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Birthday retrospective
By courtney | February 12, 2010
In the usual way of things in our marriage, Keith continues to surprise and impress in the most lovely ways. You would think that the older you get, the less exciting your birthdays become. (At least, that’s my experience!) But not so with Keith! The older he gets, the more interesting his birthdays become.
Keith’s birthday fell in the middle of the workweek this year, which is terribly unpromising for birthday excitement. No matter! The day before his birthday, he was flooded with birthday cards and gifts from our parents and my grandparents. And what might these gifts be? Coffee and the Nook e-reader. This is the most Portlandy, Keith-ish set of presents ever: caffeine and technology and literary fun. Needless to say, he’s been delightedly enjoying all of it all week.
We followed up Monday’s birthday present extravaganza with Tuesday dinner plans at Toro Bravo with Jen and Todd. Lest you think that Toro Bravo is just any restaurant, this is a Spanish-style tapas restaurant with the most delectable (and surprisingly hearty) food you’ve ever had. You don’t even want entrees here; you just want to come with friends so that you can order tons of small plates and taste everything! There were drinks. There was seafood. There was lamb. There were squash fritters and bacon-wrapped dates and fresh pasta and eggplant ragu. It was glorious. I wish that I had taken a picture of Keith at the end of the meal; he was the most happily stuffed man I have ever seen, working away at his dessert. Hooray for crazy birthday dinners!
As if it wasn’t all enough, lovely gifts and birthday wishes have been trickling in the rest of the week. It just goes to show that birthdays become truly awesome as you get older. Who needs a traditional birthday cake when you can stick your birthday candle in almond ice cream with espresso?
Topics: daily life, food | 1 Comment »
February 12th, 2010 at 8:10 pm
I don’t think the concept of “birthweek” or “holidayweek” were Grant inventions but we certainly do celebrate them. We strive to prolong them. One day is just not enough! We so wish we were there enjoying the evening/week with you both, but, Courtney, your prose brings the evening into focus for us, it draws us into it. longingly wishing we were physically there, but feeling like we were. Life is good, joyous even and you two certainly are full of life. Happy birthweek Keith, we will work on expanding it to “Birthmonth” then “birthyear” Then, we are truly living life to its max.