Ack! Sorry it's been a week since I updated! I truly mean to be better about that this year. I blame the World of Warcraft Burning Crusade expansion...

I've been having a *great* birthday week (actual day is tomorrow). Last Thursday, Tim took me to see Romeo & Juliet, a Fire Ballet at the Crucible. Seriously excellent fun -- there were flaming sword fights, explosions, molten liquid being poured into wedding band rings, glass blown right on stage, not to mention the ballet dancers, aerial dancers, break/ hip-hop dancers, capeoria dancers and martial artists, each outdoing the other with outstanding displays of talent, skill and ability to contort and/ or flip their bodies around to astound the audience. The party scene had tango dancers with flaming fans and fire blooms that were extinguished during the dips at the end in the ladies' mouths... Every railiing on stage was aflame from gas jets at some point (usually flaring brighter when Romeo and Juliet were gettin' their love on). In fact, it was so spectacular, I was almost *bored* during the ballet dancing parts! I have lots of crits of the ballet dancing, but as Tim pointed out, I'm more qualified to critique ballet than I am fire, so it stands to reason.

The whole thing was great fun, and I left there wanting to revise "Immolation" (which is out, so I can't, and I shouldn't anyway, since it's officially "done" or abandoned or whatever it is that happens to stories when you've fiddled with them enough already). I also got a class catalog, which is full of classes I would love to take, but I don't have the time nor money, ah well...

Saturday night we went into the city to eat at Cortez. In addition to two Ginger Lemonades (made with Ketel One vodka), we had:

• Baby mizuna salad with shaved Bartlett pear, Manchego cheese, mint & curry-almond butter (which I see we had last year. I didn't like it as much this year, I'm afraid, but it was still good.)
  
• Chefs' crudo inspired by the freshest fish and seasonal produce (yellowtail covered with strawberries and avocado... such a great dish, probably my favorite of the evening)
  
• Soup Shots for Two (fennel soup -- very yummy, could have done a whole bowl of it)
  
• Katafi crusted crab cake with citrus marinated cabbage & tarragon aioli (Oh, so good!)
  
• French fries with zaatar & harissa aiolis (Mmmmm, french fries should always be so good)
  
• Saffron scented Chatham cod with celery-olive oil mousseline, herb glazed baby fennel, spiced almonds & sauce barigoule (wasn't as hot as it could have been, but yummy anyway. Also, it had foam! Foam! I was so tickled by foam, but have decided that I don't like it and Marcel is on crack)
  
• and the paired wine: Chenin Blanc, Foxen, "Old Vines", Santa Maria, 2005 (went perfectly with the fish, as expected)
  
• Tim's dessert: Warm double chocolate truffle cake with bourbon vanilla ice cream & salted cocoa nib crunch
  
• and the paired liquor: Vermeer chocolate liquor 3
  
• My dessert isn't listed on their site anymore, but it was a insanely good lemon tart, grapefruit smoothie (with tiny spoon to eat it with!), crepe and fruit.
  
• and the paired wine was a Muscato that went so well with the lemon tart I wished there was more, more, more!
  
• We also had the milkshake shots for two.

Overall, a great meal. The service wasn't great at first -- our waiter was less than warm, and seemed distracted. He left just before dessert (which explains the distraction) and Chris, the guy who took over, was fabulous. I loooove Cortez and hope we can afford to keep up this tradition. It ain't a cheap place.

Tim gave me a pair of beautiful earrings -- fresh water pearls (reddish in color) with gold leaves dangling beneath them. Beautiful! And they weren't even ones that I'd picked out before, proving (as I've always said) that he *does* know my taste in jewelry. I love getting jewelry from my lover; it's just so romantic!

Tomorrow night, on my actual birthday, I'm going out to dinner with my sister then to karaoke at The Mint. It's my co-worker Evan's last day, and he's taking over the joint, and I decided it sounded like fun. I'll try not to get too overly drunk (which I do around karaoke because of the nerves) and just roll with the singin'. If you're local and want to stop by, please do! I'm guessing we'll be there around 8 or so...

Other than this, I've been leveling my Dranaei hunter, Greyjoy and her kitty, Biffy on World of Warcraft. The expansion is crazy fun, yo. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed WoW so much... sooooo addictive again!

Anyway, that's it for now. Ta!