Birthday Weekend

Even though my actual birthday is not until tomorrow, I think I can safely say that 26 will be a good year for me. I'm basing this prediction off of the fact that this past weekend we had an awesome time pre-celebrating the big 2-6.

Friday night after work, Matt and I headed to downtown Phoenix to have dinner with my parents at a place called Gallo Blanco at the Clarendon Hotel. The place was really cute, and we grabbed a margarita while we waited for our table and enjoyed the funky atmosphere. We had heard that the food was great here, with a focus on local and fresh ingredients. And it did not disappoint! Their guacamole is made with a citrus zest and was a yummy start (even though my dad had to down a glass of milk to avoid having an allergic reaction to the avocados. I don't blame him - I would risk a swollen throat for guacamole any day!) The pork tacos were some of the best I've ever had, and Matt ordered a tasty carne asada burrito. They also serve Mexican breakfast all day, which was tempting for me since I love me some breakfast burritos. We'll have to go back one day to see how they are. It was so nice to spend time with my parents and my brother Tommy who had tagged along for the good eats. And my mom got me a cute cocktail dress that will make a photo appearance soon since I plan on wearing it to Jody's wedding shower!

Saturday morning, we lazed around for the first part of the day, then decided it was time to run to Costco to get a 10-pound birthday cake :) While we were there, Matt also bought me the birthday gift that he had been planning for some time - a new Nikon 3100 Digital SLR camera!!! Oh man, do I love this thing! I am only halfway through my instructional video on how to use it, but already I am taking better, clearer pictures. Especially when you compare them to the ones I've been taking with my phone, the difference in quality is huge! I am so grateful to have such a thoughtful husband who would buy me an awesome gift like that. Hopefully in the weeks to come, I'll be able to post some of the pics I'll be taking and you can see the improvement - ha!

That night, we got dressed and headed over to my favorite pizza place (Grimaldi's) with my favorite friends. We had a blast chatting, catching up, and enjoying the food. Then we headed over to the movies to see "Just Go With It" with Jennifer Anniston and Adam Sandler. It was a cute little romantic comedy - pretty predictable but I liked it nonetheless :) Then back over to our house to demolish the cake (we made a good dent - about 1/2 of what is NO JOKE A TEN POUND CAKE!!) I also got to open my awesome gifts (clothes, flip flops and gift cards galore from Claudia and Jody and sweet new jewelry from B!) It was an awesome night and left me feeling very thankful for my amazing group of friends.

Sunday we got up early and joined Shannon and Tom for a spring training game at the new ballpark in Scottsdale. I honestly couldn't even tell you who was playing or what the score was without looking it up... I prefer to spend my games eating nachos and enjoying the warm weather :) After that, we headed over to check out the new Talking Stick Casino since that is where we'll be staying for Jody's bachelorette party. It looked like a fun hotel with a good pool - and I heard that the buffet is the best in the state!!

After we went home and showered, we headed over to Matt's mom's house for a nice dinner at Ruffino Italian Cuisine. We all split a bottle of wine and caught up with each other, then we enjoyed a fantastic and authentic tasting dinner. There was even a guitarist playing all night which added to the cool ambiance. After that, we headed back to their house for more Costco cake and presents. It was another great night spent with family and was the perfect way to cap off a great weekend.

Looking forward to laying low tomorrow and just spending time with Matt and Jordan for my actual b-day. Here's to hoping 26 is as great as (or even better than!) 25.