Stick a fork in me...

... I'm done.

James, Mer, and I went out to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory tonight. For years the closest one has been all the way in Tysons Corner (about 40 minutes away), and just before the holidays they opened one near the Dulles Town Center Mall (about 20 minutes away). I was giddy, and proclaimed immediately upon discovering its existence that I would be having dinner there on my birthday, with or without anyone else.

The downside is that it is still the holiday season, and a Saturday night, and the restaurant is right next to the mall. Inititally they told us the wait was 55-70 minutes, but in fact we waited about 90 minutes. James and Mer were getting pretty grumpy. We did finally get seated, though, and they both really enjoyed the food (neither had been there before), so all was well. Dinner was fun, with lots of joking around. Meredith NARCed me out about the birthday, so I got a free slice of Kalua Cocoa Coffee Cheesecake and a rousing rendition of 'Happy Birthday' from the waitstaff. We left feeling full and happy. All in all, a very good evening.

I've also gotten lots of birthday wishes from my lovely flist. *hugs you all* I'm a very content chickie tonight.