I've been telling myself time and time again that exercise needs to be part of my routine. For someone lacking motivation, exercise seemed akin to doing a self-Brazilian wax. A small nudge and a quick trip down an aisle in Ulta, and I've gone and purchased a DVD called the "Ten Zen Body Toners." Since then, my body has been getting quite a beating from the combination of yoga, pilates, and cardio. Out of all of them, I found the yoga ridiculously painful (owing to the fact that I may have the flexibility of a Popsicle stick).

Anyway, for my actual birthday, friends from my program took me out to Arlington to eat at The Keg Steakhouse and Bar. A bit on the pricier side, but since it was my birthday... that's ok? In any case, I ordered a southwest roasted corn soup as a starter while another guy (Mac) ordered Santa Fe chicken dip for everyone else. It was delicious! I've never tasted a chicken dip like the one we ordered so I hope I can try recreating it later and letting my other friends enjoy it. The meal came with free bread and butter but I forgot to take a picture of that! As for the main course, I ordered the seafood sirloin (not that surprising, I love seafood!). I chose medium rare for the sirloin—divine! It came with shrimp and scallops too so what more could I have asked for?




The only other girl in our friend group couldn't make it so it was 4:1 boys. They were super nice with splitting the cost of my meal between them. One of them (Thi) even got me a birthday present. While I agree it was nice, I distinctly recall telling him how to make the same exact thing for his girlfriend before Valentine's day. Get a box of ferrero rochers and something crafted (he decided on different origami designs). He never gave it to her because they actually broke up (they've had a tumultuous relationship from the beginning, something that became quite apparent to us early on in the school year). While the guys and myself laughed about the connection, he remained adamant that this was completely different. At the end of the day, it was still a nice gesture.



We were going to leave with that but one of the guys (Heinz) asked our server if they could do anything embarrassing for the birthday girl. I was lucky since she said she wouldn't do anything embarrassing; instead, she brought out a Billy Miner Pie with a birthday candle on the house. Nothing beats getting free ice cream cake on your birthday :)



We made plans to meet up at the bowling alley not too far from there. I made the guys take a detour (our driver, Mac) over to Ulta so I could buy myself a birthday present. I thought I could use a discount on the perfumes but the discount only works on everything BUT the perfumes. A bit of a waste but I walked out of there with my very own Coach Poppy Flower perfume!



I'm wearing it now as I type this. The smell is gorgeous! I'm a fan of subtle floral scents so this seemed like the best match for me (next to the Burberry Rosewood scent!!!). It was pouring on that day but we still managed to make the best of it. We drove over to what I can only describe as similar to Chuck-E-Cheese's. We reserved a bowling alley (an hour wait!) while trying out the other games. We all felt a little old waiting around because the games weren't that interesting (haha). The ones we really wanted to try were broken or weren't there. But time flew by and we were soon bowling down the aisles. I got 2nd place in the first game and 5th place in the second game. I didn't mind that so much but my arm was definitely sore afterwards.

Since we planned this entire thing to revolve around lunch and a little of the afternoon, it was time to head home! It was such a long day but I had lots of fun celebrating.