On Birthdays and Roller Coasters

I have to say that I am actually not particulary fond of my birthday.     The best birthday I ever had was two years ago, it was the day our son came home from the hospital.    It turns out he was due on my birthday but I guess he didn’t want to share his special day with anyone, because he came two days early.     It was a perfect day.    He was healthy and happy, we came home, and as if that wasn’t a blessing enough, the hubby got me a gorgeous giving-birth/anniversary/birthday present, a platinum and diamond tennis bracelet.   That evening a couple of friends came over and my best friend brought over pizza and wings from Dina’s in Brooklyn.   My all time favorite wings and a meal I associate with great memories.   

Prior to that, and since my teens probably, birthdays were pretty uneventful.    My 21st birthday was probably the other best one, as I was on my honeymoon in St. Lucia, in an evening gown sipping a daquiri on the beach under the moon.    So, yeah, it’s hard to have realistic expectations after that one, or after bringing your firstborn home on your birthday for that matter.     Last year’s birthday was a randomly good one, we went to hear the Orchestra at Blossom with some friends, and for that birthday I am greatful as well.

Today however, I am hoping everyone forgets it’s my birthday.    I don’t really feel like celebrating.   Not that I think I’m getting old or anything, I’m only turning 29 and am very much looking forward to being 30.    I am enjoying life so much more approaching 30 than I did when I was approaching 20.    Celebrating the toddler’s 2nd birthday was much more fun than celebrating my own.    The in-laws came into town and spent a few days hanging out with us.    We all went toy shopping, played at the Botanical Garden, saw cars at the Western Reserve Historical Society, ate food from India Garden (it was too salty this time), fed ducks at the duck pond (no Canadian geese this time), visited Honey Hut for ice cream and went to Lakewood Park and walked along the promenade.    I cooked some ribs on Saturday and we had some more company over to celebrate the big 2nd birthday, and spaced out present opening throughout the day to avoid overload.    It seemed to help.  I was disappointed when I called Corbo’s to order a cassata cake that they were not making any special orders for them that weekend, due to the Feast of the Assumption festival in Little Italy.    Corbo’s was too busy feeding the crowds at that event, which happens to always take place during the week of our birthdays.   Oh well, the Baskin Robbins cake I picked up at the last minute worked just as well.  When asked what our son’s favorite present was, he told us, “birthday cake!”     Though, the last present we gave him, from mommy and daddy, seemed to be the biggest hit…a roller coaster from Step2.    Conveniently, my sister lives right down the street from the Step2 headquarters in Streetsboro, so we were able to save about $20 off the cost, plus shipping, by having them pick up the toy for us.     Our son is having a blast racing down the track and rolling across our hardwood floors.    It’s one of the few toys I’ve seen that every parent review says it is great, and it is.   It comes with five pieces that all slide together like a big puzzle, no screws, no tools needed.    We had it out of the box and ready to go in 2 minutes.    I didn’t even need to read any instructions.   And it comes apart just as easily for when we want to take it outside as well.

So, my sister made the joke to me today that she should have bought me a roller coaster as well.   I can’t believe this, but the Big Dipper at Geauga Lake apparently sold for just $5,000 this summer!    I really can’t believe that.   I mean, granted, who has room to erect a full-sized adult roller coaster on their property, but still.   Only $5,000?    For a big kid, like me, that would be an awesome birthday present…but it still wouldn’t top bringing home the toddler for the first time.

Until next time,

Lorelei

PS.   I did fail to mention that the hubby sent me some beautiful roses to work for my birthday, which was very sweet and the first time I’ve ever gotten flowers at work.   He’s apparently thought of doing it before, but couldn’t figure out the exact address of where I worked, I probably shouldn’t take that for granted.

Starting on My List of Restaurants to Try

Monday night we decided to start working through my list of restaurants I need to try.   We ordered dinner from India Garden in Lakewood.    I now know that, when asked on a scale of 1-10 how spicy you want your food, that I need to order everything at a 3 or below.    Oops.    My husband and I like spicy food, but, one of the dishes was so spicy, at a “6” that we could barely taste the flavor of the food.    We ordered the Vegetable Pakora appetizer, Nan, Chicken Makhni (aka Butter Chicken), Lamb Saag, Aaloo Korma and Gulab Jumun for dessert, plus some Saffron Rice, though apparently one of our dishes came with rice as well.   We had enough food for dinner Monday night, plus lunch yesterday and still some food leftover.    It was all very good, but I think our favorite was the lamb, it was delicious and tender in a dark sauce of ground up spinach.   The Chicken Makhni was good as well, though I ordered it way too spicy so it was hard to taste the flavor of it.   Next time I will know better.   The potatoes were good, though still not the potatoes I’ve been trying to find for several years since we had some potatoes at an Indian restaurant in Washington, D.C.    It may be potatoes vindaloo that I am actually looking for, I’m not sure.    Next time the hubby and I have a chance to go to lunch, I think we’ll try their lunch buffet.    Yum!

Anyhow, one restaurant down, many more to go.

Until next time,

Lorelei

Restaurants I Need to Try

So I am looking through Scene Magazine’s Best of 2007 list, and decided I need to check out the following restaurants:

• Loco Leprechaun in Westlake
• Linden Tavern in Rocky River
• India Garden in Lakewood
• Ali Baba Restaurant on Lorain in Cleveland
• Babushka’s Kitchen in Northfield – ok, this one the hubby may need to pick up, or it’s a stop-by when we are house hunting down around there

Plus there are a ton of restaurants in West Park that I still need to try.

Yum.

Until next time,

Lorelei