Birthday Celebrations

I always like to celebrate my birthday for a whole week. Why not? Right? Jake took me camping twice. The first night we went out west to Tonopah with our friends Tim & Valerie. They are my favorite people here in Phoenix. Val is such a great person to know and I'm happy she's in my life. And Tim has been a great friend to Jake. They performed a few concerts together in the past and they make some beautiful music. Anyway, the second night we went camping at Bartlett Lake (where we go about once a month) with a bunch of my friends from Whole Foods. It's always a treat to visit a large body of water and splash around in this desert. 

After our camping adventures, Jake took me to Tucson where we drove the mighty Subaru around the  back roads of Saguaro National Park. We got some delicious Ethiopian food and then walked downtown to the Open Mic Night at Hotel Congress where, unfortunately, there was not a lot of great music. LOL. We also visited all three Whole Foods that are in the Tucson area. I like the company I work for and I enjoy seeing what kind of cool stuff the other stores have happening. 

The next day we visited Biosphere 2. This place is pretty awesome. The architecture alone is crazy impressive. If you've ever seen the movie BIODOME with Polly Shore (such amazing acting...) then you have seen Biosphere 2. There are five different ecosystems inside and the story is true-- eight people lived inside the dome for two years with nobody going in or coming out. They did this to study different ecosystems in a controlled environment, without the effects of everything unnatural we are creating on this planet. I didn't take a lot of pictures but we really enjoyed it. Our tour guide, Bill, was awesome. I would definitely recommend visiting this place. We purchased and used a groupon which took the price down from $20/person to just $12 each.

Jake also got me the best yoga mat ever! It's a Manduka Black Mat Pro and it is amazing! It has a lifetime warranty and it has the power to make anybody feel like they are a super yogi. The week after my birthday my parents were able to come down to Phoenix and have lunch with Jake and I in our home. My parents are really cool and I love hanging out with them. Now that I am 33 years old, I can admit that. Overall, it was a fantastic birthday week filled with people I love and mother nature. Life doesn't get much better.