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I had such a nice birthday yesterday.  Believe it or not, I still haven't opened my presents yet.  The kids had school and Jay had to work last night, so we haven't all been together for me to open them.  They are all sitting on my kitchen table, taunting me.  I'll open them tonight after the girls finish their homework.  

Yesterday I woke up and enjoyed my last cup of caffeinated coffee EVER.  As of today, I am a woman who lives free of addiction (and who is also going through a groggy, tired faced withdrawal from caffeine.)   After bringing the girls to school I picked Jay up from the train and brought him home, and then I headed over to my gym and gave my workout 100% of me.  I knew that there would be cake and alcohol involved in my day, so I needed to kill a lot of calories before I put anything in my mouth.  

Soon after returning from the gym, Jay and I headed out to my favorite restaurant.  It's called The Moss Beach Distillery and is about an hour and a half away in Half Moon Bay.  The restaurant sits on a cliff above the ocean.  The food is excellent and the atmosphere is so serene.   Also, they make a mean Bloody Mary!  This is the first day date that Jay and I have had in ages.  While eating, we dreamed of living in Half Moon Bay someday.  It's south of San Francisco, on the peninsula and is just so beautiful.  There's something about the town that reminds me a bit of Cape Cod.  Half Moon Bay just feels like home to me.  Jay also loves it and so do the girls.  I think that we'll make it our final settling place in California.  I don't know when we'll settle down here because it looks like we may have a few huge, pending changes on the horizon... but when we are ready to buy a house and settle into life, Half Moon Bay is where I'd like to be. 

After driving home I took Jay to the train and went over to a friend's house for a birthday dinner.  She had picked the girls up from school and made me a vegan lasagna, salad, garlic bread and picked up vegan cupcakes.  It was the best time.  We chit chatted for hours while the kids played and dinner was just delicious.

As I get older, I find that it's more and more difficult to make good friends.  People without children often don't want to befriend people who have children and it's difficult to find other parents who you can get along with well.   I love California so much and have started to feel like I fit in here.  Despite my horrible social anxiety, I've made a couple really great friends.  And I know from experience, a couple really great friends is far more valuable than a hundred superficial friendships.  I'll take it any day!  

Yesterday I was overcome with optimism for the year to come.  I feel like things are getting better and better.  When I think about my life last year on my birthday- where I lived and how I managed my time and health, I am overcome by pride in how much happier I am now.  I guess that I have Twitter to thank for that.  Really, I guess that I have my husband to thank for that.  When we moved to California, everything else fell into place.  I can not even believe the changes that have happened in the past year.  It's amazing!  

2 more days till I start my raw food cleanse!  I am so excited!  I've been reading how to make pasta dishes out of spiraled raw zucchini!  

I didn't take many pictures yesterday.  But here are the few that I did take.