Happy birthday to me!

September 2003


"Where are you taking me?" I said for the hundredth time. Jacob turned his attention to me and grinned like a mischievous little boy before looking back to the road.

It was a warm September night and more importantly, my birthday.  I spent the day sleeping in, getting a pedicure and getting ready to go out with Jacob. He didn't say where so I wore a solid pale blue sundress, figured it would work for something casual or a little fancy. When Jacob knocked on my door I was pleased to see he wore a nice black button down and jeans. He looked so handsome with his hair a little messy and his sleeves rolled up,  showing off his strong forearms. I was thankful Amanda was out. I haven't really talked to her much about seeing her brother, especially since we never had the talk. I just think it would be awkward to mention, 'hey I sometimes go out with your brother and ya, am sleeping with him'.

When he took the exit for the Coronado bridge I turned to him in excitement. I've only been over to Coronado once to walk around the ferry landing. Coronado Island technically isn't an island, it's a peninsula but even the welcome sign said 'Coronado Island'. It was still in San Diego County but managed to have a small town feel.

Jacob pulled into a parking spot along the beach and ran to open my door. He took my hand in his and led me along the sidewalk. We took the path that led toward the ocean. The beach in Coronado was very long so it was a pleasant walk to the water.

We climed the stairs of a vacant lifeguard tower. We sat with our backs against the tower, facing the sea. After taking a few pictures of the two of us with my camera, I leaned closer into him and cuddled.  Jacob was stroking my arm lightly which sent shivers through my body. With the same hand he casually slid my spaghetti strap down. His hand began messaging my shoulder gently before sliding down the front of my dress. When he cupped my breast I sucked in my breath and moaned as he played with my nipple.  When he stopped I pouted then turned toward him straddling his lap.

"Mhm, Juliette your going to have to stop soon or anyone walking by may see me take you right here." He groaned as he kissed my neck. I pushed his head up to face me.

"Maybe I don't want to stop," I said before leaning in to bite his upper lip. When I pulled away he grinned and shook his head. Grabbing my neck he pulled me back in for a kiss. When my tongue found his I felt him harden beneath me and I knew I couldn't stop now. Luckily I was wearing a dress so we managed to finish as discreetly as we could. I can't say we were as quiet as we should have been but it was well worth it and by the huge grin on Jacob's face I know he felt the same.

"Happy Birthday to me," I sang as I tried to adjust my dress.

"Your birthday isn't over baby, come on let's go eat." He helped me off the tower and led us back toward the sidewalk.

We walked to the Hotel Del. This beautiful red and white hotel was built in the late 1800's. Besides being historic it was very grand and well known for its famous guests like Marilyn Monroe and several presidents. Walking through the lower level we passed several shops and stopped to read about the history of the establishment.

We came upon an old gold colored metal elevator and were excited it was still operating. Stepping in the metal birdcage we were greeted by a friendly operator in an adorable uniform making you feel like you stepped back in time as soon as your feet hit the bright red carpet. Closing the gate we were slowly raised to the hotel lobby. Stepping out we continued our time travel as we wondered around admiring the lobby. Everything was keeping with the Victorian theme, from the elaborate sparkling chandeliers to the dark rich woodwork.
We explored the courtyard before walking across the street for dinner.

"I think I remember you said you like sushi? This restaurant has high reviews so I thought we should try it."  Jacob said. I smiled knowing I would soon have a spicy tuna roll in front of me. Jacob gave the hostess his name and we were quickly seated at a table by the window.

"You know I've never actually had sushi," Jacob shyly admitted.  I looked up from my menu in shock.

"What!? You grew up here, there's fresh fish here. Is it the raw thing?  You chose a sushi place for dinner Jacob." I babbled on. He laughed shaking his head.

"You like it so I figured I may as well try it. As a kid the thought of raw fish grossed me out but I don't know, what the hell."

"Alright, well let me order for us then?  Besides I noticed fried rice, we can order just in case." I got busy picking out a few rolls, I stayed away from anything too out there just in case. I picked a spicy tuna, a California, and a crunch roll with cream cheese, jalapeño and tuna with crunchy flakes on top. We chatted about wanting to stay a night at the Hotel Del as we waited for our food. Rooms are super pricey so doubt I'd stay there anytime soon.

The waitress returned with our rolls, they looked so good my stomach growled in agreement. I showed Jacob how to break up the Wasabi into his soy sauce. He questioned if he should really put the whole slice in his mouth at once, I promised I wasn't messing with him so he dipped a tuna roll in the sauce and popped it into his mouth.  I had patience enough to wait and watch him,  hoping he would like it.  After he swallowed he grinned happily and reached for another. That was all I needed to dig in.

After our delicious dinner, with chocolate cake for dessert of course, we walked hand in hand slowly back to the car. Jacob walked me to the passenger side and instead of opening the door he lightly pushed me against the door and leaned in for a deep kiss. Breaking away he reached in his pocket and pulled out a small box with a red ribbon. My heart sped up as I stared at the box. I untied the ribbon, inside were two silver earrings in the shape of a dolphin. Each dolphin were wrapped around a blue sapphire stone.

"Jacob they're beautiful!" I gushed looking up at him.

"Well I saw how much you fell in love with the dolphins at SeaWorld, I saw these and I had to get them." He grinned happily.

"I love them," I handed him the box and removed the hoop earrings I was currently wearing.  After I got the second dolphin on, I reached up and wrapped my arms around Jacob for another kiss. This birthday definitely ended better then last year's I thought as we drove back to his place for the night. A small buzzing caught my attention, I looked down as Jacob's phone lit up in the cup holder next to me. My heart sank when I saw the name on the display.

Boy or Girl?

We had our midway ultrasound and I have no patience I had to know if it was another boy or a girl. Everything is looking healthy and it's a....Girl!!!

New post should be up this week :)

New or old friends

September 2003



After work I drove straight to school for my economics class. I was running a few minutes late so I breathed a sigh of relief when  I walked in to see the professor wasn't there yet either. I grabbed my usual seat in the third row. The old wooden desk creaked when I landed roughly in it. I pulled the pocket desk over and cursed the fact it was a right handed desk. It's my weekly ritual since the first day of class when I discovered how annoying these desks were for the left handed.

I greeted Sam as she sat down to my right. She grunted something that vaguely resembled a hello and slouched down in her chair. I just shook my head and smiled, Sam was in a bad mood about 80% of the time yet she managed to win people over with her charasmatic personality during her 20% happy self. I think we got along because she was very blunt and I tend to shy from blurting out whatever is on my mind, I liked that about her, it's like she said what I wanted to.

"Good evening,  I'm professor Smith but you can call me Henry."

I looked up surprised to see our usual professor, Johnson was absent. Instead, standing in front of us was a gorgeous specimen..I mean man. His dark hair was buzzed and complimented his strong facial features. He wore a black v-neck that looked about a size or two too small leaving you with little to imagine of the muscles underneath.  He looked less like a teacher and more like he was a uniform away from yelling drills at boot camp.

"If he teaches all semester I would never miss a class!" Sam whispered loudly as she sat up in her seat and removed her hoodie. I laughed at her as she tried to fix her hair quickly.

Professor Smith or rather Henry began lecturing the class on micro economy.  As he spoke I tried to concentrate, he was just too pretty. I felt my cheeks burn when he pointed right at me to answer some silly open ended question about supply and demand on product A. Luckily I had just read about this subject in our ridiculously over priced textbook and answered without blubbering like the pathetic star struck teen I felt inside.

"Very good answer.." he paused and nodded his head forward with his hand stretched out toward me.

"Juliette, it's Juliette." My voice shook a little and I thanked God I usually don't turn the shade I felt in my cheeks. Henry quickly moved on and before I knew it class was over.

"I call dibs!" Sam all but yelled at me when we grabbed our stuff to leave.

"What! He's our professor, besides I'm good. He's gorgeous but I'm good." I laughed her comment off and walked to the door. We were about half way to the parking lot when Sam mentioned she forgot her folder back in the classroom.

"Want me to come with you?" I asked, it was late now and dark.

"No..no I'm OK, I'll see you Thursday." She waved me off. I smiled to myself knowing full well she didn't leave anything.

On the ride home I called Alicia, she couldn't talk long but promised a girls night this week to catch up.  After hanging up I called Jacob, he seemed distracted as I made small talk. After awhile he had to go because he had a basketball game he was in starting. I felt a little embarrassed picturing him at the gym on the phone while his friends waited.

Deciding to embrace the alone time on the drive home I turned on the radio and sang along to Crazy In Love by Beyoncé.

It was my birthday later this month and I thought about last year's birthday. I rolled my eyes thinking about being with Cal, and letting Shelly crash on our couch. I don't know what the plans were for this year's birthday but I was thankful to not have them there. Maybe I'll throw a party, but then who'd I invite? In the year I've been here, I've only made a handful of friends, and that included Shelly. Great now I was depressed about my lack of a social life.

I pulled up to apartment hoping Alicia was home, someone to talk to. Instead I was surprised to see Amanda sitting on my doorstep.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" I asked as I turned the key opening the door.

"Hey, it's been awhile. I just figured I'd come check on my good friend Juliette." She smiled, the smile never reaching her eyes. I considered us friends but not really the type to drop in on each other. I gave her a look as I fell onto the couch.

"Alright truthfully,  I did want to see you its been awhile, but I was also hoping I could maybe crash here for a few days." She said shyly.

"What about your apartment?" I scrunched my brows in confusion.

"Well back when I was with Miles, he was paying for almost half my rent. When that ended I struggled to make rent and had to move. I've basically been sleeping on different couches since. The last place was at a coworkers but her husband got home from deployment and he wasn't really interested in someone living on their couch." She put her hands together and gave me a pleading look. I know I was just complaining about needing more friends but did I really want another person crashing on our couch?

"What the hell, I mean at least until you find a more permanent place right?"

"Yeah of course, three or four weeks tops."  She said grinning wide.  Sounds a lot like a few days. This should be interesting I thought as I left the room in search of something to eat.


Note: had hoped to have something up earlier this week but my son and I caught a stomach bug. So far my oldest son and husband haven't caught it and I pray they don't!  Feeling better now and got to hear the baby's heartbeat yesterday, so did my three year old. He says it's "our baby"  :)