mimi's 30th birthday

last weekend our dear friend mimi celebrated her 30th birthday.  lea went to great lengths to make everything extra special; she decorated our bicycles with streamers and 30's made of construction paper, she made matching t-shirts exclaiming the big day! and she made a huge sign as you can see...

the girls took their bedazzled bicycles across the bay by ferry to enjoy an italian lunch with italian wine while the boys played golf and drank beer.  once the gender specific daytime festivities were over, the entire group met up for japanese barbecue, correctly termed "yakiniku" meaning "grilled meat", which is a japanese term referring to bite-sized meat [usually beef and offal] and vegetables on gridirons or griddles over a flame of wood charcoals carbonized by dry distillation or gas/electric grill [we opted for the electric grill]. 

NOTE: this lesson is for toots.

the yakiniku was paired with a sake tasting carefully prepared by stefan.  since most of us are quite unfamiliar with the many techniques and flavors of sake, we all failed the exam.  what we did accomplish, however, was a great sake buzz.  calle was so swept away in the evening he accidentally wrote mimi's birthday card in swedish [which she can not read] but made up for it by giving a nice speach and proposing a very special toast in honor of our birthday girl.  cheers, mimi!