Happy Birthday Aunt Emily

Posted Mon, 2010-03-01 12:55 by Emily Caryl

I went to Seattle last week to celebrate my birthday with my mom, sister, brother-in-law, and baby niece, Sweet Caroline.  We decided to eat dinner at The Spaghetti Factory because spaghetti is about my favorite food in the whole wide world.  And I never EVER pass up an excuse to drag all my friends and family to The Spaghetti Factory.  I know they serve spaghetti at other restaurants.  But they don't have the Pot Pourri, a combination of FOUR delicious sauces on ONE huge plate of spaghetti, anywhere else.  But I digress...

I walked on the ferry from Bainbridge Island and met my family in Seattle.  On the drive from the ferry terminal to the restaurant, I informed them that under no circumstances were they allowed to tell any employee of The Spaghetti Factory that it was my birthday.  I like spaghetti.  I don't like being serenaded with out-of-tune birthday songs by everyone in the whole freakin' restaurant.

My sister asked, "What if an employee of The Spaghetti Factory sees something that leads them to believe it's your birthday?"

"If they see presents or something," I explained, "just tell them it's a graduation party."

We arrived at the restaurant a few minutes later and waited the requisite ten minutes for a table.  My brother-in-law carried the baby to the table, took her jacket off, and carefully placed her in a high chair.

Sweet Caroline was definitely in the birthday spirit:

Thanks for keeping my secret, Caroline.  You have many birthdays and many trips to The Spaghetti Factory in your future. Payback is hell.

• Emily Caryl's blog
•