Happy Birthday to Me !

I had a great birthday weekend.  On Friday my parents took myself and my youngest brother out for dinner for our birthdays.  Greg turned 29 on Oct 7 and I turned 36 on Oct 6.  He was almost born on my 7th birthday as he was born at 2:00am. 

We went to Vivo, it's an Italian restaurant on the southwest side of the city.  They serve the meals family style, and each "plate" feeds 5 to 6 people.  We started off with a antipasti dish with cured meats, fresh made crackers, cheeses etc.  They also gave us foccaccia bread with oil for dipping.  Then we had some of the best gnocchi I have ever had in my life.  The main dish was four different meats (sausage, steak, chicken and lamb) with roasted carrots and beats.  Then we had fresh baked cookies - and I had a cappuccino.  We took home leftovers for every course.  It was an abundance of super delicious food. 

Saturday I was Kristine's date for Logan & Sarah's wedding.  I worked with both Logan and Sarah at Voxcom before I moved to Calgary.  I had a fairly good time, mostly it was nice to get dressed up and spend time with Kristine.  I knew 7 other people there besides the bride and groom.  One of them was a groomsman at my wedding.  It was a little weird as he and his wife, along with a former team member and her husband didn't really talk to me all evening.  The former team member did not even realize that I had separated from my husband.  Whatever.  I got to see a lot of the pictures from Kristine's trip to Italy over lunch in between the ceremony and reception.

Sunday I did a little shopping.  I had birthday coupons for my favourite clothes stores, so I got 3 shirts, a light cardigan style sweater, a metal belt, and some socks.  I really want a pair of dark blue pants for work, but I have not found exactly what I want.  There was also this lacy, burgundy top that I tried on, but it was a pinch tight and they did not have a larger size.  I might try a different store.

Sunday evening my dad made stir fry and my brother Tim and his girlfriend joined my parents, my youngest brother, myself and my grandmother for dinner.  Greg made warm brownies with peanut butter chips and pecans for dessert.  My mom's birthday card was a purse.  My dad got me one that made sounds - a police radio announcement about a birthday girl on the loose. 

When I came into work on Monday, my co-worker Jen had bought me a card and cute owl slippers.

I am saving my birthday money to buy myself a new laptop.  Not sure if I will get it before or after Christmas.

Overall turning 36 was pretty good.  It's not quite where I saw myself a year ago, but it's better than the way things were 9-10 months ago.   I am going to make sure that turning 37 is even better.