what to get me because she has a wonderful memory!)

So, the party. Colin showed up first and helped us finish getting ready. We chilled and listened to Magical Mystery Tour of course because I need it when I'm getting ready these days. Then Misha showed up and we decided to start eating. The egg salad was a bit hit. We made a bug batch of it with 20 eggs and there was only a spoonful left at the end of the night! No one really liked my iced tea as much as I did but I made Colin drink some. Everybody made toasts in my honor and it was very sweet! Dima finally came over and he brought me a beautiful plant of pink flowers that smell SO good and also 2 DVDs of movies that I love in Russian. Then we ate the pilmeni and smetana and it was DELICIOUS. Totally my favorite Russian food. We did drink some vodka (it was my 21st!) but I knew it would be ok because my mamochka was there watching me :-) One of the shots we did (Dima and I were the only ones drinking the vod) we had to balance the shot glass on our elbow and then lean in and drink the shot without touching it. It was kind of hard but fun!

After that Lena disappeared into the other room and came back with a cake! I was so surprised! It was so delicious and rich because it had smetana in it! It was also really pretty because there was chocolate shavings on the top. It was so nice! And delicious. They were even candles and they sang "Happy Birthday". It was wonderful. We had tea with our cake and it was delicious. They we all just sort of hung out and talked. My birthday was came true pretty quickly, which was nice.

It was a wonderful party. This is the third year in a row that I've celebrated my birthday away from home, away from my friends and family. It can be a little sad, but my Russian friends and family outdid themselves to make my birthday wonderful. I can't thank them enough!