Big Night Out

Kev's birthday is December 26. The day after Christmas. That is a really unfortunate day to have a birthday. Just think about it.

So, Kev's birthday is usually pretty low-key. I think one year we tried to go bowling, but it was closed.

I don't even remember what we did for his most recent birthday. But I do remember the gift I gave him: two tickets to the May 21 Pink Martini show at the House of Blues. So, last night, we gave Kev a birthday celebration, albeit a late one, that was actually cool.

We started at La Cubanita, a new restaurant sorta in the neighborhood. I have my three or four favorite restaurants, so it's rare that I am adventurous enough to try something new, but I am so glad we did. It was DEEEElicious. I had some grilled shrimp in a coconut curry sauce (I have already spent several minutes on line this morning trying to find a recipe), and Kev had some kind of meat kebabs that he really liked. For dessert, we had tres leches cake that was even better than Gloria's. And the decor at the restaurant was really cool, too. If not for the giant flat-screen TV tuned to ESPN, we could have pretended we were in Havana.

After dinner, we went to Froggies and did a little birthday shopping for the Peanut. We found a Sock-Monkey-in-the-Box (a million dollar idea I had a LONG time ago), and a cool wooden ice-cream set from Melissa and Doug (they make the best toys). Daphne has become obsessed with sweets. She's like Augustus from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Every night as I put Daphne to bed, I ask her what she is going to dream about, and she always spouts off a list something like this: "Deem about mommy and daddy and Daphne and hippos and penguins havin a party with gumdrops and marshmallows and cake and ice cream and pineapples...". Thankfully she is a good eater, and while she THINKS about sweet stuff all the time, she eats her vegetables and other regular foods at mealtime.

Anyway, finally it was time to go to the HoB for the show, and I am telling you, if you like Good Music and Fun, go to see Pink Martini. It was a fantastic show. These people were really on to something when they started this band.

All that, and we were home by 10:30.

So, Happy Birthday, Kev! I hope you had fun.