I am most thankful for going nowhere near a mall today.
After yesterday’s turkey trot (that post is updated with official + Garmin results, FYI), I came home and got to work on making my contribution for yesterday: maple-glazed Brussels sprouts with bacon.
I feel like they taste like one put more work into them than one actually did. Which is what I always go for when cooking.
The bird with the bird. Long story behind it, but one of my mom’s nicknames is Bird. (So there was some cannibalism yesterday?)
Antipasto. (My dad made his yearly “I’m pro-pasta” joke.)
…And everything else.
Including this little snuglebunny, Lexi, my cousin’s daughter. I can’t believe it was just a year and a half ago I headed up to Rhode Island with my family to pick her up. She’s now walking and talking. Guaranteed giggles for hours? (From me and her.) Ask her if she’s a good girl. Every single time she says “Bad girl!” and giggles with glee.
How was your Thanksgiving? What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish? Mine are stuffing and (not pictured but still there) spaghetti and meatballs.
Starting with trying Rent the Runway. I technically joined the site a few years ago, but I’d never tried it. The other day, I got an email with a $50 birthday credit and figured, why not? (You can get an invite here, by the way.) I have my Winter Ball coming up and am considering trying out a rental for it, rather than spending a lot of money on a dress I’ll likely only wear once. I wanted to give the whole process a test run before such a big event, and it worked out well.
The experience was awesome. I picked out a dress late Friday afternoon and it was delivered yesterday morning. I ended up going with this Robert Rodriguez dress, and the fit notes and reviews were right on target. I’m usually a 6 or an 8 in nicer dresses, depending on how tight the chest is, and all the reviews said that this dress was pretty snug, so I ordered both the 6 and 8. The 6 zipped but I sort of wanted to breathe on my birthday (weird, I know), so I wore the 8.
My mom came over in the late afternoon, and we popped this bottle of bubbly that my friend Lindsay sent me after the marathon. I’d been saving it for a special occasion and a birthday totally qualifies as that. Also, I got a new lens for my birthday, and I love it.
Continuing with the ridiculousness, we went for blowouts before dinner. I’d asked Shannon last week if she was good with a curling iron and could help me do those cute big curls at the bottom of my hair, and she suggested we get blowouts instead. Well, okay!
So, that’s what I asked for–straight but with loose curls at the very end, and the hair dude totally misinterpreted me and did these huge curls instead. When he was done, I thought I looked like a cross between a hot mess and Miss Piggy.
My friends tried to convince me otherwise, but I still see the resemblance.
The blowouts took far longer than we thought, and we ended up being 15 minutes late for dinner. Between the hair and being late, I was not too much fun to be around for about 20 minutes. Sorry.
We went to Stanton Social for dinner. I need to give them some props, too–I totally messed up and booked a table for Tuesday night instead of last night, and they squeezed us into the lounge area when we figured out what had happened.
I started off with the Brooklyn Lemonade (it had gin, ginger beer, cucumber…and other stuff)…
…but quickly got drink envy and switched to the basil gimlet. YUM! The drinks were so good.
We ordered a bunch of small plates for the table. Edamame.
Chicken and cashew spring rolls.
Crab cake corn dogs.
Salt and pepper shrimp.
Red snapper tacos.
Pierogies. (Pretty sure they were my mom’s idea.)
Ribs.
And mac and cheese.
All of the food was so amazing.
They even had a gluten-free menu for Shannon!
After dinner, we went to Jadis for drinks and to meet up with a bigger crowd. Dinner was just a ladies’ thing, because, really, 364 days of the year, I tag along as a single lady with other couples–and am fine with that…usually–but I didn’t want to feel like that for my own birthday.
I love Gia. I’ve mentioned that before, right? On New Year’s, I mentioned to her that my 29th was coming up and that I wanted to have a big party for 29 and then do something quieter when I turn 30 next year. She asked if I wanted her to help plan it, and I was clearly all about it. The girl knows how to throw a good party. I hope we are still friends when I get married one day, because I’m pretty sure she’d have some ideas for an epic wedding.
She talked with the people at Jadis, and they reserved the back part of the bar for us, and had a lovely spread of wine, champagne, cheese and some passed hors d’oeuvres.
She even had disposable cameras for everyone to take fun pictures with. I can’t wait to see those pictures…
This photo is cropped for decency. My dress was really short.
I have 364 days left in my twenties (omg), and I hope they’re all as awesome as last night was. Also, I still want to learn to curl my hair like Emily’s.
