I thought I would blog a bit sooner about my 40th birthday celebrations. But apparently I now need even more days to recover, ha ha. While I expected a rather quiet birthday with my family, Rich absolutely outdid himself. – And I did not see any of it coming. So last Friday I finally turned 40:

A Quiet Morning

As Rich had given me the choice, I opted for a quiet morning. So Rich and the girls got up and left the apartment early while I slept in. When I eventually woke up, I found a whole itinerary on our dining table together with a few things I apparently needed for the day. That was my first clue that my 40th birthday might actually be busier than I had expected.

But first I took a wonderful long bath, sipped coffee, and ate a few chocolates. After all, I was supposed to only turn up for brunch somewhere at 10 a.m. Rich and Ophelia actually came home at about 9.30, and I enjoyed seeing them. Since they were there, I figured I could take my own sweet time with getting ready.

Eventually, more toward 10.30 a.m., we left the building to go to brunch. I was happy to realize that we went to the “Comfort Diner”, which is around the corner from us. We go there pretty regularly (like every few months), and I love their food and egg creams. When we went inside, I did not understand why Rich did not stop at the front desk to wait until a waiter would seat us. He only said: “I reserved a table earlier.”

And that was when I suddenly saw my best friend sitting at one of the tables. My friend who I thought to be in North Carolina and who I hadn’t seen since December 2018. I was overwhelmed and lost for words for quite some time. And oh so happy!

I soon learned that she and Rich had planned her visit and my birthday for months. – And I didn’t notice anything at all. I enjoyed seeing her so much and finally introducing first Ophelia and later in the day Josephine to her in person. After brunch, we walked home so that my friend could leave her bag there because she was staying overnight. I changed my outfit because it was a really hot day. I couldn’t deal with long pants while we would walk outside.

A Relaxing Afternoon

And she and I walked quite a bit: all the way from our apartment in Midtown East over to the West Side. We didn’t focus much on shopping, but had so much to talk about. Seeing each other in person hits differently than being on the phone. We managed to buy a few pieces of clothes for our kids though (typical mom life, ha ha). After a quick coffee in the Hudson Yards, we already had to head back home to get ready for the evening program.

All of us went out for dinner to a Turkish restaurant, where Josephine ate all of Rich’s rice and some of her zucchini pancakes. We have learned that it is easier to have dinner early while the restaurants are still empty. That prove true once more here because Josephine got tired soon and insisted on going home. That was the one sad moment of my birthday: Rich had planned it so well that I didn’t find much time to spend with my kids. On the other hand, I would have three more days with them as it was Memorial Weekend. And of course, I normally spend every day with them.

A Busy Night

So Rich took the girls home, and my friend and I went to Times Square. I had forgotten how crowded it is when the weather is great and all the tourists are back in town. Uff! So so busy and loud! We cut our way through the crowd to get to “Suffs” the musical. It is about the suffragist movement in the U.S. and the women’s fight to obtain the right to vote. We learned much about U.S. American history and liked the musical. It is good, as in: not the best, but also not the worst musical in my opinion. Like very solid and worth watching alone for its message.

After the musical, we walked home because that seemed the easiest and fastest way considering the crowds. The girls slept, my friend got ready for bed, and Rich and I went to a rooftop bar around the corner from us: the Ophelia Lounge. As Rich had reserved a table for us, we got to sit right at a window overlooking Midtown Manhattan. We drank cocktails, and I was happy to see on their menu that they have non-alcoholic spirits.

It is something I discovered while being pregnant with Ophelia, and I enjoy that those non-alcoholic spirits taste exactly like alcohol esp. in cocktails without containing any. It was also great because I knew that we wouldn’t sleep particularly long with at least one of our kids usually waking up before 7 a.m. In any case, it was the perfect conclusion to my 40th birthday.

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