Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A perfect birthday.

I usually love birthdays. In fact, I used to have a birthday week! I would go out to dinner, have lots of tasty treats, and have fun with family and friends for an entire week.  But, as I have gotten older, and I think as I have had children, my birthdays don't seem to matter as much.  The past few years, we haven't made a big deal of them at all.  

This year, though, I did have a perfect birthday! Mom, Dad, Gram and PopPop decided to take a day trip into NYC on my birthday.   I was surrounded by my family. The weather was beautiful. Gram took Mom and me to a delicious lunch at Eataly.    Mom made an even more delicious dinner.  We all enjoyed a yummy coconut cream cheese cake made by Mom.  Andy made it home in time for dessert. (When he called to say he was on his way home from work early, we all cheered!)  I got a family picture (even though not everyone is looking/smiling).  

Our happy family.

While Poppy and PopPop watched the kids, Gram, Mom and I went to Eataly to shop, walk around and have lunch.  We all enjoyed that the entire place was "everything Italian".  Mom had already prepared my special dinner, arancini, which are usually only made by my Gram for Easter dinner.  However, one of the benefits of Mom's retirement is that she is experimenting even more in the kitchen.  Arancini are really time consuming to make, but are absolutely delicious.  Mom's were SO GOOD.   She made 29 of them for our little dinner party, along with ham, which I didn't taste because I was too full from arancini!  We were all surprised to see them at Eataly, but we had already eaten an appetizer, pasta, pizza and gelato,  so we couldn't eat any more food!

Full after a yummy lunch.

Arancini, also known as rice balls.

Here is how they were serving them. What a fun quick lunch!
After exploring Eataly, we sat outside and visited with my good friend Emily, who works in the area.  She even bought me a dessert crepe, which I can never say no to! Nutella, bananas, strawberries...yum!



I think this year is going to be an exciting one.  We are having another baby and we are moving to a new place where we can start a whole new bunch of wonderful adventures! Not bad for 34!