33.

Ahhhhhhhhhh! I can't believe I'm 33! Where does the time go? I swear, just yesterday I was 27. I truly forget how old I am sometimes. Not that 33 is old, old but I know at some point in my younger years 33 seemed mighty old and now I'm there. I think my misperception of my age is because I sometimes compare myself with the girls I went to high school with and their bunches of children- because of this they somehow seem so much older than me. In my crazy head 4 kids must = older age. Weird- I know. This is obviously me reasoning with myself that I'm not that old.

Despite time flying right by me, I actually really enjoy birthdays. Who doesn't love being spoiled on their special day? I received so many nice phone calls, texts and facebook messages. They all really made me feel loved. Also, I make it a rule to not work on my birthday. Even if it's just taking the day off work to read and relax, no special plans, just a day for myself. This is exactly what I did yesterday {minus the reading part}. For my birthday, I slept in, snuggled with miss Zoe then I took her up to Tanner Park with our friends, Alex, Steve & Bentley. In the afternoon my mom visited- we made coffee and enjoyed some pastries. I ran a few errands {with Zoe, of course} and then Cardy surprised me by coming home from work a little early. We had reservations at Pago and I was super excited to finally go! I had been wanting to try Pago since they opened and it did not disappoint! We had a fabulous meal. We ordered an appetizer we had never tried before. Chicken live mousse with homemade pickles and dried cherries served with a baguette. I'm still not sure if I liked it {I didn't hate it} but it was fun to try something new. I loved the sweetness of the cherries with the acidity of the pickles- together with the mousse, not too bad. For dinner, I ordered the NY strip and Cardy ordered lamb. It was divine! Dessert was a must for the occasion and after having such a great meal, we wanted to try everything we could. We ordered the bread pudding with ice cream and salted caramel- also fabulous. I wish I had pictures of all of these dishes but Cardy made me promise I would not take any pictures in the restaurant. It embarrasses him to death, especially if the place has dim lighting and I need to use a flash. So, even though it was my birthday, I agreed. I was checking out Pago's brunch menu- amazeballs! I may be back sooner than planned!

 

Tanner Park is this lady's Disneyland. The water was cold, Zoe only gets in knee deep.

 

This is the only picture we took in Pago. Not my fave but I wanted to remember the evening.

The night before, my family met up at Copper Onion for dinner not only to celebrate my birthday but also my brother's. His birthday is the week before mine. Good God, I've eaten well this week! Copper Onion is delicious and probably one of my favorite new restaurants. I always suggest it to people wanting to try a new place for lunch or dinner.

Cast iron chicken & sweet potatoes. I rarely order chicken but this sounded amazing- it was!

Blippity, blah, blah, blah. Enough about food & detailed descriptions of everything I 've shoveled into my mouth this last week {or month if you've checked out my Instagram}, I really felt the love this week.  Despite feeling old{& pretty chubby}, I love my life. I'm surrounded by so many great people who influence me daily. I feel so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life who care about me so much. Thank you to everyone who not only made my birthday special but who make my life special. <3 p="">