Happy Birthday to Me!

Have I mentioned I love Birthdays?...

I'm pretty sure I have.

Have I also mentioned that I love MY Birthday the MOST.

:)

I have had the most amazing two weeks any woman could have. 

It all started with the Girls last weekend.

And it continued into this weekend.

Friday night we met up with Casey and Brit for some Sushi and Sapporo to kick off my Birthday weekend.

Casey kept Jack for the night, and Mary already had picked up Maddie from Daycare.

No Kids all night.

Wanna know what we did after dinner?

We grocery shopped.

That's right. Grocery shopped for over an hour with out kids. 

It was Awesome.

We didn't get home until after 11pm.  Then we slipped into bed and got to sleep in until 8am.

8AM PEOPLE.

THAT is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.

We had a busy Saturday planned.  The boys got haircuts while Brit and I shopped for her engagement shoot that she had that day at 1pm.  Nothing like last minute. 

Jack had his 6 year birthday shoot on Saturday too.

Mia Hope is Brittany's Wedding photographer.  They did such an amazing job on Tegan's Wedding, and Jaime's family shoot, that it was a no-brainer to have them do Brit's wedding.  I can't wait to see the proofs from Saturday's shoot.

Saturday Morning I had breakfast with Gram and she invited me to the Church Crab Feed.

MMMmmmm Crab.

How could I say no??

p.s.  I secretly love Church functions. I can't get enough of them. I love the people, and the mingling and the silent auction and bad wine.  I love all of it.

That's right. I wore it.

Here's our table.

Clay was ready to win big.

Gram perused the silent Auction

The crab was fantastic

I will not confirm, nor deny that a bucket of crab was stolen for later enjoyment.....

So

Much 

FUN!

Clay and I got to sleep in AGAIN!
My birthday started with a leisurely morning in bed.
Clayton brought me a beautiful card, and a coke zero.
(after he sang me the Birthday Song)
Love. Him.

We kind of dragged our feet all morning....
Not really having concrete plans...
Finally we decided to just head up to Wine Country.

So, that's what we did.

We drove straight to St. Helena and walked the town, working up an appetite for lunch.

At Market.

With Mimosas...

and Oysters

A Lobster Roll in Rice Paper with mint sauce

And Grown up Mac and Cheese with Gruyere and Bacon.
To. Die. For.

We checked into the hotel after lunch, The Villagio.

At Check In they hand you the warmest, thickest Hot Chocolate as a Welcome Beverage.
(it was like a warm, melted chocolate bar.)

Upon our arrival there was a chilled bottle of chardonnay and logs for the fireplace.

There was a soaking tub for two...
(that may or may not have been used several times this weekend.

Mr Kirby was quite relaxed.

Our dinner reservations were for 9PM.
9 P.M.

So.....

To hold us over...

we had an afternoon "snack" at my favorite Wine Country Restaurant

Bouchon.

So, so, so Amazing.

We sat at the bar made friends and enjoyed a *little* appetizer for two.

Oh. My. Lord.
(Just looking at this picture makes me want another platter right now.)

As we talked with everyone around us, we met quite an interesting group.

There were 3 gentlemen and a lady who were casually dressed at the end of the bar.  We overheard them say they just got off work.

It turns out...they were the day shift for The French Laundry

They were drinking the most interesting drink.  It consisted of Flavored Vodka, infused simple syrup and ginger beer.  I did not try it....but it comes in a copper mug!

They gave us some insider tips to the restaurant.

As we were leaving, I asked them if it was frowned upon to take photos inside the restaurant.
They all immediately told me No.
I had my camera hiding on my lap the whole time we were at the bar.
I raised my Canon from my lap and said, even if it's THIS?

The gentlemen on the left smiled and said "Miss, that is a Tic - Tac compared to some of the cameras we have seen"

9 o'clock couldn't come fast enough.

I was ready for my Meal of a Lifetime.

And because it lived up to EVERYTHING and MORE.

I think it deserves it's very own post.

Stay Tuned.....