Yesterday was a day of birthdays. It was the birthday for two girls that are near and dear to my heart and I love them both. It was Donna’s birthday and also the birthday of my youngest daughter, Shauna. It also happens to be the birthday of my  friend in Germany, Stefan Hermann.

I don’t think Shauna was able to celebrate her birthday too much. She arrived in Washington, D. C. on Sunday and had her first day as an intern at the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday. She’s currently a law student at Cal Western School of Law. She finished the school year number 4 in her class of 220 students. The internship will be a feather in her cap when she graduates next year.

Donna started her birthday with a bicycle ride. She rode the bike path along the Jordan River north on the Legacy Trail. She turned around at Bountiful Pond. The ride covered about 27 miles. She spent most of the afternoon packing and preparing for her trip to Phoenix. She’s going to a conference for the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), where she will present a session on book promotion, called Do’s and Don’ts of Successful Book Promotion. She will return on Sunday.

To celebrate Donna’s birthday, we went out to eat at a restaurant that her sister, Sheila, told her about. It’s an Italian restaurant downtown, near Temple Square, called Cucina Toscana. We walked out to North Temple and caught the light rail at the corner across from the KOA RV park. The light rail cost five dollars for a round trip ticket. The rail cars were clean and comfortable. The ride downtown took eight minutes.

Toast to Donna

Cucina Toscana is an upscale restaurant with traditional Italian food. Donna ordered the linguini nere con frutti di mare, which is squid ink pasta, shrimp, calamari, mussels and lobster in wine reduction sauce.

Linguini nere con frutti di mare

I had the vitello in saltimbocca, which is veal scallopine topped with aged prosciutto and fresh mozzarella.

Vitello in Saltimbocca

We both enjoyed our choices. The meals were cooked to perfection and the service was top-notch. In honor of Donna’s birthday, our server brought us a plate of tiramisu for dessert.

Happy birthday to Donna

After dinner, we strolled back to the rail stop in front of the Energy Solutions Arena, which is home to the Utah Jazz NBA team. We had a few minutes before our train would arrive. I saw what appeared to be an historic building across the street. I walked over for a closer look. It was the Devereaux House.

Devereaux House

Rather than rehash the history behind this place, I’ll just add photos of the placards that were placed in front of the house. Click on the photo to enlarge and read the placard if you’re interested.

This morning, I’ll walk Donna to the light rail. I’ll be on my own for the next four nights. The temperature is forecast to reach 93 degrees today, it’s already 80 degrees at 10am. I’ll have both air conditioners running all day.