This year my birthday began a week before the actual day. As mentioned in a previous post, Mom, Allen, and I headed to Charlotte to see the Martha Graham Dance Company perform. Before the show, we had dinner at Chima Brazilian Steakhouse. If you have never been to a Brazilian Steakhouse, you need to go! It was quite an experience! Our first course consisted of appetizers for the table: cheese bread and croquettes. Both were delicious, but the cheese bread was very different than anything I had ever had before. It looked quite similar to a marshmallow and was textures similarly. But the flavor was not the same as the sugary treat. Our second course was an all-inclusive salad bar with over 35 items. But this wasn't just any salad bar. Oh the choices! Asparagus, broccoli, artichokes, pancetta, salad mixes, rice, and more! I could have made a meal entirely off of that! The third course was the Rodizio Meat Service. We had a choice of eight meats including: top sirloin, flank steak, salmon, swordfish, leg of lamb, parmesan pork, boneless chicken, and sausage. Now the way it works is you have a token. When your token is flipped on the orange side the servers will approach the table with hunks of meat on a stick. If you would like whatever meat they are carrying, you tell them how you liked it cooked (rare, medium, etc.) and the shave you off a slice. When your belly is full, you flip your token to the black side and then stop coming around. What a feast! To top it off, I received a birthday tiramisu. YUM!
Fast forward to intermission of the Graham performance. Mom, Allen, and I did a champagne toast in the lobby. The next night, mom headed home and Allen and I celebrated with our Charlotte friends. The evening ended with the worlds largest Jenga tower at The Blind Pig in NoDa. (Okay, so maybe it didn't break any records, but it was still pretty impressive.) It was a WONDERFUL first birthday celebration!
My second birthday was the actual day of. It fell on a weekday, so I did have to work, but that wasn't too bad. My coworkers surprised me with a Happy Birthday sign on my room's window.
At lunch, I was surprised with a flower delivery from Sherry and Dad. Aren't they beautiful?
After work, Allen and I headed to The Fresh Market. He let me pick out anything I wanted for dinner. I decided on four different courses: Four cheese foccacia bread, crab cakes, chicken oscar, and choice for dessert: raspberry cheesecake or peanut butter explosion. Which one do you think I chose?
Allen gave me the Harry Potter box set of books. Now I can actually read them! This was a great second birthday!
For my final birthday celebrations, Dad and Sherry came down for a visit. We got to explore Athens' past by hunting for long lost railroads. Did you know that at one time four different railroads came through Athens? No? Well now you do. My favorite find was the token Athens bridge. You may recognize it from the REM album cover. We hiked up and got a different view of it. Way cool!
We ate lots of delicious food over the course of their visit. We had old favorites such as Big City Bread Cafe but also tried new places like NONA. Duck, Po Boy sandwiches, and jambalaya. Yum! Fortunately we were able to have dinner with Sherry's best friend who recently moved to Athens. It's nice to know they are in town should Allen and I ever need anything in an emergency. We had my birthday dinner at The Hilltop Grille. Allen and I had been there once before and really liked it. We had a great time. I had steak with crab on top. Yum! Key lime pie for dessert. Double yum! We had a great visit with Dad and Sherry. Looking forward to a longer visit next time!
It was a wonderful three week birthday. Thank you everyone for your sweet birthday wishes!
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