Back to Back: Twentythree

Twenty three years old.

Wow. That's young. (NOT!) haha

First off, thank you for all of your birthday wishes, calls, emails, texts, facebook messages (I got 130 in ONE day!) - I really do feel loved :) Can't wait for more partay-ing when ya'll are back for Reading Week!

God has been sooo good...my 22nd year was one full of valley lows and mountain highs. From the enriching and challenging year of serving at school and all that jazz to the most exhilarating adventure travelling to Asia with Mike for four months. It's been one heck of a ride and I'm ready for this year!

The morn of my birthday I felt the Lord tell me that my word of the year would simply be: faith. I gotta get rid of the old way of thinking, how to do things and begin to trust His unconventional, irregular, totally non-religious ways of doing stuff. Faith - it's a good word and I'm pumped!

So - back to back :) My birthday lands on the 13th and of course the infamous commericalized Hallmark day follows on the 14th. Although we openly make fun of Valentine's Day being over-rated...I know deep down, we all kinda love it :) hehe

And for all those who've asked about how my day(s) were; here's my answer...

...it was more than I could ever hope for :)

The older you get - the more you begin to appreciate the small things in life. You appreciate those who are close and dear to you. As you 'grow up' - your circle of friends become more defined, more intimate and perhaps a tad smaller. It's natural as people step into new chapters in their life, get married (gosh - some people are already 'there'!), accept jobs that take you 'round the world etc. It's times like these that I grow reflective and sentimental...I absolutely love where the Lord's put me right now but I know full well it may all just change a year from now as I blow out 24 candles *gasp*

But for now...I'm going to embrace and enjoy where I am and keep trusting that my tomorrow's are in His hands :)

So here's the DL on my bday! I had a yummy lunch with my parentals as they reminisced about how I came into the world - quite bloody actually haha and how much they've seen me grown. It was nice sitting down, laughing, poking fun, reflecting on how good God's been... :)

Then around 5 Mike swings by to pick me up for a night of surprise! He blindfolds me with what he claims to be 'clean' and what I'm pretty sure is a dirty rag (hahahahaha) and drives off. I've always been nervous about surprises 'cause you never know what may fly into your face (perhaps a lemon meringue pie? that's a WHOLE 'nother story! haha).

As he's driving I can kinda figure out where we are but once we get off the highway I'm lost. We park after what seems like an eternity and he leads me out. Remember, I'm blindfolded this whole time! I felt so disabled I could only trust that he wouldn't lead me into a wall or forget to tell me to 'step up' when we reached a ledge/stairway ('cause I forgot on his birthday haha).

We go up this elevator, he opens the door and it's all dark. I seriously thought something might jump at me so I'm holding on for dear life. Telling me to keep my eyes closed, he takes off my blindfold, switches on the light and hugs me from behind. Then I open my eyes and the first thing I see is a beautifully printed menu.

I turn around and find that we're in this amazing condo (of our dreams haha) and he says, "I will be your chef, waiter and date for the night...Happy Birthday baby" :)

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

A three course gourmet meal, cooked by the bf, privacy in a really chic condo (since we both live in busy/loud homes!) and a nice view of the Toronto streets.

Oh and just in case you're wondering, 'cause I did...Mike did not buy me the condo for my present haha It was on loan for the evening by a good friend of ours (thanks D.Yoo!)

It was the perfect night! He got off work early to prep and marinate all the food - he even did a practise run down of the whole menu on Saturday while I was away! It was sooooo nice to spend my birthday with my favorite, watching him cook everything from scratch (haha - I'm SO not the domestic one!), eating ohmygoshsodelicious food (I was SO impressed!) and then playing Scrabble (we absolutely LOVE this game haha)! After leaving our friend's place, we crashed at my place, ate dessert and then I was serenaded :) Before I make you all sick to the stomach with LOVE! Here are some pictures and menu from the night :)

Appetizer

Pan Seared Goat Cheese with Fresh Figs and Arugula
Breaded goat cheese, pan fried and warmed served over an arugula salad and fresh figs

Entrees

Slow Cooked Atlantic Salmon with Cardamon
Yogurt-bathed Atlantic salmon seasoned with Cardamon, pan seared then oven baked to perfection

Certified Seared Canadian Angus Beef with Potato Hash Brown
Certified Canadian black Angus beef pan seared to liking. Served with homemade potato hash browns

Dessert

Chilled Kahlua Zabaglione
Italian mouse-like custard topped with meringue and premium dark chocolate shavings. Served with biscotti

Dinner served with Catena Malbec 2005 from Argentina

Chef: Michael Lau

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday... :) If any of you know Mike, you'll know how completely selfless he is and how he always puts others before himself. He always goes out of his way to make me feel loved, special and appreciated practically every day. He says it's because I'm 'worth it' or that I 'deserve even more'. So on Vday when most bf's are scrambling to pull off these huge plans - I wanted to do something crazy and totally unexpected for him!

I cleaned up the guest room in our basement and transformed it into an indoor picnic with stars stuck on the ceiling so we could 'star gaze' inside since it was too cold outside! I hung homemade heart mobiles on the ceiling and laid out a pink table cloth to be our picnic blanket. I baked a ton of goodies and chocolate coated everything from shortbread to strawberries. The whole room was lit up by white lights and candles. I complied all of our favorite songs onto a new playlist on iTunes and everything was set. I gotta say...it looked pretty darn good! I was pretty taken back by it too! haha

So on Vday he surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of roses and took me out to one of our fave places to eat. It was just soooooo good to have 'us' time especially since I'm on Reading Week. After dinner we went back to my place for what he thought was a night of chilling and watching a flick etc. but little did he know he was in for a mega surprise!

When he walked into the room he was completely floored....it was SO great to see him being on the receiving end of crazy amazing plans! He was pretty speechless! All the baking and slaving away at the stove TOTALLY paid off to see him so happy :)

So...YAY for two amazing days and another 'just because' surprise today ;)