Birthday Bounty

I am 26 now, as of last Friday.

And a glorious day it was. 

Friday has always been my favorite day of the week.

I have been thinking about the placement of birthdays, and I am glad to have my birthday at the beginning of the year. 

Probably each month has its benefits, but January has a crisp newness that is bigger than me. I like that. Plus, now that I am old enough to forget how old I am, being born at the beginning of the year makes it easier to calculate, which is probably why most of Asia traditionally adds a year to their age on the Chinese New Year regardless of their month of birth.  (Happy Year of the Dragon by the way.)

Nathanael was the crafter of almost all of the things that made my birthday so fantastic.

The main thing I created was the wonderful brightly colored outfit that is not shown here...but probably would have landed me a part as one of the Wizard of Oz munchkins back in the day just so that Technicolor triumph could have been fully appreciated. Though, Nathanael did help me decide that it was not too ridiculous for work...being that it was Friday and all.

Isn't this wrapping job fun? 

Newspaper never looked so fine.

Nathanael received some restaurant recommendations from people in his office, but he decided that he could make a more delectable meal at home (and without spending our using up all of our money). So, while I relaxed in the living room reading some junior fiction, he created a mystery dinner masterpiece. The first course, was beer cheese soup fit for any Wisconsin palate.

Next was a salad of romaine lettuce, pecans, craisins, and apple poppy seed dressing. 

Next, because our kitchen is small, he brought these into the living room to cool, which should have probably keyed me in on the main course, but I was still oblivious...

to the seasoned hamburgers sizzling away.

But once I figured it out I was pretty excited about both the burgers, and the toppings; red wine caramelized onions, slices of avocado, and shoe string potato chips for a bit of crunch.

I went to bed stuffed to the top.

Then, the next morning, my second day of 26, Nathanael took me out for a mystery breakfast. I was a little worried he was taking me to ihop (I love waffles, but I just wasn't in the mood for that particular atomosphere). Not only was I not disappointed, but I was quite excited. He brought me to a beignet shop. The setting of which is more like a European cafe. 

(Taking more pictures of the two of us together is my one New Year's resolution. As you can see, it is in its early stages. Also, those are the clothes we are wearing indoors and out these days.)

Ah beignets.

If you haven't tried them...

well...

get yourself down here to Louisiana to visit us!