27
We'll get better pics of me next birthday
After celebrating my brother's birthday the other week, I had to make plans for mine. It's always a struggle for me to decide what I want to do as I try to mix things up to a degree. I was trying to decide which day of the week I wanted to celebrate because while my birthday fell on a Monday this year, having a night out on the town seems a bit odd for a Monday night. My brother had plans for Friday night, and our cousins had plans for Saturday so that means Sunday was our only option.
My brother's plans involved surprising one of his best friends by throwing him a surprise party. His birthday is the day after mine so I went along with it. Turns out, the plan was to have his girlfriend fly in from across the country for a surprise visit, so it was a fun night all around.
They seemed to be having a lot of fun, and it was nice meeting her!
We also invited some more of his friends who are a bit more local. The night was filled with a lot of cup pong, music, and quite a few drinks. We didn't have any snacks or food so we'll need to change that next time.
Overall it was a super fun night hanging out and meeting new people!
Saturday was a lot more chill, the only thing I did was order a pizza for dinner and it was a relaxing day. Sunday was a bit busier. Reservations were at 6 for a Belgian place in the fun part of town.
The rest of the family was going to be a bit late so we decided to keep a bit busy with drinks. I got myself a "Tripel Karmeliet" beer as well as a "Goodnight Kiss" (Vodka, St‑Germain, Apple Liqueur, Lemon Juice, and Pomegranate). The beer was great and so was the cocktail. I can't wait to try and make this.
Next up would be appetizers and oh boy we had some fun here. As always, we typically order calamari, it's a nice go-to and it's a safe pick. This place is an oyster bar so of course we had to get some. These were fun to shoot back and a lot of people at the table haven't had them before. Last time I had them was back in Maine in August of 2022 so I might need to order them more often. We also got "Escargot Dé Bourguignon". It's been even longer since I had escargot so it was pretty neat having it once more. It's a nice treat, but I don't think I'm missing out on much. We also got some spinach and artichoke dip along with some chips. The dip could've used a bit more salt so after adding some in, it was a real treat.
Onto the main course! Waterzooi is a Belgian stew that is made of creamy vegetable broth and either chicken or fish. This bowl was made with lobster, shrimp, clams, mussels, potatoes, and corn. I think I prefer crab over lobster, but I'm still mixed on that. My cousin ended up getting a lobster roll, and while I think that they're overrated, this looked absolutely decadent.
Back at the house, the celebrations continued. Right before we ended up leaving for dinner, a massive package showed up at my door. Turns out my uncle ordered me a large cutting board after we talked about it the week before. The first thing we had to do was break it in with some cake.
As is tradition, I think I might be making this cake for every single one of my birthdays in the future. It's my own recipe that I somehow managed to come up with after looking up a bunch of them online back when I turned 25. You can find the recipe down below if you want to learn how to do it.
Rick Vagabond
After cutting the cake, I really wanted to have some fun. Instead of having whatever was on TV, I decided to bust out the good ole' Nintendo Wii. Thanks to the beauty and wonders of the modding scene, I can just load up Soulcalibur II and we can just throw down for a little bit. I dropped the first round to my cousin, so after handing off the controller to my brother, he went 10-0.
Naturally, it all came down to the final round where my cousin was able to beat my brother.
And that ended it off for the day! It was a wonderful weekend, and seeing how it's getting to the warmer months, we're gonna be doing this more and more often. Pierce Fulton's "Better Places" has been stuck in my head these past few days, so I'll leave you with that.
Night~