Birthday celebrating

wow, what a weekend! I feel so special and spoiled with all the birthday celebrating that went on. Saturday Paul took me out on a date. Having children really makes you appreciate those nights out *alone* and we really enjoyed ourselves. We went up to LA and ate at the notable Mozza Pizzeria. My favorite restaurants in New York were Mario Batali's so I've been wanting to try the west coast version. It did not disappoint.

After dinner we drove around exploring West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. And yes, it really is just like the movies. We saw the Batmobile parked on a semi-truck and lots of beautiful mansions on palm tree lined streets. We walked around Rodeo Drive, the epitome of all things material--however beautiful, and gawked at all the sports cars on the road (think Lamborghini, Maserati, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Porsche...) We ended up at the Hollywood Bowl--which in my opinion, is one of the greatest concert venues in Southern California. It's an outdoor bowl tucked under the Hollywood Hills right under the "Hollywood" sign. The weather was perfect and we listened to the LA Philharmonic and Cheap Trick pay tribute to the Beatles by performing Sgt. Pepper's. The music and atmosphere were great.
Monday was my actual birthday and my mom planned a ladies lunch and pool party for the kids. It was a hot day and we had a lot of fun in the pool. I think the kids were in the pool for 7 hrs straight (except kate, but she had her fair share). Kate was burnt out and slept in until 8:20 this morning! That alone is a great birthday present! We ate salad and cupcakes for lunch and enjoyed conversation. What a great birthday!