My Birthday Weekend Recap

My birthday weekend was absolutely fabulous. It all started with a delicious piece of red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting presented to me by my co-workers. M. picked me up from work on Friday afternoon (he had some errands he needed to run that day) and when I arrived home I was surprised by some delicious Georgetown cupcakes (which M. so beautifully displayed on two of the ruffled cake plates we received as wedding gifts), a big bouquet of petal pink gerbera daisies with lime green centers, and a silver gift bag with my name on it!

We decided to go out for a quick dinner that evening and after getting ready my sister C. surprised me by walking through our apartment door! I was so excited that she was there to celebrate the weekend with M. and me! We ended up going to a restaurant in Old Town that serves bar food -- sandwiches and salads. It was delicious and I had a chance to enjoy one of my favorites...fried green tomatoes! After dinner we headed home and C. proudly displayed the two beautiful cakes she brought for the birthday celebration. One -- pink with my initials (a lemon raspberry cake -- yum!) and a special chocolate chip cookie cake for M. We ended up staying up and just watching TV, but really we were just prepping ourselves for the feast we would be enjoying the next day!

Saturday morning we woke up and got ready for our brunch at a sweet cafe on 8th Street. It was a "Belgian" cafe and we were pretty excited about trying the waffles and Belgian fries! :) I ordered the French toast with brown sugar syrup (so did C.) and M. ordered the waffles with fresh fruit and whipped cream. I also ordered a side of the Belgian fries with a trio of homemade mayonnaises (hey, it was my birthday -- I can have fries for breakfast!!) and a "pink" mimosa which was made with grapefruit juice (yum!). Our meal was delicious and of course it's always fun trying new places. After our breakfast we walked back home and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Seriously, the weather was PERFECT this weekend -- mid 70's -- beautiful. On our walk home we stopped at a little playground so that I could swing on the swing for a few minutes (again, it's my birthday, if I want to swing...I will swing!). Really I just wanted to prolong our time outside. We got back home and let our delicious meal settle a little bit before venturing out for a few hours of shopping. We stopped by Bloomie's and Anthropologie (I actually needed to make a return) and we also found ourselves browsing in Sephora. I picked up a new nail polish shade and a mini perfume roller to carry with me in my purse.

After our little shopping excursion we made our way home to get ready for our 6:00 pm reservation at 1789 in Georgetown. I find it so hard to dress these days because of the transition from Summer clothing to Fall clothing. Plus, the weather was actually more of a "fall" day and I haven't yet done the switch-a-roo in my closet. So I paired a nude dress with tone-on-tone bead detail with my black blazer and some strappy black shoes. I felt like the outfit was appropriate for the weather and for the dressiness of the restaurant.

So we made our way over to Georgetown, parked the car and walked to the beautiful restaurant. We were seated in a sunny room upstairs and were greeted by our very friendly waiter. The entire experience at this restaurant was fabulous. We chose three courses and enjoyed a delicious bread basket served with homemade butters (sweet cream butter, corn butter [potentially my new obsession], and a basil "butter").

So we enjoyed the following (because let's be honest, the food is VERY important to me!)...

M. had the Lamb shoulder with roasted cauliflower, oven dried tomatoes, baby arugula, extra virgin olive oil and balsamic oil followed by the beef tenderloin with chanterelle mushrooms, Swiss chard, potato pave and Hudson Valley foie gras and finished his meal with the muscovado sugar pound cake with griddled nectarines, candied lemon and vanilla ice cream.

C. enjoyed a seafood feast starting with the crispy squid with cayenne pepper, sweet corn, green tomatoes and scallions followed by the roast lobster with house made fregula, manila clams, roasted red peppers, oregano and lobster jus and finished her meal with the white carrot and pecan cake with sherry raisins, ceylon cinnamon caramel and cardamom carrot chips.

I also enjoyed a seafood feast by starting with the sea scallops with roasted baby carrots, Austrian crescent potato fondant and tarragon (probably the best scallops I've ever tasted) followed by the same lobster dish that C. had and I finished with the espresso mascarpone bar with a cocoa cookie crust, frozen chocolate pudding, cocoa nibs and marsala zabaione.
M. and I agreed it was one of the best meals we have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. Everything was perfect -- the service, the presentation of the meals, the flavor combinations. Yum. We were impressed and it's definitely a go-to place for special occasions. We also enjoyed a delicious bottle of wine which I might have to search for in the stores to bring home to enjoy!

After stuffing ourselves we made our way back home and I opened my remaining presents! A sweet card from my grandmother and M.'s grandparents, a generous J.Crew giftcard from M.'s sister and brother-in-law, a super fun cookbook, "shoe" themed calendar and bookmark from my godmother, and the money to purchase a flip camera (I've been dying to go out and get one!) from my mother-in-law, father-in-law and brother-in-law! I also opened a few other gifts earlier in the week/day. My sister C. bought me the Laura Mercier makeup I mentioned in my birthday wish list post and a seriously chic golden yellow headband from Nordstrom's! M. surprised me with the beautiful tortoise shell Michael Kors watch that I posted on my birthday wish list and included in his incredibly sweet birthday card an itunes giftcard (one of my favs!)!

In addition to all of these wonderful birthday surprises, we also have one last "birthday" event that will take place this weekend back in North Carolina. My mom gifted me a beautiful scarf she bought during their trip to Spain -- I can't wait to wear it this fall and winter!

It was a birthday to remember! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! :)