Turning 59

Is a big birthday, if not a milestone one. Especially when your kid is leaving for college in two weeks and everything is changing.

So you work all day as usual, but your husband makes you a bagel for breakfast and you use your birthday coupon from Vina for lunch.

You pick Animales for dinner, even though you are a vegetarian, because you have heard great things and because the always-amazing Adam Witherspoon is the beverage director. And he is happy to see you and takes you on an amazing culinary journey, as he is wont to do. I will meet you at Animales ANY DAMN TIME, it is that good.


You get some awesome presents, including the book your kid picked out at Black Garnet and that you are super-excited to read.


You take the dogs for a walk, and get lemonade from the sand run by the little girl across the street, where the price is "do something kind for someone."

You make some coffee in your new espresso machine because you're headed to a late night Fringe show. And the coffee is damn good.


But the Fringe show, empty nest by Laura Zabel and Levi Weinhagen, is even better. There's one more show, Sunday at 8:30. Don't miss it. I was feeling a little salty about the Fringe this year, but this was great. I'll think about it when I am wide awake and having hot flashes all night.


I even got flowers, that Laura grew herself.


It's probably too cloudy and too city-lights-bright to see the Perseids tonight. But also, apparently August 12, 2026 is an extremely auspicious day due to the end of Lion's Gate, the solar eclipse, and a full six-planet alignment. I'm going to take it as auspicious for the year ahead (because we need all the help we can get).



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