I started my morning with a walk up to the Turkish market to grab a melon and some vegetables. Matt and I had our usual breakfast of oatmeal and fruit, then went off to Matilda on Graefestrasse for tea and coffee. Cake wasn't necessary; my mom mailed me three slices of Doug Murdick's fudge, straight off the slab in northern Michigan. In the early afternoon I rode my bike up to Mitte, where I helped to hang the upcoming exhibition at Komet. Denise surprised me with an impromptu gift of sparkling wine and several tubes of Crystal Balls -- a toy that creates colored, saran-wrap balls that are light and sticky, kind of like soap bubbles that don't pop when you touch them. After we were satisfied with the show we went to Arkonaplatz for cola and schnitzel. Matt met me there and we left the group to wine and dine at Belluno, an Italian restaurant with candlelit outdoor seating in Prenzlauerberg. By 11:30 we were back in the apartment, and I had finished the day without any angsty, tear-filled breakdowns about turning 25.
I was happy.
