Best Birthday Ever

I woke up a bit ambivalent about my birthday, but in the end, I think I can count it as one, if not the best ever. I:

• came to work to find a purple star balloon tied to my chair and a home-made bouquet of daffodils and pear blossoms,
  
• was given a pizza party for lunch with about eight people in attendance
  
• enjoyed/shared a combination carrot/chocolate cake that proved that engineers can bake well
  
• received a gift certificate to Good Foods, a fuzzy pink elephant that I had fallen inexplicably in love with, and a geode to break in case of frustration [the latter was a real surprise; I collect rocks, and I love geodes--but the woman doing my birthday didn't know that; we must have just been on the same wavelength]
  
• had a really good job interview
  
• went to Cincinnati with six people (not the same ones) to an Ethiopian restaurant that just rocked! There I had a vegetarian combo with:
  
  
  • Yemeser Sambusa--an appetizer with a crusty shell stuffed with seasoned lentils, onions, and green peppers,
    
  • Yemiser Weet--split red lentils cooked in berbere (spicy red pepper) sauce and herbs,
    
  • Yekik Alicha--split garbanzos flavoured with curry and herbs,
    
  • Yetikel Gomen--cabbage and carrots saut&eacut;ed onions and spices,
    
  • Gomen--chopped collard greens cooked with onions and spices (and the only time I've ever eaten and enjoyed collards),
    
  • Yemiser Alicha--split red lentils in curry and herbs,
    
  • Yemetin Shiro--imported beans cooked in spicy berbere sauce and herbs,
    
  • served on a plate made of injera (flat bread made from teff, the world's smallest grain) and eaten with the hands using small bits torn from rolled injera
    
  • Ethiopian coffee, which is somewhat like a combination espresso/Turkish coffee, but not syrupy
    
  • and discovered that I really like the taste of Cincinnati water, which has a metallic taste rather like spring water.
    
  The only disappointment I had was that they were out of mead (honey wine), which is one of the few alcoholic drinks I like, and I'd looked forward to trying theirs since I wasn't driving. We shared a series of platters, with the vegetarians having one, and the meat-eaters sharing two. Dwana had been a little reluctant to go because she'd had a bad reaction to shrimp not long ago at a Chinese restaurant that nearly landed her in the emergency room. I got to be the allergy police because they would have put her husband's shrimp dish on the same platter as her chicken one until I mentioned it--and they put hers on a separate dish from anyone's just to be safe. Then I gave her a head's up that the cloths they passed around to wash our hands with before the meal were bleached (we both have problems with that). So...we avoided any trips to the hospital, and since she was paying for this as my birthday present, I figured it was the best way to thank her. They were accommodating, although the server was somewhat challenged with separating the tickets...she wasn't Ethiopian, but rather was a blonde from Louisiana who sounded like she was from Ohio who'd come up to school there. The lady who made our coffee and served it I believe was the owner. She was quite beautiful and was very nice. For dessert we had baklava, which isn't Ethiopian (it's Greek/Mediterranean) but they serve it since so many people ask for dessert. It was excellent, the best I've had in a very long time, and excellent with the coffee. Some of the others tried a delicately spiced tea that I think was cinnamony. My total (appetizer, combo platter, coffee, dessert, and soft drink came to $26, which wasn't bad at all for the amount of food. The entr&eacut;e's themselves run around $8-$12. The platters run $14-$18 and are akin to sampler platters I've had at Indian restaurants. There is a lunch buffet that I think was about $6, and a full-service bar, including Ethiopian beers. I wound up stuffed quickly (after all, you're eating bread with each bite) and so I took 2/3 of mine home. I think the seven of us together were about $128.) It also didn't do a number on my somewhat beleagered digestive system, except I probably shouldn't have dosed an ulcer with such strong coffee; thankfully Dwana had some Tums in her purse of plenty. (I think she carries the world in that bag). I have a copy of their menu if anyone would like it. I don't think they have a website but you can check the review link below and otherwise contact:
  

  Queen of Sheba Ethiopian Cuisine and Lounge, 126 W. 6th St., Cincinnati, OH 45202--513.421.0100.

  
  We were all pretty wiped out, since many had been up early for work, we'd driven about 160 miles total, and got home around 11:30 pm. But it was well worth the trip, and I highly recommend it to anyone else in the area. There is another related restaurant of the same name in Indianapolis...I think it's run by the owner's aunt.
  

Later I also:

• shared cake with more friends
  
• watched a silly cat with poor depth perception try to catch a ceiling fan from about six feet away
  
• came home to find my mom on voicemail singing a happy birthday to me--I love that :)
  
• discovered that Darius thinks mylar balloons will eat him
  
• and stored the leftovers from the restaurant in the fridge and am looking forward to about two more meals from them. :)
  

Tomorrow I'm being taken to see the movie Hellboy. I've really enjoyed all this. Thanks to all of you who helped make this such a wonderful birthday. :) This despite a little rain and getting lost on the way back to the interstate (P.S., I wasn't navigating or driving.)