Yay 12!

The Girl turned 12 over the weekend. Every year I tell her the story of her birth and then end it with "I can't believe I kept something alive for 12 years in a row."
The cliff notes version of her birth story involves  a VW Rabbit getting stuck between an inbound and outbound L trains at Sunset, steamed toast, Ali Farka Toure, pre-eclampsia and the sweetest, bestest little girl, ever.
The Girl had a little party last Friday night. I took her and two of her friends out to dinner. They got a table of their own and I sat at the bar. We went to Park Chow on 9th and Irving.
I think The Girl has such a positive memory about this place because one time, when she was 3 or 4 years old we went there to eat dinner. It was Hubby's and my anniversary. We attempted to drop The Girl off at her grandparents' house for the evening while we went out to enjoy a nice romantical dinner. She pitched the biggest fit ever when she found out we were going to eat at a restaurant. She didn't want to stay w/ her grandparents. We let her come with us, and we were grumpy the whole ride over to the restaurant. 
We shouldn't have been grumpy. We ended up having a great time. The Girl has always loved restaurants. We ordered their mussels appetizer. The Girl jumped right in, dipping her bread into the yummy yummy butter/wine/herby sauce, and eating all the mussels. About halfway through she looked up and said "what's this, it's good." For the rest of the night we had a really good time and I'm glad she came with us.
So fast forward, she's 12 now, and in between that one night and last Friday we've eaten at Park Chow a number of times and we're always pleased.
Last Friday night was no different. The girls sat at their own table, ordered their appetizers, drinks and main courses and desserts all by themselves. At one point the waiter introduced himself to me and even offered to inform me when they were going to sing Happy Birthday so I could be there as well. He was just the right amount of flirty, courteous and professional. The girls gushed about him all the way home. I think the night was a total win for them. They had a good time.
My dinner was pretty yummy, too. It was nice to sit at the bar, watch some sports on TV, eat my dinner and people watch.
Happy Birthday Baby. I love you.


The Girl and her 2 BFFs.
I'm not sure how her friends' parents feel about their kids' pics on my blog so
I turned their pretty faces into pretty flowers.