Foodie Chickie

Nothing better then looking at the clock and seeing its 4:30. It's almost time to go home, and the smell of garlic roasting is waifting through the vents from the Italian restaurant downstairs and is embracing the air. Actually being on vacation is probably better.

This is going to be a long post to recap my birthday and the weekend. Both were very nice!! I woke up to Niel wishing me Happy Birthday in his groggy morning state on Thursday morning. He is very cute. Then I saw my mom before work. She gave me some gorgeous white roses, a bracelet and a cute mini mug. People at my office congratulated me and I got the funniest card from a coworker. The card sum's up how I feel about turning 30. LOL.



I got more well wishes from email, on my blog and calls from my mother in law, dad, my aunt, and brother.

We left work early and finally arrived in Albany around six. I got out of my work clothes and we got some dinner from the restaurant in the hotel and brought it back up to our room. Niel was tired from the drive and it was raining so we stayed in. The restaurant had really good food! Nachos, wings and chicken enchiladas. We watched some TV while we ate. I enjoy watching local TV when I am on a trip. Niel also had purchased a really awesome vanilla cake from the Cupcake Cafe. If you are in the New York city area, it is a must to try!

Niel then gave me my gifts. A Jem shirt, a Pomegranate necklace(big in Armenian culture. He purchased it on ebay from Armenia), a Fossil watch, and an Ipod mini. The last gift was especially sweet because he got all my buddies, blog and non blog to think of songs I would like and he added them to the my ipod. I didn't think much of them at first but they are so easy to carry around and can hold a variety of songs. Instead of me having to drag my cd's and cd player everywhere. So whenever I play that list of songs, I remember Niel, my buddies and my 30th birthday. So thank you everyone who participated! Click on pics to enlarge.



While I was busy with work, Niel got to swim a bit in the pool, do some writing and relaxing. He got to see Dave, then when Holly and I got out of work the four of us went out for dinner at Bombers. A neat Mexican restaurant in town. They serve the biggest burritos. Afterwards we went to park near Dave's old apartment to walk off the meal and watched some dogs for a bit. Afterwards we went to get ice cream at this neat ice cream stand near their place. They served the biggest ice cream cones! Saturday Niel and Dave went to the car show and during a lunch break the four of us went to a yummy sandwich shop called Debbie's Kitchen and after work went to a very cool Vietnamese restaurant called My Linh. I hadn't any Vietnamese since Niel and I were in Canada. The place was elegant and the food was delicious. We capped off the evening at Jillians playing video games. We actually were lucky enough to see Dave and Holly the entire weekend. They were very gracious to us, and took us to see many sites and to eat lots of yummy meals. Niel and I had a great time being in their company. Albany is a lovely city combining old and new. Dave told us lots of interesting facts about Albany. Hopefully we can visit them more often.



The convention was good. I hadn't been to one since college and it was nice to be surrounded by like minded people from a variety of media's. We had good teachers, good food, and lots of breaks with a sundae bar, and a Coney Island bar(popcorn, pretzels, and more ice cream). Our room was pretty nice too. I like the layout and if we ever have a bedroom that large I would set it up like that hotel room. My favorite item was the makeup mirror in the bathroom. I don't wear makeup but I was able to tweeze a lot easier.

Sunday we came back home and went to my parents for my birthday dinner. My mom cooked up a storm as usual and my dad barbecued. It was an Armenian style BBQ with pork chops and chicken. My mom also decorated the house nicely. I got loads more of neat gifts from our families and they were also very generous.

We also got the package from the Squilky's They sent me a neat Tinker Bell bag, a cheery Welcome Spring sign for the door and Eliose books! Goldeelox sent me a card and CD of Disney stuff and Bathtub Junkie and her family a Jello cookbook and a Little House Book. I also got more birthday cards in the mail. Thank you Ted and Maria, another aunty, Jess, and Irah. And thank you to Craig and Isabel, Yvett Shannon and Jessica for my ecards.

It was a pretty neat birthday and BIG thank you to Niel and everyone else. Here are some more pics of my weekend.

Song Stuck in My Head: "Such Great Heights" by the Postal Service