Birthday Fun

I had the best of birthdays yesterday.  I got up early, did a short and brutal birthday run up the hill to the high school, pampered myself rotten with a facial at Soleil Luna, got lunch with Shaina (and ordered my favorite Chicken Salad at Longhi's), went shopping (also with Shaina, she helped me pick out a belt to wear with my birthday dress), did some gardening at home, then had dinner out with Bryan at Hula Grill followed by the Spanish Guitar show at Maui Theater.  Whew!

It was a day filled to the brim with fun, food, friends and calls from family.

On our way to dinner, Bryan and I accidentally locked the keys in the parking lot (oops), so our amazing neighbor Alexa rescued the days and drove our spare set of keys to us while we got started at the restaurant.  Thank you, Alexa!  You're a party-saver!

Here are a few snaps from our dinner:

{scallop and lobster potstickers}

{sashimi}

{a bottle of our favorite Pinot Noir}

{tandoori style Monchong with a cucumber yogurt raita--the fish was spicy!}

{a very dark photo of our amazing dessert: a brownie ice cream sandwich with whipped cream, chocolate ganache and a raspberry drizzle}

{loving every bite of dessert--and that dress that I'm wearing, by the way...was probably the biggest hit of the night.  I've never received that many compliments on any piece of clothing I own.  I had multiple people--some of whom were strangers--ask me to take a turn so they could see the full back of the dress.  Thanks, Mom and Dad!}

And then, this totally happened:

Alexa had received several free tickets to the new Spanish Guitar show at the Maui Theater from the show's choreographer, and she invited Bryan and I to go with her.  It was totally cheesy and brilliant--all at the same time.  The lead guitarist channeled Fabio, and hair flipped more than the female dancers, but he had some amazing guitar skills, and the dancers were incredible.  

After the show, Bryan and I got a glass of champagne at Kimo's before heading home to hang out with the rest of our housemates drinking wine and toasting Maui.

As I said before, it was the very best of birthdays!