Brazilian BBQ Birthday

So far, my birthday weekend has been awesome!! There's been so much fun and happiness, I feel like the luckiest birthday girl in the world. Dan greeted me at home on Friday and said "it's your birthday weekend!" and gave me a glass of yummy white wine. He's so awesome.

Yesterday, my dear friend Rachel came up to spend the day. We had sushi for lunch then began our day of shopping in my neighborhood. We took a break and got pedicures (and watched soccer, of course), then headed to the mall for more shopping. It seems like everytime I am looking for something or actually want to treat myself to a gift, I can't find anything. So annoying, but I suppose it's better than finding a lot of things I want when I have no spending money, right?

After shopping, we came back to my apartment for some down time. We had a couple of hours before dinner, so we chilled on the couch with Dan (who'd been very bored while we were gone) until it was time to get ready. It was finally time to go and I was so excited to see my friends and have delicious Brazilian BBQ.

Now, I have to admit that I lied just a tad in my last post about my parents coming up on Sunday. My mom had texted Dan wanting to know my birthday dinner plans, and Dan invited them to come as a surprise. The only problem was that Dan wasn't sure where we were going or what time or anything. So of course because I'm a snoop, I essentially figured it out when Dan started asking. He's usually a "tell me when and where to show up" kind of guy, so asking specifics tipped me off. So when I showed up at the restaurant and my parents were there, I couldn't lie and let them think they'd surprised me, so I told them. My mom actually had an inkling that I knew because I was asking her what their plans were only a couple hours before. But it was still so awesome that they came up to celebrate my birthday with me.

Dinner was incredible. If you've never been for Brazilian BBQ, you start with a salad bar, and there are sometimes hot seafood entrees. Once you've finished with the salads, you put up a marker to let them know you're ready for the good stuff. And then... awesomeness happens. People come with meat on giant skewers and cut it off and onto your plate right in front of you. We had ham, turkey wrapped in bacon, sirloin, prime rib, garlic chicken, and these amazing sausages. I even tried a chicken heart - I don't recommend it. We ate a ton of food and talked and laughed until the place was empty. It was really a perfect birthday dinner.

We spent today doing a plumbing job at a friend's house. The friend is married to our mechanic (who is currently on a month-long motorcycle ride) who we pay in cigarettes, so when she asked for help with a slow sink, we were happy to help. She payed us in appetizers and Blue Moon, and then Dan and I stopped at his parents' house. On the way home, Dan took the long way home, on a mini-tour of Phoenix. It was really nice just driving around and spending time together.

Currently, Dan is making me a special treat. He's baking me maple cupcakes with maple cream cheese frosting and bacon topping. We saw them on Cupcake Wars on the Food Network, and Dan decided to make them for me to take to work tomorrow. They'll look awesome on the cute pink cupcake tower my friend gave me for my birthday.