Birthday Weekend Recap

I had such a fantastic birthday weekend. I took Friday off because why work on your birthday if you have the vacation time? That's my philosophy! Thursday night G took me out to Stillwater because I love their steak tips. It was a fun night out!

When we got back home he gave me my gift. Candles, red wine and flowers. Does he know me well or what?! Love him. He also surprised me with a black skirt and blender with food processor. I can't wait to start making smoothies!

Friday G went to work and I slept in, took Manny for a long walk and then got ready to spend the day with my momma. We went to this restaurant called The Laundry that my mom and I have both been dying to try. It was so eclectic and hipster and the staff was awesome. But the food? That was definitely the star. My mom got this artichoke heart, cheese and roasted red pepper sandwich that was really delicious and I got the mac and cheese. The mac and cheese was amazingggggg.

Oh and how cute is the envelope that the bill came in?!

After lunch we walked around downtown to all these cute shops. I got these yummy smelling candles that I'm obsessed with. We stopped in a cute bakery and picked up a cupcake for later.

Then we went back to The Laundry for coffee. I had the caramel latte and they make their own caramel and it was seriously so good. I love this restaurant so much. I will definitely be back!

I also picked up a quiche because I'm a sucker for quiche and ate it Saturday morning and it was so good. But I digress. After we got coffee we came back to my house and sat on the deck and talked. I love my momma. It was so nice to have a day with her. After she went home I just laid on the couch and watched CSI until G came home with dinner. It was a low key evening and it was perfection.

Saturday we woke up bright and early. We had our coffee and walked Manny. Today was a big day. A day G had been looking forward to for a LONG time... It was the day he was going to the Manchester United soccer game! 

We very spontaneously decided to make a night of it and got a room at Weber's about two miles from the stadium. We packed up, took Manny to the kennel and got into Ann Arbor before the crazy traffic for the game. 

We checked in, grabbed a quick lunch and took the shuttle from our hotel to the stadium.

There. Were. So. Many. People. 109,000 to be exact. Crazyness, but it was kinda fun to be with all these soccer fans. It was fun to see all these Manchester United fans in one place. Usually people have no idea who Manchester United is when we explain we named our dog after the team. But here was a crowd of people all wearing their gear. So fun. So much red! There were definitely more Man U fans than Real Madrid fans, not sure why.

We grabbed a ($10!) beer and then headed to our seats. 

They were practicing before the gamed kicked off (?) at 4p.m.

It was pretty fun to watch Garth at this game fulfilling a dream he has had since he was a kid. Checking off an item from his bucket list.

The National Athem! Always a favorite for me at sporting events and it always gives me the chills.

Real Madrid and Manchester United coming onto the field to start the game! EEEE!

It was actually a really fun game. I didn't expect to enjoy it. I mean, I get claustrophobic in this big of a crowd, but I had a blast! Yeah, we were packed in like sardines in our seats and it was super hot. But it didn't storm! And the sun even came out. And there were 4 goals so that was really exciting.

It's funny, I think I got more into the game than G did. I was jumping up when they were about to score and yelling. I think G was pretty proud. These guys are so good. They use their whole body and the goals were so exciting. The crowd was so into it and the players were into it. They were getting rough and angry at the end. I think Real Madrid didn't like that they were losing and it started to show. 

In an exciting conclusion, Real Madrid brought out Cristiano Ronaldo in the last 15 minutes. He is in the middle, in white with orange shoes on in the above picture. He's Shakira's husband! The sports caster announced his name and this lady behind me said "He's yummy!" Ha! He was actually a really fun player to watch. He is really fast and has some really fancy footwork.

It was a really great game and I'm so glad we went. Manchester United won 3 to 1. G now wants to go see them play in England now.

The half time show was pretty cool too. The Fray!!! They were good, but they didn't play any of their hit songs I knew. 

The best part was these guys jumping on trampolines on either side of the stage. They were seriously so impressive. They did all these crazy tricks and they jumped so high! 

The coolest part of the whole experience though was making HISTORY. We were part of the largest crowd in U.S. soccer history. Pretty neat!

The game went really fast and we got on the shuttle and didn't hit too much traffic. Phewwww. We went back to our room for some peace and quite. We went for a nice swim in the pool to work up an appetite. We met a really nice family who also went to the game. Their son had a shirt signed by Rooney and a glove signed by Giggs. G was pretty jealous, ha! We went back to the room after a while, ordered room service, my favorite thing ever! We watched a movie and crashed because it was a busy day and we were beat.

Sunday we slept in and went to the pool for the morning. I did laps because we had the pool to ourselves. I love swimming so much. After about an hour we headed to the hot tub to relax. Then we went back to the room and got ready to check out. We drove to Trader Joe's and stocked up on some good food, threw it in the cooler and headed to my parents' house.

My mom's side of the family was getting together. It was so fun to see everyone again and catch up and of course see Ella. She is just the cutest. My brother was in town from Chicago so that was fun to see him too. Her cousin Landon is so smitten with her and held her so tight and it was the sweetest thing you ever saw. We ate ribs and zucchini pie (my favorite!) and then when my mom's side left we celebrated my birthday. 

Monday when I came into work my desk was decorated with streamers and balloons

and these beautiful flowers. I work with the best people, right?! It was so sweet. It was a wonderful birthday celebration and I was spoiled. Thanks for all the birthday wishes! It was a great one and I'm ready to make 31 my best year yet!