Thursday, June 14, 2012

Your mom's 24th birthday!


Stunning the way your mom continues to get more and more beautiful. The birthday festivities began with a simple dinner date and a few drinks with Nate, Sarah, and your Grandpa Gene that night. We'd head into the Bay area yet again the next night for some more fun on our own.

We had tickets to see a production of Frankenstein at a theater in Berkeley, and when I learned that nearby was a famous and gigantic used bookstore, I knew it'd make a neat surprise to take your mom there. 
The highlight was the top floor where this museum of antique books was stored in a special room. Old French cookbooks from centuries ago are an example of the antiquities kept here. 
We stumbled upon this place, Cream, where we got cheap but delicious ice cream cookie sandwiches. We don't know much about Berkeley but we're learning a bit.
I had a little photographic fun while your mom browsed the nearby thrift store looking for deals. 
The show was amazing, and your mom was stunned. Basically we were watching an on-screen recording of a live stage performance by England's National Theater. One of your mom's favorite actors played Victor Frankenstein, but he traded off with his co-lead every night to play "the creature" as well. This was not the mostly hokey horror movie version of this story. This one was dark and haunting, a glimpse into the absolutely despicable nature of the dark side of man and his ambitions. We walked away thoroughly amazed but tense from the themes in the story. It made for a remarkable evening : )