Birthday 'weekend': Day 2

After a fun-filled day of shopping on Thursday, I was surprised to find myself wandering around a shopping complex the very next day.  But, I wanted to go check out a restaurant that had been recommended by my friend all winter long.  Trying to reign in our spending, I decided lunch would be better than dinner.  It was such a beautiful day, I had planned to walk in and out of shops, have lunch, grab a cocktail outside, and a little more window shopping.
Instead, my usual mood set in, and I didn't want to spend more money on cocktails when I knew I could have a gin & tonic in my own back yard once we got home. 
We had lunch at a place called Bleu. 

My friend told the food is all very fresh because the chef has limited refrigeration, and therefore brings stuff in fresh, daily!  She also told me that the portions are generous in comparison to the prices.  The draw for Hubby was the 5 cheese mac & cheese with linguica.  It came, piping hot, in a huge bowl.  He took half of it home.  I had a harder time deciding on my meal.  There was a lovely turkey and bacon sandwich on cranberry-pecan bread.  I thought about the quiche; or, maybe the Croque Monsieur.  I ended up with the ham and Gruyere buckwheat crepe with mushrooms and poached egg.  Oh my! I didn't quite finish it, but I wanted to!  It was a ham and cheese sandwich wrapped in a delicious pancake with an egg on top!  Breakfast and lunch rolled into one neat little package!  We were very pleased with the food.  I had a pomegranate margarita, too. 

We sat by the open windows (outdoor seating not yet set up) with the sun pouring in. (that's not us, I took this off their website)

After lunch we walked around.  Stopped in at the bookstore and pottery barn.  The saleswoman immediately commented that she liked my dress.

This is the dress I wore, with my little blue crocheted sweater over it.

On our way out, she said, 'now I remember what your dress reminds me of!  You look like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman when she is at the derby, or whatever.'  I have never seen the movie and had no idea what she was talking about, but I laughed and left.

We headed over to the restaurant where we ate on New Year's Eve, to maybe grab a drink and sit outside, but my tummy was super full and, as I said, I could have a 'free' drink at home.  So we sat by the fountain (which also is not running yet...just because it was a beautiful spring day, doesn't cancel out the fact that it is still March, and we have normal temps on their way back) and soaked up a little sun.

Before heading home, we stopped by Cupcake Charlie's to get Hubs a cupcake.  He went with the Chocolate Raspberry Surprise.

(source: http://www.cupcakecharlies.com/index.html)

Why didn't I get a cupcake, since it was MY birthday??  Well, because earlier in the morning, we went for our walk to the beach, as we like to do when we both have the morning off.  And, we always stop at the Underground Bakery for our coffee and to say hi to our friends.  Hubby works there a couple days a week, and Laurie & Ian are friends of ours (Laurie was the one who convinced me to run that 5K last September), so she made me my usual Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse birthday cake!  Hubby doesn't like peanut butter very much and especially not as dessert. 

So I have a whole cake to eat!!  I certainly didn't need a cupcake to go with it!  I didn't even bother slicing...I just dug right in!!



Today...no big plans.  Just winding down and preparing to get back to reality.  I can't believe how it really does feel like I've been out of work for a long time.  It's only been a day and a half, really, and then today...but it seems like longer.  That means I'm relaxing, so that's good.