Here's a picture from my birthday - Susan, Jeff, Kristen, me, Herb, Patrick and Kim around one of the poker tables at Sally O'Brien's. There are a few more pictures on Flickr.

The night was truly wonderful. Despite the fact that all I did on Wednesday is what I do every Wednesday - go to work and then go play poker - I felt really special. :-) Kristen, her brother CJ, Susan, Kim, Patrick and later Jeff and Mario all came, which was fantastic. I didn't pay for drinks all night (I think next to Susan is Sapphire & Tonic #5, but I'm really not sure). The cards went my way almost all night, leading to my first win in 6 months, I think, which is almost unbelievable (at least I know that no one there would ever LET me win the tournament - I earned it, drunk as I was). Herb had a cake for me - I wish I had taken a picture of it, because it was a really nice cake - it was decorated with cards (made of icing, of course) and said "Happy Birthday Lizjones". Kim gave me a bottle of Rioja (and a funny card) and Herb gave me (what else) a bottle of Sapphire and a couple of bottles of tonic (and a funny card). It was really nice night. And since I was too drunk to drive myself home at the end of the night (Herb drove me home), Jen, the fabulous bartender, paid the meter for me in the morning until I was able to move my car.

Thursday I did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. I wish I could stay home every Thursday. I also ordered my favorite hangover food - Chinese food. :-) On Friday, I headed to the beach with Susan and CJ, and then met up with Kim and Patrick at Woodman's in Essex for dinner. Woodman's claims to have invented the fried clam, which is why I went there, and I must say that their fried clams (and steamers and popcorn shrimp) were absolutely wonderful. We then headed over to Jeff's and made Bailey's ice cream (SO GOOD) and played cards. Later I met up with Herb at (where else) Sally's for twangy night - some friends from the bar were there, which made it even more fun (and the music was great).

Again, Saturday, I didn't do much of anything. I'd been considering going out to Sally's again for more local music, but wasn't really feeling up to drinking. Yesterday, I went into Boston for Shakespeare on the Common - it was the closing night performance of Taming of the Shrew. I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some food and then headed to the Common, arriving 2 hours early for a good spot. Two hours of eating and knitting went by pretty quickly, as far as I was concern, and was well worth it for a fabulous performance. They set the show in 1950's North End (with Petruchio's country home set in Revere Beach) and they threw in some fun Boston references. The costumes were great, and the acting was amazing. The weather continued to be perfect all weekend.

The last highlight of the weekend was purchasing tickets to see Ani DiFranco at the Orpheum in November. Kathy and I are going to see her on two consecutive nights - first in Boston and then in Providence the next night - and we're both excited. Normally I think that sort of thing is silly, but the tickets weren't too expensive (about $35 apiece, before surcharges) and I haven't see Ani since November of 2002. I also have yet to see a show at the Orpheum, and I've heard great things about that place, so it's another reason to be excited.

AND! This week is Resaurant Week in Boston! So, dinner tonight at Icarus, tomorrow at Monica's and Friday at Upstairs on the Square. Can't wait. :-)

- Lizzardie, at 11:37 AM Post Link