Birthday Week!

As some of you already know, Nick and I have birthdays two days apart. When we were dating long distance, Toronto to New York, this usually meant just one of us would actually get the other one on their actual birthday – whichever date was closest to a weekend. Even though we’ve been married for over two years now, this year was the first year we decided to celebrate our birthdays completely together and make it into a fun “birthday week”.

You already saw what I did on Tuesday, but the celebrations didn’t end there. On Wednesday night, as a lead in to Nick’s big day, we went to see the Yankees play the Orioles. It was great to drink a beer, eat some greasy food, and cheer on NYC with their biggest fan. We ended up leaving after the 7th inning because it looked like they were going to lose, but by the time we got home, they won!

On Thursday, Nick’s birthday was quiet by request, but we did get to eat burritos and watch Prometheus.

I also got to shower him with presents, including an adopted lion named Garth and this photo book I had so much fun making from Pinhole Press.

On Friday night, we headed into the city to finally watch our good friend Ben’s documentary Unfinished Spaces play at the Cooper Union. It was so interesting and really cool to watch him participate in a filmmaker’s panel after the movie. One snooty architecture professor in attendance even told the entire theatre that Ben reminded him of Wes Anderson. I can kind of see it now!

Saturday night, was our big celebration. We invited 10 of our favourite New Yorkers out to dinner at Supper Restaurant. A lot of these people hadn’t met each other before; they were from totally different social groups. It was so much fun to see them meet. As Nick called it, “a social experiment”. The food was delicious and the company was so great. We love you guys!

We got a few drinks at three different bars afterwards, before we headed home to get our beauty rest because on Sunday morning I got up early to get breakfast with…

Rob and Tami! They were in town visiting from Toronto. It was great to have them in my neighbourhood and introduce them to Brooklyn Label.

Running purely on fumes by Sunday afternoon, Nick and I brought the chocolate dot cookies I made over to Annie’s “pumpkin party”. We ate so many delicious things made by everyone in attendance and Nick got to play with the cat and dog of the apartment.

We finished up our weekend by eating a healthy dinner (after pasta, wine, cupcakes, and bacon-wrapped figs) and watching the season premiere of The Walking Dead.

What a great week! Thanks to everyone who made it so special for us <3

Baltimore

Nick and I met our road trip soul mates this weekend – Kate and Bryan! Of course, we’ve actually known them for years, but this was our first time taking a trip together. Aside from a storm coming out of nowhere and trying to kill us on the way there Friday night, our weekend in Baltimore went perfectly!

Saturday morning we woke up early and walked over to the Baltimore Aquarium. Kate’s good friend Rachel and her family met us there. I swear Nick was as excited about seeing “the creatures” as Rachel’s six year-old son.

There was a big pool on the ground floor that had sharks, rays, and a giant one-armed sea turtle in it.

This guy was the scariest:

Megalodon jaw!

So pretty.

This fish wanted all the attention. Photobomb!

My favourite part was the sloth who was “in overdrive” in the rainforest on the top floor.

Everyone was very impressed at the amount the sloth was moving.

Just when you thought you were done, you enter the jellyfish exhibit.

That afternoon, we went to Camden Yards to see the Orioles play the Indians. Our seats were so hot, you had to ease into them like a hot tub.

We were seated in the second row of left field. Thankfully, we didn’t get hit with any foul balls. I think I paid attention to the entire game for the first time ever.

We were also incredibly thankful that the sun moved and our section turned into the shady part of the stadium!

Saturday night, we went out for dinner to Fogo De Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse, recommended to me by some guys are our hotel. Have you ever been to one? It’s a pretty amazing concept. There was a huge salad bar you could help yourself to, then each person had their own card beside their plate that you could change from “no thanks” to “yes please”. Depending on how yours was turned, men with large sticks of meat would come by and shave servings off for you! Everything from steak to lamb to bacon-wrapped-chicken! The boys were in heaven.

Sunday morning, we headed home. Ponch kept Nick and I company in the backseat.

Of course, no trip through the suburbs would be complete without a trip to Target!

What a great weekend trip – hopefully the four of us will collaborate on some more in the future!