Celebrated my 45th birthday today. Co-worker Michelle blew up tons of balloons and decorated my desk in fine style!

The "Towering Inferno Cake" that co-worker Barbara made for me! Please note the presence of all of the film's stars. I almost ate Faye Dunaway by accident. There was also a replica of the scenic glass elevator. It was a fairly uneventful day at work, but on the way home things got interesting. First, my mother called to wish me Happy Birthday, but mostly to let me know that our choice of September 12 as a wedding date was inconvenient for her. Not because of prior commitments or anything, her hesitation is because Philip and I do not plan to hang around and act as tour guides for all of our various relatives who might be in town. I was in the middle of explaining that she is more than welcome to come BEFORE the wedding and hang out, but we lost our connection. Not more than 10 minutes later I got into a little fender-bender: I was driving along behind a little old lady (from Pasadena!) who decided at the last second not to proceed though a yellow light and abruptly slammed on her brakes. I did the same, but by sheer physics, the 40 feet between us was not enough to stop abruptly without hitting the rear of her car. No injuries and very minor damage (my front license plate fell off and her bumper was damaged). While I was exchanging information with her, my phone kept ringing - as I got into the car to head home, I checked the voicemail and it was our home security company, calling to tell me that our back door had been breached, and that the police were being called. I rushed home in a panic, fearful that someone had broken in and had hurt my dog Jake - but when I got there I found that it was Philip who had mistakenly entered the wrong disarm code.

Needless to say, my nerves were a complete wreck by the time Philip took me to dinner at Taylors Steak House, but they were soothed by a perfect Manhattan in a freezing cold martini glass. The steaks at Taylors, an old-time steak joint with red leather booths that has been in business since 1953, have been voted the best in LA. Despite the Weight Watchers diet I began on July 4, I indulged in Cream of Mushroom Soup, a medium-rare Filet Mignon with Baked Potato and Zucchini and a bit of Bread Pudding for dessert.

Philip gave me a new Nikon Coolpix camera for my birthday. We love our little pocket Coolpix, and this new one has a 18x zoom and can take 10 megapixel images. Can't wait to learn how to use it!