To Do

Completed March 2008

To some people, birthdays aren’t a big deal, but I always like to acknowledge them and throw a little party. To me, when you celebrate someone’s birthday you’re saying “I’m glad you were born.”

I’m glad I was born, so I have no problems celebrating my own birthday. I like to have a little get together – maybe dinner at a restaurant with some friends who are also glad I was born.

For my 34th birthday, I invited the gang out for Mexican food and margaritas at El Coyote, a Los Angeles institution where you can bizarrely get your tacos with your choice of beans and rice or spaghetti. They don’t really have a desert worthy of a birthday celebration, so I made plans to bring my own cake.

I bought the Black and White cake from La Provence bakery – the Black and White cake is their signature cake, and some people love it so much, they even get it for their wedding cake. Layers of chocolate cake are separated with vanilla cream, then the sides of the cake are covered in big bars of alternating white and dark chocolate – seriously, they’re like candy bars, and then the top is covered in either white or dark chocolate curls and chocolate covered strawberries. It is one delicious cake. It’s like three desserts in one – the cake, the candy bar, and the chocolate covered strawberry. Highly recommend it.