The Never Ending Birthday

We seem to have been celebrating Anne's birthday for a month now!

Really it's just because she has had all kinds of different events going on.

I gave her my gifts on Wednesday, the day before her birthday.

 All in all they were very well received, several books, DVD, a map of Madrid and a guide to the Prado museum. (We plan to go to Madrid next year and a visit to the Prado is on the list).  She had to explain to her girlfriends that it was Prado, not Prada, as some of them were wondering if she would be buying any new dresses!

There was another small gift,

 A champagne stopper in the form of a leopard high heel shoe.  This last item is more for novelty value than anything else because she can usually polish off a bottle of champagne before it needs a cork to stop it from going flat!


On Friday we went to Long Beach in the afternoon and checked into the Westin Hotel on Ocean Blvd.

We planned ahead  to spend the night there and walk across to the Sky Room where we were having dinner.

This was the view from the room looking across to the Queen Mary.

The outdoor area next to the hotel (AKA smokers hangout)

Ready for the party, OK one of the parties.

The picture was taken in the hotel elevator by a BA flight attendant.

She was on her way to the airport for a flight back to London; best of luck with that airport.

Finally we were in the Sky Room.

We clean up pretty well for a couple of oldsters.

The whole experience was wonderful.

Good food, live music and dancing, what more could you ask for?

Well here is a good start.

Then the festivities were over and the check arrived.

Really! 

I expected it to be more.

To be continued.