What a lucky girl I am

My birthday was on Monday but I've been celebrating since last Friday :) Documenting how lucky I am is going to take a little while and a lot of pictures, so here we go (apologies in advance for the bad low-light pics)....

Friday 10/23/2009

Last year a good friend got me a gift card to a restaurant in Cambridge called Salts. We didn't get around to using it until this year so Willy took me there for my birthday. I don't know how we've never heard of this place before but my friend knows I love duck and found this place because they're known for their lavendar honey glazed whole roasted duck for two. You actually have to reserve it in advance if you want to make sure to get it; they only have a few ducks per night and they often sell out. The people seated at the table next to us were disappointed they couldn't have one after they saw ours come out and tried more than once to buy our leftovers :)

Anyway, dinner was amazing. Seriously, I was in heaven and it's sort of silly how happy a good meal makes me. The duck was delicious--slightly sweet, great flavor, moist, yummy! And the stuffing and veggies on the side were great too. They bring the whole duck to your table and then carve it up and plate it for you. It's so much food we only ate half of it for dinner so we got another half for dinner a couple of nights later--yum x2!

For appetizers we got the slow-cooked farm egg with chanterelle mushrooms, chorizo, and native corn and an avocado-wrapped king crab thingy. Both were excellent and so flavorful. My mouth is watering again just thinking about it. For desserts we got the chocolate parfait (so good!) and the mascapone-enriched cheesecake with corn bread ice cream (just OK).

The restaurant definitely pays attention to details. They not only decorated our table with confetti for my birthday, they actually lined up the separate little balloon and streamer pieces so they looked like balloons on a string. Yowza.

Saturday 10/24/2009

On Saturday the celebration continued, this time with my family. Everyone came over to our house to carve pumpkins during the day and we all went out for a sushi dinner afterwards. The gray day was perfect for staying indoors and we had a lot of fun. All the best pictures are on Willy's computer though so I need him to upload them to our shared drive before I can post any. The jack-o-lanterns turned out pretty cool, but you'll have to take my word for it for now.

After dinner we went back to our house for cake and coffee, and then I got some pretty awesome gifts. First was the new Fuji Finepix F70EXR point & shoot camera that came from my parents and Willy. I've been lugging around an old brick of a Canon that's circa 2002 or something. This guy has a ton of fancy-schmancy software built in and a 10x zoom. I still have to learn how to really use it, but I'm finally out of the digital camera Stone Ages.

Second, my sisters got me something that will let me continue exploring my crafty side. I asked for and got my very first sewing machine, a Brother CS6000i. No, I don't know how to use this either but I intend to learn :) I mean, c'mon, a girl my height really needs to learn how to hem her own pants at least! Too bad Catholic schools didn't have home ec.

The last gift was from my aunt and uncle, who got me a four pack of mini merlots. I was telling them recently that I rarely drink wine at home because Willy doesn't drink so it's a waste to open up a whole bottle just for me. I keep meaning to get those small bottles of wine for myself but never do, so they did it for me :) P.S., the 2008 Woodbridge Merlot is yummy!

Sunday 10/25/2009
We got some gorgeous fall weather on Sunday so Willy and I went to the famous Mt. Auburn Cemetary to check out the fall colors. It's a beautifully manicured space and I know it sounds like a weird place to take an outing, but I'm so glad we did. We spent probably 2 - 2.5 hours walking around and I got to try out my camera, which was fun. We took a leaf-peeping trip out to Western Mass a couple of weeks ago but were a little early for peak colors. Well this weekend was definitely peak. Gorgeous reds, yellows, oranges--stunning. Even the sky was a flawless, cloudless blue. I know it sounds cheesy, but I felt so calm, happy, and rejuvenated all at the same time after our visit.

Monday 10/26/2009

Willy took the day off from work just to hang out with me on my actual birthday. We didn't do anything big, just had a nice lunch together and later in the evening played in our regular volleyball league. It was a good, chill day. But I got one more surprise because Willy had yet another birthday present for me. The crazy boy got me a pair of tanzanite studs to replace ones I lost earlier this year! I don't have a pic yet, but they're lovely.

See what a lucky girl I am? I have an amazing hubby and family that I got to spend some quality time with and also got some pretty awesome gifts (I don't know what they're going to do for Christmas presents now because I pretty much got everything I want or need!). I also had a chance to catch up with a bunch of Cali friends over the phone. Crazy Miss Sabrina even wished me a happy birthday via text, e-mail, IM, FB, snail mail, and a phone call :)

Happy Birthday to me! I hope you all are as lucky as me!