Birthday Week!

Sorry for my absence this past week. I turned 20 on Tuesday, yet it feels like I’ve been turning 20 for the past week. Probably because I’ve celebrated my birthday a total of 6 times within the past few weeks. Every year I go into my birthday month wanting and planning it to be low key, but every year without fail it turns out to be the furthest thing from low key (not that I’m complaining).

It all started a few weeks ago when my family had a BBQ to celebrate me and my Grandpa’s (81st!) Birthday! That was a great time with family, great food, and games. I then had a Birthday break for a few days until my mentor at my internship surprised me and the other interns in our department (who also happen to have July birthdays) with red velvet cake! Yummm 🙂

By the weekend it was fully swung birthday mode. I spent part of the weekend over at Fire Island on my boat with my Dad, sisters, and grandma. On Saturday night we took the water taxi over to Ocean Beach to go to one of my favorite Fire Island restaurants, Maguire’s. I decided to go big or go home for my birthday and went with the lobster! I absolutely love lobster and usually only get to have it on Christmas Eve so this was a nice treat! The food was delicious. We order a bunch of seafood beachy appetizers and my Dad and Emily both had grilled salmon served on top of a refreshing summery salad (I was lucky enough to eat their leftover for lunch the following day). We skipped out on desert there (no singing Happy Birthday) and decided to get ice cream from Scoops instead (Fire Island is unofficially known for their great ice cream shops).

On the boat before we headed over to Ocean Beach for dinner.

My birthday lobster!

Me and my lobster! I was one happy camper!

The next day we headed back towards the city and down to Coney Island to go to a Brooklyn Cyclones Baseball game. The game was a great time. We had front row seats in the outfield and had a ton of fun! When we finally got back to the apartment my stepmom and Dad surprised me with cake and cupcakes! (No wonder my Dad wouldn’t let me or my sisters get ice cream at the game.)

The family and me at the Brooklyn Cyclones game!

Monday night I took the train home after work so I could be at home with my mom, stepdad, and sisters. My mom made (bought) stuffed artichokes for dinner (I used to always ask for them for my Birthday dinners) and my favorite caprese salad. It was a delicious dinner and we finished with ice cream cake from Carvel (my favorite)!

On Tuesday morning I was woken by my family singing Happy Birthday. I opened my presents, and what nice presents they were! I’m currently wearing my new pair of pearl earrings. I spent the rest of the morning relaxing and enjoying my day off. Later on my mom treated me to a mani – pedi and then we were ready to head into the city!

We went to dinner at a great Mexican restaurant, Iguana, on 54th between Broadway and 8th Ave. Everything there was great from the food to the atmosphere. The decor made me feel like I was in Mexico. I ordered steak fajitas and they were delicious! I also had fried ice cream (for the first time) for desert. It was a great last birthday dinner.

My last birthday celebration at Iguana.

After, we walked down to the Nederlander Theatre on 41st Street to see Newsies. The show was absolutely amazing and the dancing was unbelievable! I could almost feel the the energy radiating off of the amazing dancers! Definitely a show I want to see again!

Overall I had a great birthday week, one I’ll remember for a long time. Thanks to everyone who made it so special!