The Golden One

Please note: this post is about food more than anything else.
I have oodles to catch up on (Q's field trip, Branson, more projects, preschool, and the usual kid antics) but let's cut to the chase.
I turned 30 on Monday.
thirty.
Denial was the course I chose as the date approached, and it was a course of failure.  I'm married to a 36 yr old.  I can only pretend to still be in my 20's and get away with it for so long. Like 2 minutes...not even.

So 30 was embraced.  We celebrated early because birthdays last all weekend/week (ahem...ok all month long) in this house.  After Aaron got home from work on Friday night, we left the children in the fun-filled care of my parents (thanks, guys!) and drove up to Kansas City for a night away. 

We arrived in KC at 9:30pm and were totally starving. 
And totally stoked that we were in the city, where restaurants are still open and serving dinner that late.

We hit CPK and tried like half of the appetizers on the menu.
Attention Earth: deep fried mac n cheese is a real thing. and it is amazing. Get to a California Pizza Kitchen asap and order some.  I think this invention could quite possibly solve most of the world's problems....because who can be in a bad mood while eating crispy little breaded and deep fried balls of mac n cheese?  World Peace?  Done and done.

Anyway, we checked in to our suite at the Intercontinental on the KC plaza and settled into "the most comfortable bed" Aaron has ever been in and, comically, the minute our heads hit the pillows we heard a baby crying through the walls. And an obnoxious father "goochie goochie goo-ing".  And an irritated mother yelling at the father about her suitcase.

No way, man.  I had JUST lived the kids not sleeping in a hotel nightmare 2 nights before, in Branson, and was still traumatized.  Not tonight. Not on the night we paid a fortune and drove 3 hours to have the exact opposite experience.

15 minutes later we settled into our upgraded (and more importantly, totally silent) room. 
It was lovely.

We ordered room service in the morning and as waffle crumbs got in the bed I giggled at the thought that I would not be the one to clean up after myself.  Happy Birthday, indeed! Pass the syrup, please. 
Aaron's omelette was huge and we felt like royalty as we stuffed our faces and watched house flipping shows on cable.

KC plaza is a blast.  We visited the apple store and checked out the MacBookPro, but left without making a final decision.  Man, the apple store offers some high quality people watching.  It's like there are only two channels: geeks who care, and people who don't know how much more awesome their lives would be if only they cared as much as the geeks.

In Sur le Table we ran across these darling la rocherre drinking glasses that some friends of ours had 11 years ago. We loved them so much that we didn't include any glasses on our wedding registry because we had every intention of buying ourselves a set.

Then we realized we were a) poor and b) that nice drinking glasses were totally impractical for the college student/putting everything we own in and out of storage boxes lifestyle.  So we had plastic cups in our cupboard for years. 

Aaron spied the glasses first and we reminisced over how much we'd wanted them. 
It was silly, since they're only glasses, but I shamefully admitted that I still love them.
So did he.
Alas, we were both too lazy to carry around a heavy set of glasses all day while we shopped and walked around the plaza. We left empty handed, but were pleased and entertained by the satisfaction that we had actually found something (however tiny and trivial) that had managed to not change on us after 11 years.

We drooled over these oversized zinc letters in Anthropologie, and probably would have left with one if a) they'd had a W in stock, and b) we hadn't been too lazy to carry it around (see above).  Then Aaron left to check out a store next door, and walked right past this hottie on display with the mannequins in the window when he returned a few minutes later.  Obnoxious, I know.  I probably would have ignored me, too.

We got lost in Barnes & Noble for awhile.
Without warning, I threw up our fancy room service breakfast all over the street while people walked by all around us. Classy. Aaron held my hair up and proudly told all of the onlookers that I'm pregnant.  Then he took me back to the car to change my clothes. One might think that this is a terrible thing to have happen on a "romantic getaway" but for me, it was purely a reminder that I married a really great guy. 

Next, we tested out Toledo chairs at Restoration Hardware and Aaron finally got to see the farmhouse table that originally inspired me to build my own.  I was quick to point out flaws in craftsmanship and he was quick to point out how happy he was that our one of a kind table cost $3000 less. 

How great is this chair?  Drafting chairs at the kitchen table?  Why not, I say. We didn't buy them, but we're closer to finding something that we both like. Aaron still favors the Navy Chair over a drafting chair. We're both drawn to the industrial styles of both and the nice contrast the chairs would be placed around our black walnut harvest table. I prefer a wood seat and he likes the simplicity of an all metal chair.  One thing we love about them both is that they don't tip over every day like our ladder back chairs, do. If only we'd known.

More window shopping and Lunch for 3 (I couldn't make up my mind between two entrees so I ordered them both) at Noodles & Company.

We discussed baby names and 100 other things on the way home, and since the drive went so quickly, we actually decided to extend our date another 30 min and took a drive over through the area where we hope our future home will be.

We grilled steaks with my parents and Jimmie and Kasey on Sunday night and the weekend ended perfectly.

On Monday morning, the sound of thunder stormed outside and as I blinked awake I found Reese and Quincy inches from my face wishing me a happy birthday.  I took one look at my beautiful girls donning nightgowns and bed heads and awkward toothy grins and knew it would be a great day, a great year, a great decade.

The girls went to school and Corbin unloaded the dishwasher.  Good thing the dishes in it were clean, because he did a really thorough job!   My parents came over and Corbin had a play date with Grandpa while my mom and I went to lunch at The Red Onion...a cute little bistro in Bentonville.  My mom and I played Farkle at our table while we waited for our food (read: I SMOKED my mom in Farkle with the best game of my life and had 10,000 pts in 5 rolls.) I unfortunately wasn't feeling so hot at lunchtime, but the tomato bisque was just what I needed!  The food was awesome, and I was extra pleased to find all of the fixings for italian sodas at the soda fountain. 

Raspberry italian soda for the birthday girl!
Then a black cherry one when it was time for a refill.
Ok, and a mango one for the road... (In my defense, I didn't feel great. Liquids only seemed to be helping, and besides, it was my birthday. I can have what I want, even if that means 3 italian sodas for lunch. And a slice of turtle pie.)

On the way back home we stopped at Lowe's and I picked up a screen repair kit so I could milk my dad into helping me finish up one last project before they left town the following day.  My mom bought me a beautiful creeping tea rose bush and lattice for the front yard. Now that the tulip bulbs have all withered, the flower beds look pretty pathetic.  I grabbed a couple of grape vines to go on either side of the rose bush and it looks really great.  Thanks Mom and Dad!  I just need to get some mulch in there, now. 

Aaron stopped by on his lunch hour with 30 GORGEOUS red and white long stem roses and wished me a "happy golden birthday" before heading back to work for a meeting.  He had a really busy day lined up, but still found time to make the day special.

Kids napped, my dad replaced the screen in our back sliding door, and I threw up a bunch then took a wonderful and uninterrupted birthday nap.  Just what every mother dreams of...or at least this mother!

We went to Mellow Mushroom for dinner, where I promptly tossed every birthday cookie I'd eaten that day. Such a shame to puke on your birthday, I tell ya. Luckily, Kasey had Corbin over to her house for a lil' dinner date, so our meal was actually pretty relaxed.  The food was good as always, service was the best we've ever had at MM, and Reese and Quincy were hopped up on hawaiian punch and enjoyed singing to me (loudly) in the restaurant. 
The day was filled with birthday wishes and cards and phone calls and feeling loved and all things great.  I am very lucky to have everything I've ever wanted in life and all by age 30.   The rest of life will just be icing on the big fat cake that was the perfect birthday weekend....or birthday week, really...

...because on Tuesday, a set of 6 la rochere bumblebee glasses arrived on my doorstep!  Aaron was just FULL of surprises this year! They arrived just in time, too, because I had pointed out to him earlier in the day that we were down to 4 drinking glasses. Out of 12. WHERE were they all going?  Are the kids breaking them and not telling?  I know they aren't in the house, because every nook and cranny of my home has been organized and or cleaned out, lately.  More on this mystery to come, soon.  For now, the new glasses are sparkling in the prime real estate shelf in the glass cabinet and we are happy to host them.

Birthday Festivities continued at preschool on Wednesday and Thursday with cupcakes and birthday wishes from 9 sprinkle and frosting covered faces. 

On Thursday night, Kasey put together a small and perfect casual get together with a few of my favoritest people.  Among other really yummy treats, there was chocolate creme brulee with fresh berries, sweet cards and gifts from friends, loud talking and funny stories, and a great, relaxing night with 6 beautiful women that I love and admire.   To Kasey, Michelle, Katie, Tia, Emily, and Angie: thanks for making me laugh regularly, lifting me up when I need it, not judging me for having a hole in the armpit of my shirt that night, and being everything that great friends are.  I am surrounded by examples of excellence.

And today, a surprise package full of Trader Joe's goodness came in the mail from my incredibly thoughtful friend, Angie. So thoughtful, that she threw in a jar of Miracle Whip with a sinister laugh.  (I could hear your cackles in the foam packing peanuts, Angie!) Maybe 30 is my year to embrace Miracle Whip....or give it a second chance, at least ;)

I've read a lot of really cool things that people have done to celebrate a new decade.  30 acts of kindness, crossing 30 things off the bucket list, 30 presents, 30 day challenges, etc. and I feel inspired to do something, too. The one emotion I felt more than any other on my birthday was gratitude for the good people around me. This year, I'll write 30 cards or letters of appreciation to influential people in my life.  Without them, I wouldn't have much to celebrate, at all.   
 
29 was hard.
This has been one wild and wonderful week.
Whatever lies ahead for me this year, good or bad, 30 and I can handle it.  I have a lot to be grateful for, and I plan to celebrate all year.  
Thanks for giving me a golden birthday that I will always treasure!