sunday was my 32nd birthday – not that i am bragging because i certainly do not want to be or feel like i am, 32 years old.\u00a0 husband and i often ask each other, do you feel like a grown up?\u00a0 fortunately, or unfortunately as you may see it – our answer is always no.<\/p>\n
after 32 birthdays i find myself sort of an expert at celebrating one’s life.\u00a0 i think i have figured out how to do it right.\u00a0 here are the rules:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 do not deny yourself anything you want for your birthday (as long as it harms nobody else)<\/p>\n
2. if your\u00a0birthday falls\u00a0on a weekend, it is – by right – your birthday weekend and you should take full advantage of it<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0 get silly, get funny, get happy – do not ever get sad or tearful on your birthday.\u00a0 there are 364 other days every year for that drama.<\/p>\n
so here is what happened, the play by play, if you will.<\/p>\n
friday night was the start of the “birthday weekend extravaganza”!\u00a0 we went down town to wake forest for the friday night art open house.\u00a0 we toured open studios, stores, and visited the wine shop.\u00a0 we got to sample some amazing wines from westbend vineyards.\u00a0 they are located west of winston salem, and are a nc winery we had not yet tried.\u00a0 we liked everything they had to offer and ended up buying a bottle of their cabernet franc for later.\u00a0\u00a0 down town was a buzz.\u00a0 they had hundreds of people crowded out in the street waiting for a band outside the coffee shop.\u00a0 they had live music on the porch at one of the galleries, and people were all over enjoying the wine, art, and weather.\u00a0 after\u00a0we had all the fun we could have down town,\u00a0husband asked me where i wanted to go for dinner and i just blurted out waraji, without thinking twice!\u00a0 usually it takes us about an hour to decide where we are going to eat.\u00a0 i must examine all coupons in my coupon binder, check my coupon email account, and verify any specials before presenting him with a list of options to choose from before we can agree on a bargain priced dinner.\u00a0 waraji is not convenient, they never have a coupon, and it was already late\u00a0 – off we went.<\/p>\n
waraji was surprisingly not busy for a friday night and we were promptly seated when we arrived.\u00a0 the hostess seated us in a different section of the small dining room than we have ever been seated in before.\u00a0 we were seated next to a group of three guys in their mid twenties to early thirties.\u00a0 (this will be important later.)\u00a0 the server quickly came over and greeted us with warm moist towels to wipe our hands.\u00a0 she returned and suggested some of their new organic sakes.\u00a0 i have never really liked sake until we tried a sampler in the bahamas, so i thought while i am doing things for fun this weekend i would try another type.\u00a0 she made a suggestion and i went with it.\u00a0 i got a cold sake and\u00a0husband got a hot sake.\u00a0 we compared the two and enjoyed both of them, even though they had very different flavors.\u00a0 we had steamed mussels for an appetizer and were glad we did not order the tempura (i thought i wanted) when our giant platter of sushi came out.\u00a0 we ordered 5 different specialty rolls.\u00a0 we always order “scarry jerry” rolls when we come to waraji, but also ordered some new finds this time.\u00a0 this time we got brave and ordered scarry jerry on a heat scale of 9\/10!\u00a0 it did not disappoint!\u00a0 we really liked everything we got, except we both agreed that abalone was not our favorite item, and husband declared it\u00a0“disgusting”.\u00a0 after we finished our dinners we were entertained by the fellas at the table next door who were attempting to choke down a set of three scallop shooters.\u00a0 one of the fellas had never had such a shooter before and as they yelled “KAMPAI” and he tossed it back about half of it came back out!\u00a0 we found out the shooters were composed of sake, two scallops, a raw quail egg, and spicy sauce.\u00a0 spit it out, good plan!\u00a0 after dinner we always like to “pack around” so we headed to the teeter to get some items for breakfast the next morning.\u00a0 while there i found an unbelievable sale on some wine totes, bottle openers, and wine pourers.\u00a0 after saving $49 with my VIC card, we were on our way!<\/p>\n
saturday morning i had to wake up early to be down town for my hair appointment.\u00a0 before i went to the salon (in keeping with the –\u00a0do not deny yourself of anything theme)\u00a0i had to go get my favorite dirty chai latte to enjoy during my salon visit.\u00a0 \u00a0i was missing my stylist who disappeared from the salon i was going to and ended up finding her at another salon down the street.\u00a0 thanks to a poster hanging in the window of the new salon i was able to locate her and set up the appointment.\u00a0 after i sat down in the chair on saturday morning we began to talk.\u00a0 she told me that the other owner of the last salon had fired her for some false claims of negative reviews on the internet.\u00a0 i told her that sounded so odd since i had given her a 5 star review on yelp when she cut my hair the last time.\u00a0 she looked at me kind of shocked, and was like “oh my gosh, i think i just emailed you last night!”\u00a0 she said that she found my review on yelp and sent me an email to tell me that she had moved to the new salon.\u00a0 how bizarre.\u00a0 we laughed about the whole thing and i told her i would give her a new 5 star review at the new salon so other people would be able to find her too.\u00a0 (love her!)\u00a0 husband was supposed to be on his way to run some b-day errands which included picking up a cake and some surprises while i was out at the hairdoodie place.\u00a0 when i returned home and saw him trucking along on his jd in the lawn i thought something was amiss.\u00a0 he came in after he was done cutting the grass and informed me that his car would not start.\u00a0 (bless his heart, he just got the car back from the shop after we got back from the bahamas and now the battery would not start.)\u00a0 we devised a plan that he could use my car to go run his errands if he dropped me off at the nail salon so i could relax with a pedicure.\u00a0 the plan worked perfectly and i vegged out with a pedicure and walked next door and bought myself a new dress to wear to dinner that night, while i waited for him to make his way back up town.\u00a0 after he picked me up we headed down town to the italian festival.\u00a0 again, town was a buzz with stuff going on everywhere you looked!\u00a0 we had lots of fun and ended up getting some delicious gelatto from ala mode.\u00a0 after the italy festival we ended up striking\u00a0out\u00a0for some antique stores.\u00a0 i love going antiquing and hardly ever find time for it, so it was a great addition to the no holds barred weekend!\u00a0 we went to\u00a0suzanne’s antiques and revival antiques.\u00a0 i walked away with some great photos from suzanne’s, but no actual physical treasures.\u00a0 after the hunt we ended up\u00a0going back home to get ready for our fancy pants surprise dinner!<\/p>\n
not until we reached the restaurant was husband ready to divulge where we were going.\u00a0 we both got dressed up and headed to durham.\u00a0 we finally arrived and there we were at “magnolia”, in all its glory.\u00a0 i had been dying to go here ever since we moved to nc, hearing that it was rated as one of the top twenty five restaurants in the us, and the fact that they have won a james beard award.\u00a0 we arrived and went inside and were promptly seated by the host in the perfect little table for two.\u00a0 the waiter quickly came over and offered to get us some cocktails.\u00a0 i asked for a recommendation, like i do anytime i go some place fancy, and i use this as a gauge to see how the rest of the night is going to play out.\u00a0 he gave us really good recommendations and had completely memorized every item on the extensively detailed menu and was able to set us up for home runs at every turn.\u00a0 here is what we ended up with:<\/p>\n
sparkling gemlet – my cocktail – sweet and bitter at the same time, sort of like a twisted ginger ale!<\/p>\n
bitter elder – husband’s cocktail – grapefruity sour with a hint of sweetness!<\/p>\n
pan seared foie gras in a fig coulis – my appetizer – the BEST, hands down, foie gras dish i have ever consumed.\u00a0 previous to this dish the winner was at bin 54.\u00a0 this dish at magnolia was perfectly prepared and amazing when accompanied with the pickled watermelon – unreal!<\/p>\n
twice baked grits souffle – husband’s appetizer – this was a house specialty, so we had to try it.\u00a0 it was like grits on air!\u00a0 the grits paired with the herbed sauce and mushrooms were perfect.\u00a0 husband loved every single bite!<\/p>\n
herb grilled swordfish in brown butter – my entree – this dish was recommended by the waiter.\u00a0 he was right, that this was a show stopper!\u00a0 the swordfish was perfectly grilled and accompanied by a brown butter sauce and served with pickled sultanas (large caper berries), arugula, and beans – it was really delicious!<\/p>\n
grilled new york strip in port wine reduction – husband’s entree – the steak was fork tender and perfectly cooked med rare, no other seasoning was needed and every bite was delish!\u00a0 the steak came with a grilled salad – which was really wonderful.\u00a0 the sauce that it came with was scrumptious!<\/p>\n
brown sugar bacon waffles with peaches and sorghum ice cream – my dessert – what can i say?\u00a0 people, if you have never had bacon in a dessert, or bacon with chocolate – put it on your to do list.<\/p>\n
hot chocolate chile cake with mexican chile ice cream – husband’s dessert – again, spicy chocolate is like bacon with dessert, if you have never gone there- you really should.<\/p>\n
pinot noir- french – bottle of wine – 2005 – auxey-duresses 1er cru – climate du val – light and fruity pinot noir that paired splendidly with both steak and fish!<\/p>\n
everything from the service to the art, and especially the food was amazing!\u00a0 we are foodies, no doubt about it and we really enjoyed this gastronomic experience!\u00a0 it was worth the wait and the $.\u00a0 delicious!<\/p>\n
after dinner we wormed our way back to wake forest and decided we had better take the doggies out for a midnight stroll, since they’d been caged up all day.\u00a0 we kept on our fancy clothes and walked them around the block.\u00a0 it was fun to enjoy the stars and the solitude of nobody else on the road to make our doggies bark.\u00a0 everyone had a great night.<\/p>\n
with a late saturday night and no rest for the weary we missed the church boat and slept in.\u00a0 it was time for pressies!\u00a0 husband got me all set up in the chair to be the daily photographer!\u00a0 he snapped photos of me opening all of the great cards and gifts!\u00a0 we got showered and decided to head to parker & otis for brunch.\u00a0 they serve breakfast all day and had some pancakes that were calling my name.\u00a0 we headed back to durham and enjoyed the car ride with the sun roof open and the sun shine pouring in, definitely a perfect day to be 32!\u00a0 we arrived at the restaurant and made our way to the cashier to place our order.\u00a0 (this place is like cracker barrel gone chic-mod.)\u00a0 i ordered banana blueberry pancakes and a side of eggs with an orangina to drink.\u00a0 husband ordered eggs, bacon, and a cheddar biscuit with orangina and lemon perrier.\u00a0 we headed to the back deck to find an empty seat.\u00a0 we sat under the awning with the ceiling fans just admiring the weather and talking about all the fun we’d had this weekend.\u00a0 a train roared past us and everyone stopped their chatting to watch it hurry down the tracks.\u00a0 breakfast was served shortly thereafter.\u00a0 everything was even better than we could have imagined and we enjoyed every last bite!\u00a0 after eating we headed back inside to check out the store.\u00a0 they have an amazing store filled with everything you could imagine from bacon mints, meyer’s cleaning products, barefoot contessa cookbooks, quality olive oils, a large wine department, to a coffee bar!\u00a0 a good find, for sure!\u00a0 we scooped up a couple of purchases and headed to some other stores in durham.\u00a0 i picked up a few cute things (that i could not resist) and we headed back across town.\u00a0 once we got home i again got the notion that the doggies should go on a walk.\u00a0 we headed down to the pond with the dogs and were surprised when iliana just full forced lunged into the pond!\u00a0 WHOA!\u00a0 she has never gotten near the water, no matter how many times i have tried to entice her!\u00a0 then amelia followed suit, and before we knew it both of them were dragging and rolling around like pigs in the mud and completely tarred and feathered with goose feathers!\u00a0 they were having a blast so we could not even get upset, but the clean up was definitely not fun!\u00a0 after the doggie bath time i had to catch up with many phone messages where people were trying to locate the missing b-day girl!\u00a0 i followed up on my phone calls and rested for a bit and we headed out for thai food for dinner.\u00a0 i definitely think if i had to pick a type of food to be my favorite, thai would be the one.\u00a0 the spicy sweet and sour combos are the best!\u00a0 after dinner we headed home so i could catch the finale of design star and enjoy some birthday cake!\u00a0 husband picked out a mocha chocolate cake with pink candles!\u00a0 he sang me a glorious happy birthday song and carved up the dessert!\u00a0 we loved every bite of it (though we were full to the brim after all the food we’d eaten this weekend!)\u00a0 we stayed up until 12:01 and i can definitely say that i enjoyed every minute of my special day!<\/p>\n\n\t\t