My 23rd Birthday.

Wow. What I intended to be a pretty low-key birthday turned out to be random yet enjoyable. It started off with me getting to my desk to find the white board decorated by my cubemate Annie.

I didn't really want to make a huge deal at work, because I didn't think it was groundbreaking news, but the day continued with coworkers and friends stopping by and calling to send their birthday greetings, which was really thoughtful of everyone.

At lunch, a group of Googlers from 24/7 and my coworkers in my department headed to main campus for some good grub and good company in what turned out to be a gorgeous day.

As the day progressed, Julie- a friend from 3:18 (a different small group at GrX)- found out that I hadn't made any plans for the day and invited me out to the driving range to chill with her coworkers. I was hesitant in going because it would have only been the second time at a range, and I was a bit hesitant on going because I knew I'd embarrass myself.

However, much to my amusement and surprise, I was actually able to consistently make contact and send the ball flying. I guess the whole getting older thing has improved upon my skills in old-people sports like golf! We wound up staying at the range for about an hour and a half, and then we headed off to the next event of the day.


After grabbing a quick bite to eat with Henry and Jules, we headed over to Daly City to meet up with the rest of their small groups for their weekly bowling get-together. While waiting for the lanes to open up, we went across the lot to Tapioca Express, where I was treated to a peach smoothie boba.

It wasn't until I was almost halfway done with the smoothie that I realized it had milk in it. For those of you who don't know, I belong in the community of those who are lactose intolerant. However, luckily, there were no problems to be faced tonight :)

Finally, after waiting for about an hour for our lanes to open up, we headed across the parking lot to the alley to get our bowl on! However, it did not turn out to be the casual, leisurely bowling that I've grown accustomed to.

I learned a couple of very important lessons today: 3:18 small group members are pretty hardcore about their bowling. I haven't seen so many 100+ players in one game ever, and it was kind of amusing to see how into it some people got- i.e. they'd beat themselves up for not clearing each frame. Yeah, for me? I was just glad if I didn't gutterball!

And the second lesson of the day?: Whenever it's your birthday, prepare to be embarrassed. Just when I thought I was in the clear, Julie pulls out this hideous purple boa and a birthday hat, forcing me to put it on to the amusement of others.

Regardless, what was expected to be a pretty low-key birthday turned out to be very eventful after all.

Thanks so much to everyone who called, emailed, im-ed, Facebooked, and whatnot to wish my a happy birthday. As lonely as it gets in this city sometimes, I felt really loved today.