Since my birthday is the day after Valentine’s Day, its always two back-to-back days of flowers, sweets, treats [and some wining & dining for mom & dad], but due to schedules, it turned into a full-blown birthday week. And I have to say, I truly value each and every little celebration since it means I get to spend quality time with all the special people in my life. I celebrated year 37 on the 15th, so thought I would share a quick highlight post with #thisis37 – Birthday [week] Snapshots!
The celebrations truly started the weekend before my birthday. We went to the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Friday, 2/11 & Saturday, 2/12 [and happened to catch the hole in one on 16] and then we rolled right into Superbowl Sunday. Friends from our old neighborhood in Illinois came over to hang out for the day & night which was a special treat!
My birthday fell on Tuesday this year and since with the boys’ sports & activities schedules, we hung at home as a family. We ordered takeout from our favorite local sports bar and Ted & Henry made a secret pitstop for an ice cream cake after soccer practice on their way to pick up dinner.
It’s Winston’s face for me!
I definitely indulged in my fair share of chocolate Monday and Tuesday.
Sometimes we get a sitter and go out to dinner on my actual birthday, but now that the kids are getting older, they really want to celebrate as a family. So takeout & chocolate cake has been our tradition for all 5 of our birthdays the last couple of years and I wouldn’t have it any other way 😉
On Wednesday, my mom and I snuck up to Scottsdale for a little shopping & lunch. We made a few quick stops at Fashion Square and then had lovely lunch at Olive & Ivy.
We’d been trying to find a day to go for a couple weeks, so it was nice we were able to fit it in so close to my birthday.
I always cherish our mother / daughter time together.
My parents took us to dinner on Thursday at one of my favorite restaurants, The Hidden House, in downtown Chandler. The atmosphere is beautiful, the outdoor bar & patio are so quaint & cute, the cocktails are delicious and the food is divine.
We sat outside at the bar for a drink before heading in to our table and I have to say, the fact we have the option for outdoor dining in February is pretty fabulous.
After 3 soccer games & 2 basketball games, we declared a date day & night on Saturday, just the two of us to celebrate.
We made a pitstop at the PGA superstore to look for new golf & tennis clothes, hit up Dollar Tree for our favorite candy and then headed to the movie theater.
We saw “Marry Me” with JLO & Owen Wilson. He let me pick, so I took full advantage of the opportunity for a feel good, rom com. We hadn’t been to a movie without the kids since before the pandemic. We also took full advantage of the buttery movie theater popcorn. I said YOLO when it comes to adding extra butter at the movies 😉
We had a little time to kill before our dinner reservation so we popped into a new-to-us place called Sasha’s Kitchen & cocktails. The spicy marg was perfect!
For dinner we had an outdoor table at DC Steakhouse, another favorite of ours. Its such a fun spot on the weekends. There’s a courtyard and open lawn area between a couple restaurants where people are hanging out playing bags and waiting for their tables. The Stillery is directly across the courtyard and they have live music 7 nights a week. Its all open to the outside so we had a pretty good view & background music to our meal.
We shared a wedge salad, filet and lobster mac’n’cheese. They make a mean dirty martini, too.
Getting out for an extended date night was just what we needed. Kid-free & distraction-free time together. Toasting to another year on this Earth and more cake was the perfect end to my birthday week.
