Weekend Update: Birthday Week Extravaganza

 

I've been giving this wine glass ($1 at Dollar Tree) to all my friends this year. Many of us have the joke that we seem to be able to stretch our birthday celebrations to last the entire month. Last week was my birthday, and I'm well on my way to a month of festivities.

The morning of my birthday, my husband and Middle Child took me to a little French cafe called the Blue Door. We had never been there before but had heard good things.

And by good things, I mean delicious breakfast items. My husband had the strawberry blintzes and my daughter had a hazelnut chocolate filled crèpe with fruit.

I opted for the Croque Monsieur crèpe. It was divine!

That evening, my husband and I had special plans. We did a 'Meet the Winemaker' tasting at a local wine bar. Coelho (pronounced Quail-Oh) is Portuguese for rabbit. The winemaker sat down and spent 20 minutes with us, telling his family's story; his grandparents immigrating to California and starting a fruit farm and his father moving to Oregon to start a winery in the Willamette Valley. I love talking wine and I think he appreciated my descriptions of his pinot noirs as 'hammy' and 'medicinal.' LOL!

The following day was spent with friends. They took me to lunch at BrewDog in the Scranton Peninsula downtown. It's in a renovated warehouse. I love the industrial chic look.

A new brewery for me means getting a flight. I thought it was interesting that BrewDog is a Scottish Brewery with their only American outposts in Ohio and Pittsburgh.

The beer was fine but the best part was the Superfood Salad I had: quinoa, diced sweet potato, mixed greens, pumpkin seeds, feta, and balsamic dressing. It was seriously one of the best salads I've ever eaten. My friends know that I loathe bar food (burgers, fried foods and the like) so this was ideal. Plus, I received some nice little gifts:)

On Saturday, we met my son and daughter-in-law at Fatheads Brewery. This location is modeled after a German Beer Hall. We all ordered their smokehouse platters. I had pulled pork, brisket, pit beans, and coleslaw. Everything was delicious and it was so nice to spend time with them, now that they are closer to us.

Sunday topped off my birthday week with a visit to Indie on East 4th downtown. This restaurant has an Indie music theme. Looking at the tour posters on the walls, I'd guess I knew about half the bands featured. Not bad for an aging New Waver.

They are known for their craft cocktails. My husband and I are usually not a fan as 1) We don't care for the taste of liquor, and 2) the exorbitant price. But the names lured us in. I had One Big Holiday (My Morning Jacket) and he had Here Comes the Night Time (Arcade Fire), which included shimmering stars floating atop. I enjoyed a cobb salad and my spouse had the chicken and waffles. Everything was delicious.

The main event followed. We had preferred seating across the street at Hilarities' comedy club to see Gary Gulman. The show lasted two full hours and was hilarious! It was a great ending to my birthday week.