Late birthday wrap-up
Okay, here's the birthday wrap-up blog I've been meaning to write since, well, my birthday :-P I didn't really have any plans, and I figured with short notice most people wouldn't be able to make it out for dinner or drinks. I'd had my eye on the Ludo show in Ybor for about a month & a half. They're fun, catchy, & seemed like it would be a good show. Boring story short, it became too late to get tickets and they sold out. N felt bad, since that was really the only thing I'd mentioned I wanted to do for my birthday. I tried for a last-ditch, on-a-whim option. 97X was giving away tickets to their small, intimate, acoustic performance in downtown St. Pete before the show in Ybor. I totally won a pair & it was awesome! Not only did I get to see them in a really cool setting with about 25 people altogether, but it was free! The only downer was it started at 3, and N didn't get out of work till 3:30, so I was flying solo. Luckily, 2 other people were there by themselves b/c they couldn't find anyone to go either. It was a gorgeous day, it was fun, got some free food & a free drink & pics with the band (see photos section). Very nice guys, kind of wish they had left more time for q&a type stuff, but overall it was great. N somehow managed to find a pair of tix for the main show, but I declined, since I'd just gotten to see them for free & didn't feel like making him drive into Tampa on a Friday evening. I didn't feel like sitting in traffic either.
And one of my favorite parts of birthdays is choosing dinner! I decided it would be fun to try a sushi restaurant some of my friends had recommended in the past. It turned out to be extremely good. We ended up ordering a ton of stuff, sake, green tea, miso soup, seaweed salad, and then dinner. I had the sashimi plate & N got the bento box entree. Mine was all raw stuff - tuna, fatty tuna, salmon, whitefish, octopus, mackrel - all really good cuts. I like sushi but I'm still getting used to eating raw fish. I didn't really like the octopus b/c it was extremely chewy, and the mackrel b/c it's a very fishy fish raw. The rest was delicious. N's bento box came with a bit of everything. The part they failed to tell us was the dinner also came with some seaweed salad and squid salad. We'd already had seaweed salad as an appetizer, so he ended up eating 3 salads :-P There were some pieces of sashimi, the salads, and some cooked meat (pork & beef if I remember correctly). I didn't really like the squid salad. The flavor was very mild, but the chewyness was a little much (not really into eating cephalopods). It was a really nice dinner & a ton of food. Bit pricey, so we'll be saving it for special occasions only :-)
Can't have a birthday without presents of course! When my mom & Tim were down in Feb, they took me out to eat a lot & mom bought me a pair of nice black dress shoes. They aren't quite broken in yet, as I found out the hard way when I wore them to work a few weeks ago - ouch! But N had the best present of all, probably one of the better presents I've ever gotten for a birthday. I absolutely LOVE surprises, so I didn't give him any ideas or hints or anything. I had no idea what he was getting me, but figured he would do a good job. In typical guy fashion, it was wrapped up in christmas tree paper, haha. It was really cute. It was long & thin, like a pole, & for a moment I wondered if he got me an umbrella :-P Holy crap it wasn't an umbrella but a fishing rod! I was definitely surprised, definitely excited. It was awesome b/c I had actually thought of asking my family for my own fishing rod for Christmas & providing them with names & numbers of friends that could suggest what kind to get. I didn't end up asking for it b/c I knew no one would actually get it for me. For him to go out & get me what I secretly really wanted without any hints or prompting was one of the best surprises ever! Kind of like being a kid & getting that one awesome present & exclaiming "It's just what I've always wanted!" Same thing, it really meant a lot. He was saying how he used to have a rod like that when he was younger & how it'd be good for both inshore and offshore fishing on the boat, how he was talking to the guy about the reel & it's some new kind & smoother, etc. And, since I'm a lefty, the reel-crank thing (no idea what the actual term is) is usually on the wrong side of the reel, but he had already gone ahead & switched it to the other side for me. Everything about it was very sweet of him. We've been trying to go fishing as much as possible, but it seems like whenever we're together, it's either way too crowded to go fishing, or it's too windy or the weather's not cooperative. Last week I caught my first fish on it, a small spanish mackrel - I've officially broken it in :-) This past weekend I caught a small whiting as well, but that wasn't as exciting of a fish to catch, haha.
Overall it was a wonderful way to turn 25. A bit low-key, but I can always go out with a bunch of friends next year. I got to see one of my new favorite bands for free, had a nice dinner & spent some quality time with N, and now have my own fishing rod. Not too shabby at all :-)
And one of my favorite parts of birthdays is choosing dinner! I decided it would be fun to try a sushi restaurant some of my friends had recommended in the past. It turned out to be extremely good. We ended up ordering a ton of stuff, sake, green tea, miso soup, seaweed salad, and then dinner. I had the sashimi plate & N got the bento box entree. Mine was all raw stuff - tuna, fatty tuna, salmon, whitefish, octopus, mackrel - all really good cuts. I like sushi but I'm still getting used to eating raw fish. I didn't really like the octopus b/c it was extremely chewy, and the mackrel b/c it's a very fishy fish raw. The rest was delicious. N's bento box came with a bit of everything. The part they failed to tell us was the dinner also came with some seaweed salad and squid salad. We'd already had seaweed salad as an appetizer, so he ended up eating 3 salads :-P There were some pieces of sashimi, the salads, and some cooked meat (pork & beef if I remember correctly). I didn't really like the squid salad. The flavor was very mild, but the chewyness was a little much (not really into eating cephalopods). It was a really nice dinner & a ton of food. Bit pricey, so we'll be saving it for special occasions only :-)
Can't have a birthday without presents of course! When my mom & Tim were down in Feb, they took me out to eat a lot & mom bought me a pair of nice black dress shoes. They aren't quite broken in yet, as I found out the hard way when I wore them to work a few weeks ago - ouch! But N had the best present of all, probably one of the better presents I've ever gotten for a birthday. I absolutely LOVE surprises, so I didn't give him any ideas or hints or anything. I had no idea what he was getting me, but figured he would do a good job. In typical guy fashion, it was wrapped up in christmas tree paper, haha. It was really cute. It was long & thin, like a pole, & for a moment I wondered if he got me an umbrella :-P Holy crap it wasn't an umbrella but a fishing rod! I was definitely surprised, definitely excited. It was awesome b/c I had actually thought of asking my family for my own fishing rod for Christmas & providing them with names & numbers of friends that could suggest what kind to get. I didn't end up asking for it b/c I knew no one would actually get it for me. For him to go out & get me what I secretly really wanted without any hints or prompting was one of the best surprises ever! Kind of like being a kid & getting that one awesome present & exclaiming "It's just what I've always wanted!" Same thing, it really meant a lot. He was saying how he used to have a rod like that when he was younger & how it'd be good for both inshore and offshore fishing on the boat, how he was talking to the guy about the reel & it's some new kind & smoother, etc. And, since I'm a lefty, the reel-crank thing (no idea what the actual term is) is usually on the wrong side of the reel, but he had already gone ahead & switched it to the other side for me. Everything about it was very sweet of him. We've been trying to go fishing as much as possible, but it seems like whenever we're together, it's either way too crowded to go fishing, or it's too windy or the weather's not cooperative. Last week I caught my first fish on it, a small spanish mackrel - I've officially broken it in :-) This past weekend I caught a small whiting as well, but that wasn't as exciting of a fish to catch, haha.
Overall it was a wonderful way to turn 25. A bit low-key, but I can always go out with a bunch of friends next year. I got to see one of my new favorite bands for free, had a nice dinner & spent some quality time with N, and now have my own fishing rod. Not too shabby at all :-)