One would be wrong.
I didn't want to step on Keith's toes by planning a celebration without consulting him. After all, he is her fiance. So I was thrilled when he reached out to me for ideas in mid-February. We thought of a couple of different options and I said I would explore them. In January, Cindy and I scheduled an afternoon of manicures and pedicures for this past Saturday, so I knew we had to do something fun to follow in the evening. I struggled with the idea of hosting a party but thought I could still pull it off even though I'd be with her in the late afternoon and would be crunching time to prepare. We also considered a big dinner out with friends meeting us at a restaurant or just a bunch of people meeting us for drinks at a local bar. After much struggling, we decided on just a couples dinner out.
In the meantime, Cindy had planned spa day and invited me to join her. We decided to go on Monday (the actual birthday). Mani/pedis on Saturday, and a facials/massages on Monday. I could love this life. A plan was coming together. Now I just needed to add the awesomeness.
I started by making Cherry-Lemon Meringue Mini Pies for my new tradition of "Birthday Baking." Yes, everyone gets cake on their birthday, but I don't do cakes. So I pick the birthday boy or girl's favorite recipe (or flavors) of something other than cake and go to town.
We'll ignore the fact that the picture only shows 11 mini pies and they appear to be stuck in the muffin pan. For the full story, check out the recipe on the baking blog. Appearances aside, Cindy was quite happy to receive a stone pan full of tasty lemony goodness at 8:15 am.
Yup, I decided to take them to her at work. I wanted to kick off her birthday weekend with a bang, so on Saturday morning I arrived at her work and delivered the pies and this mildly obnoxious birthday centerpiece. And her gift.
Because nothing says "Happy Birthday! Let's drink!" like a 3 foot floating margarita. Especially when delivered to your place of employment. On a Saturday morning. At 8:15 am.
Later in the afternoon I headed to Cindy's house and we drove to the salon, about a half hour away. We go to Bella Sante every 6-8 months for some good girl time, and this visit was just as good. It's a little swanky and far away, so we save it for special occasions. We had a great time, chatting and generally enjoying ourselves. Keith and I had decided to keep the dinner plans a secret, so when our nail technicians asked us where we were going afterward, I kept it vague and open. Afterward, we got in the car and I "suggested" going to a particular restaurant. My little white lie that is was based on a recommendation from a foodie friend was totally warranted.
We got the the Beacon Grille and headed to the bar. The restaurant was great. It was much bigger than I expected and got pretty busy for the dinner rush while we waited. I positioned myself facing the door, so I could see Dave and Keith come in and make sure Cindy would have her back to them. The funny thing was, I kept seeing groups of people who were clearly celebrating birthdays come in. Multiple groups carrying balloons and gifts kept coming in. I noticed a balloon with Cindy's milestone come in and said, "oh look--It's somebody else's big birthday too." Clearly, I'd chosen the right celebration restaurant.
Our bartender, Melissa, was a sweetheart and made great recommendations. She offered us menus, asking if we'd be eating at the bar. I casually said, "Oh, maybe in a little while." She brought us our drinks and eventually we did order an appetizer (the cheese platter which was awesome. Cindy loves cheese the way I love chocolate, so clearly it was a winner.) While we were enjoying our cocktails and tasty morsels, Keith showed up behind Cindy and said, "Happy Birthday!" She was completely surprised.
Dinner was fabulous. The menu wasn't very extensive, but very carefully crafted and everything thoughtfully paired. True to form, Dave and Cindy--we like to joke that Dave is Cindy's boyfriend, and vice versa--were debating over the same two entrees so each ordered one and they shared. This is pretty normal behavior. Our waiter, Ruben, was incredibly attentive and had great recommendations. He was even successful in recommending a cocktail to Keith that he enjoyed, which was surprising because Keith is generally picky. They comp'ed Cindy's dessert (and presented it on a huge plate with "Happy Birthday" written in caramel sauce) and we were very pleased with the evening.
On Monday morning, I picked Cindy up and headed to Essential Therapies Day Spa. It was a dreary day, but any day is great for pampering. We were welcomed by the official greeter, Callie.
Isn't she a sweetie? She's about six months old, super sweet, well trained and has really soft ears. She loves people so she had no problem when I couldn't keep my hands over her. We spent some time in the hot tub, eating fruit and drinking mimosas before going off for facials and massages. I can't even begin to describe the massage other than to say it was positively awesome. We finished off our morning in the sauna despite the sauna being outside and that it had started to snow. The snow had nothing to deter us from enjoying the cedar hot house. We showered, changed and headed out to lunch (yes, that included more cocktails).
After a weekend of fun and much pampering (and some drinking), it was certainly hard to come back to work this week. I suppose that's the price I pay for celebrating with friends. I hope Cindy had as much fun as I did. Now we just need an excuse to do it all again.
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