Birthday Weekend!

This is a long one so buckle up kids.  :) 

Did you ever have one of those weeks where you're not quite sure where the week went, but somehow it's gone?? That sums up my week. I shuttled between tutoring, errands, the playground and housework only to realize the weekend was here. And I wasn't ready. 

The house wasn't ready for our guests, the clothes weren't ready to be worn, the prep for my next tutoring job wasn't done and I most certainly wasn't ready to turn... Well the number doesn't really matter, now does it?  'You're only as old as you feel' my mom says.  Remember that, folks. 

My birthday this year was kind of thrown together at the last minute. I didn't really have time to think about exactly how I wanted to celebrate and by the time I did figure it out, the place I wanted to eat was all booked up. C'est la vie, right? 

I dropped my daughter off with my in-laws and headed to get my hair done. It was LONG overdue. 

Two and a half hours, a head massage and a blow dry later I pranced home, swinging my hair from side to side. I rushed over to another tutoring job to close out my afternoon and ate dinner with the whole fam. 

My big birthday weekend was about to begin!  Except my husband had to chaperone the Homecoming Football game.  I headed to the school where I used to teach to see the game and to see the Dance Team perform. I used to coach the team (dance not football, haha) so it holds a special place in my heart and I loved watching their routine.   

I hopped out of bed on Saturday to go to my favorite class at the gym, Soul Body Barre. (Check out my review of it here.)

The afternoon heated up and we headed to the Fells Point Festival to enjoy some food, drinks and friends. 

Our beer tickets were almost out and everyone was hungry.  Really hungry.    

Not everyone wanted sushi so we split up for dinner, half for sushi, half for pizza at Chazz (I wrote about it a month ago if you want to check it out here).  

Even though my favorite sushi place, RA, was booked up we decided to show up and wait for a table. 

Isn't their ceiling just the coolest?  Love!

We sat outside and ordered a bottle of wine while our sushi was being made.  

Nick had ordered enough sushi for about 10 people and we devoured it.  Along with another bottle of Meomi. 

Hannah, our server, brought out a few surprises throughout our dinner including quail egg and deep fried cheesecake.  

I didn't have the stomach to try the quail egg, but Nick did!  

I definitely ate the cheesecake though.  Cinnamon-y, smooth with a thin crunchy crust that cheesecake is just straight dangerous.  Delish, mmm mmm good.  

We met up with the others and headed to one more bar.  It may have been the straw that broke the camel's back for some of us.  But we did run into our friend Big Jim who treated the boys to some serious shots.  They were proportional to his 6'5 frame. Unhuman sized shots, really.  

Realizing things were gaining momentum we decided to head home and relieve my husband's parents from babysitting duty.  

Waking up the next morning at 6am to the gurgling of AB was easier for me than it was for Nick.  Lets just say Big Jim's shots came back to haunt him.  Or maybe it was the quail eggs. {yuck}

I walked downstairs to be greeted by flowers, balloons and family.  It was a perfect start to a Sunday.  

We headed to Mama's on the Half Shell for brunch.  They have amazing food, and brunch does not disappoint.  It is my absolute fav.  Trying to keep a 15 month old entertained while we eat a slow, casual brunch is a challenge so I didn't have much time for pics.  Sorry guys!  Just know it was delish.  

We meandered home from brunch, bid farewell to my in-laws and relaxed a bit.  My wonderful cousin Meg sent me the prettiest little baby tulips in pale pink, which were waiting for me at home after brunch. (There's a pic in the collage above).

The rest of the day was spent walking through our neighborhood along the waterfront.  We stopped at a grassy knoll for a little family time too.  

We picked flowers, tickled and chased AB around, and after a while headed home for bathtime and dinner. 

Nick made my favorite dinner - grilled chicken and veggies over rice and I ate it up in a hot second.  

What wonderful weekend with friends and family and what a way to celebrate my birthday!  Thanks to everyone for being there to share in my celebration and for those who sent many birthday wishes, cards and gifts!  Time with family and friends is always time well spent.  

And that my friends, is worth a glass of champagne!

Pie, Wine, and Pizza

Your birthday only comes around once a year and so does the celebration.  The great thing about birthdays though is that everybody has one, so celebrating your friends' birthdays makes it feel like birthdays all year long!  

My bffl, Tiff's birthday is tomorrow but who wants to celebrate on a Tuesday?  So we headed out on Saturday night for some birthday festivities.  

Our first stop was the Four Seasons (!!!!!!!) to hit their happy hour at Wit and Wisdom located next to the lobby.  We waltzed up to the hotel and tried to contain our awe at the fancy cars, fancy bellman, and fancy decor.  That's right, we belong here (HA).  Wit and Wisdom was gorgeous as I expected. It looked like Restoration Hardware but more chic.  And with color. 

We sat outside on the comfiest, biggest couches.  The sun was just beginning to set and the sky was ablaze with pink, purple and gold, the breeze lightly floated from the harbor as the boats made their way home for the night and we four sipped on cocktails.  The night could not have begun better.  

We chatted about work, family, food and football (well we all started to, but Tiff and I lasted about 2 minutes before we started talking about her shoes).

  

He blinked. Sorry Drew, it's the only pic I had of all of us!

And now I look weird...

And Tiff is happy it's her birthday, lol

A few cocktails later and our bellies were rumbling so we bid the five-star Four Seasons goodbye and walked on over to Chazz for some pizza.  

Opened by Chazz Palminteri (the guy from the movies A Bronx Tale and Analyze This) the place smells like the exact moment when cheese begins to bubble melt. It was heaven.  We cozied up at a table outside for some people watching, pizza, and more wine.  I ordered the Prosecco, Tiff and the boys, the Pinot Noir.  More laughs and some time later our pizzas arrived.  Cheese, Veggie, and...well I don't remember, but it looked delicious and we ate it all.  I blame the wine.  Check out their menu here.  

"Someone" must've told the waitress it was Tiff's birthday because before we knew it out came a flourless chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, topped with a single candle (which didn't stay lit with the outside breeze).  As we sang happy birthday and Tiff "blew" at the candle another surprise arrived.  Courtesy of the lovely staff at Chazz our waitress delivered limoncello cream shots for everyone.  If you've never had limoncello it's an Italian lemon liquor.  If you don't like lemon flavor it's definitely not for you.  The cream cut the harshness of the limoncello and it was smooth and clean. It was the most delicious shot I've ever done, and housed in the classiest shot glass I've ever had the pleasure of using.  

"For the blog, for the blog" ;)

We moseyed over to Tiff and Drew's hotel to finish off the night with some Dangerously Delicious Berger Cookie pie - known on their menu as the Baltimore Bomb.  Berger Cookies might as well officially be the state cookie of Maryland because they are a staple around here.  A firm cakey cookie covered in chocolate icing, Berger Cookies are insanely sweet but every bite delicious.  The clever folks at Dangerously Delicious Pies took this much famed cookied and turned it into an even more delicious, buttery flaky pie.  OMG.  You may recognize Rodney Henry, the owner and founder of Dangerously Delicious as he was a finalist on the show Food Network Star.

Midnight came all too fast and we headed home to relieve our babysitter.  A night spent with good friends, good pizza, good pie, and great wine is deserving of a toast.  

To Tiff, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

And that my friends, is worth a glass of champagne.