Brunch with Friends, Birthday Dinner with Liz

Sunday morning, we met up at Chris and Leslie’s house (along with Ben and Allison) for brunch. We were all a little slow, given the change in Daylight Savings.

I’m a bit out of practice documenting get-togethers – so I mostly got everyone, but missed Allison – who’s just outside the frame.

We had a great bit of food – delicious frittatas, sausage and bacon, and some pastries.

Talking at the table, Chris was given a book by Ingrid and he immediately (seamlessly) transitions into reading the whole thing, start to finish. It was a pro dad move, and I was quite awed by it.

It was lovely to catch up with everyone for a few hours, and to see how much the kids have grown. It’s tricky with everyone’s schedules (we made plans about a month or so in advance), but always lovely when we can get together.

In the evening (I ended up taking an afternoon nap)… we got dressed up to go out for my birthday dinner. I found a few gifts with my name on them, on the bed.

All of my names, apparently.

My birthday dinner was at Maple & Ash. We were cutting it close, and racing a bit to arrive in time for our reservations. When we pulled up, a car was leaving a parking spot right across from the entrance – a total rock star parking spot (and much cheaper than the valet service).

On arriving, we were greeted by Belinda Chang – who walked us to our table. On our way there, she stopped momentarily to hug Rick Bayless, who was just standing there with his family (Rick’s wife told us we were going to have a fantastic meal).

Talk about your good omens.

We did, in fact, have a great meal. I had some oysters, a steak, and a martini (pretty much sums up most of my birthday meals). We finished up with a shared chocolate cake and coffee. It was indulgent, delicious, and a great time. Though for the first 30 minutes, I still couldn’t shake the fake that we had seen Rick Bayless on our way in.

A lovely end to a lovely day, celebrities and all.

Related:
Visiting Ben and Allison for Lunch (and Pinball)
Meeting Baby Ingrid
Everyone… Meet Baby Jonah
Allison and Soren Visit the Office