Birthday Suprise

On July 31st, I had the pleasure of turning 29. Daniel got up with Ashton and took him for a walk around the neighborhood with the puppy. I decided to get up and make an omelet for the boys. It tasted so good that I actually had some as well. That's unusual because I typically do not like eggs. After that, Daniel got ready to go off and tutor while Ashton and I debated the merits of changing into something other than our pajamas.

When Daniel came home, he was so excited. You see, he made dinner reservations at an unnamed location. He even secured the babysitting services of his mother. So we got ready and headed over to Danny and Nancy's to drop off the little man.

Unbeknown to Danny (Daniel's dad), Nancy purchased a sweet little card and they put in some cash. That's always a nice surprise. Daniel and I headed into Greenville for some pre-dinner shopping. We found Ashton a little xylophone and some sketching pencils for me. Then we headed to downtown Greenville for dinner.

When we moved to Liberty, SC, it was a bit of a culture shock. It wasn't like living in Goochland and did not compare to Richmond. That wasn't bad but it certainly wasn't familiar. But going into Greenville always made me feel at home until I could make Liberty my home. I don't know how to explain it. Greenville is a much more gorgeous city than Richmond. It's smaller and the city has taken great care in the revitalization effort that has occurred over the past years. Because of that, I love going into the city. I could walk around all day and be perfectly happy. Plus, they have a Starbucks. Sarah and I are addicted to Starbucks and it only took us 1 1/2 years to find the one Greenville offers. Anyway, I love going there.

Daniel and I were starved, so we went to the restaurant early. Daniel had requested the best seat and we were blessed to find that it was open. I guess I should mention that the restaurant Daniel picked out was Soby's. We sat at Table 301 which overlooks the kitchen. You can see some of it in the photo. Daniel knows that I love to cook. But more than that, I love to watch other cooks cook. So our entire meal, we sat chatting and I stared over the shoulder of the chefs in the kitchen. It was bliss.




Daniel and I started out with a blue cheese and crab fondue. I could have licked the bowl but it's not considered polite in restaurants like Soby's! We then had a bowl of she-crab soup. I love that stuff and this just happened to be one of the best that I've had. (Honest, I didn't lick this bowl either!) After that I had crab cakes (no, I don't mind having 3 courses of crab at one sitting) and Daniel had the meatloaf. I can't even begin to tell you how good that meal was.

Somehow after all that food, Daniel and I managed to walk a few blocks to Coffee Underground. It's one of Daniel's favorite coffee houses. It's such a cute little place. He had planned for us to get dessert, but I was too stuffed and settled on some green tea. Daniel managed to get down a slice of cheese cake and some kind of coffee thing. I thought I was going to have to leave him there. (There was no way for me to carry him up the stairs. Especially not while I was wearing my insanely cute but totally impractical black heals!)



Well, he managed to get back up the stairs and we headed back to pick up the little man. For a while, we sat and chatted with Daniel's parents. It's so fun to hand out with them. It's even more fun to pick on Danny. Poor guy, he has a hard time thinking of come backs (that make sense) when I'm around ;)

Daniel got top marks for the night. It was wonderful and Soby's is defiantly a place we'll visit again. If possible, you should too!