It's my birthday

So, I turned 30 today!

Here's a timeline of the wishes and celebrations:

- Last night, Jeff and my coworkers took me out to dinner at P. F. Chang's at the Columbia mall.



- Madelyn, friend from grad school, emailed me at 1:52 a.m. (why were you up that early?)

- Myphotoalbum.com emailed me at 5:45 a.m.

- Ankur, a friend I grew up with in India, emailed me around 6 a.m.

- My family in CA (grandma, unle, aunt and 2 li'l cousins) emailed me at 6:04 a.m. (why were you guys up THAT early?)

- Jeff wished me a very sleepy Happy Birthday at 6:30 a.m. this morning

- My parents called me at 7:40 a.m. from India

- Shop 'n Chek, a mystery shopping company, sent me an email around 8 a.m.

- My best friend, Shallu from India text messaged me at 8:46 a.m.

- My cousin, Nabheet, from Denver, text messaged me at 9:54 a.m. ( which, for him, is a REALLY early time to be up)

- Work colleagues got me a strawberry ice cream cake that we ate at 10:45 a.m.

- Jeff wished me a Happy Birthday with a card and handmade Tiger's Eye jewelry.



- Jon Baugh, a friend from MI, sent me an email at 2:22 p.m.

- Cold Stone Creamery sent me an email congratulating me on my birthday at 2:26 p.m.

- My cousin, Taresh, from Denver left me a voicemail at 6 p.m.

- Jeff's sister, Kelly, left a voicemail around 6 p.m.

- I received cards in the mail from my parents, Jeff's sister Jenny and bro-in-law Chris

- I received cards at work from co-workers

My very first lasagna

This was my first ever attempt at baking a lasagna. This is how it went and the recipe I used:

A 26 oz jar of pasta sauce mixed with 1 lb browned beef:

15 oz ricotta cheese, 1.5 cups shredded parmesan-romano, 4 oz shredded mozarella, mixed with 1/2 cup chopped parsley, 1.5 tsp ground black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, paprika to taste, 2 eggs

Pour enough sauce to cover the bottom of the lasagna pan, then layer three sheets of lasagna pasta lengthwise. Cover with 1 cup sauce, and 1/2 of the cheese mixture.

Repeat pasta, sauce and cheese layer.

Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle 4 oz mozarella cheese on top.

Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees, covered with aluminum foil. Remove foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Things I would change for next time. Do one more layer. Use twice the amount of pasta sauce and cheese mix. Add mushrooms, italian sausage and bell peppers to the sauce mix.

It came out a little flat because of not enough layers, but it was still good: