Best. Birthday. Ever.

So good, in fact, that it's taken me an entire week to write about it (cut me some slack, will you—it's been a completely insane week at work and my computer is dying a slow, painful death). Now, I've had a lot of amazing birthdays. The Bossy Folks are unparalleled in birthday-party throwing. When I was a kid, every year we had a treasure hunt for the gift bags, complete with rhyming clues and clever puns. Mama Bossy always made my birthday cake from scratch, even ice cream cake. There were musical chairs, pumpkin carving, and fashion shows galore. Since childhood there have been some other pretty memorable ones, too, but this year's definitely took the (birthday) cake.

The birthday weekend started with a decadent dinner in the restaurant of a hotel I'm completely obsessed with. Heirloom tomato salad, pork tenderloin, white cheddar truffle mac & cheese, molten chocolate cake…yum. From my seat at the table I looked right out at the Mecom Fountains all lit up against the dark sky. Add to that a red rose, my new LBD, and killer (seriously) high heels and you've got a practically perfect night.

You could do a lot worse than working in opera on your birthday. Sure, you probably definitely won't have the day off, despite it being a Saturday. On the other hand, though, there's nothing quite like hearing "Happy birthday" sung to you by the incredible HGO Chorus and other assorted glitterati to make you glad you came to work on your birthday.

And then there was my present from CameraMan: a treetop canopy zipline tour!! This is pretty much an untoppable, bar-raising, gauntlet-throwing present. I've been talking about doing this for about 2 years, ever since I read about it in the Times, and the real thing was everything I'd hoped for and more. Zipping from tree to tree was exhilarating and lung-opening and just a teensy bit scary, and I loved every minute of it. Before the tour we even got a chance to eat delicious migas for breakfast and see a little of the Texas capitol building. Which was mainly exciting because, ummm…there were cannons there.

We zoomed back to Houston just in time to throw a joint birthday party (CM's big day was Friday). Practically everyone we know came (including The Wise Soprano who happened to be in town for a visit!) and almost all of them brought cheese, so you know it was a kick-a** party. I felt loved, happy, and safe all weekend (yes, even during when I was 50 feet above the ground). I got lovely birthday wishes, hugs, presents…and I got myself a little something, too.




Plus, I get to cross another item off my list. It's about time, huh?

20. Take a tree-top canopy zipline tour.

5 down, 95 to go.