What a weekend...

Friday morning there was a knock at the door, I go to answer it and it’s Laura (best bud since childhood, currently living in Minot, ND)!!!!!

She says, “Surprise! Happy Birthday!” I was blown away. It was the first time she had come to Chicago. It was so nice to see her and the surprises didn’t stop there. Thomas had set up appointments for Laura and I to go to the spa the next morning. So we relaxed and enjoyed some ‘girlie’ time together. That evening we all went to this AMAZING restaurant in Chicago called Moto.
Thomas had made the reservation weeks in advance for my birthday. We were served a 20 course meal, yes, I said 20! It took 4.5 hours and we had to have the staff bring the last 5 courses out together because we were afraid we’d miss our train back home, which we ended up missing anyways, but were able to grab a cab instead. There was an option to add wine pairing with the courses, so Thomas and Laura both opted for that while I stuck with the non alcoholic drinks due to the bean in my belly ;-) Being pregnant was probably a good thing for me, I don’t think I could have stood up after 13 different glasses of wine. You would not believe this restaurant. This was the coolest dining experience ever! The menu was edible, how crazy is that! You really have to watch the videos to get a feel for what this place is like. I took pictures of most of the dishes we were served and posted them on flickr. (We could only take photos with the flash off, the lightening wasn’t exactly optimal for taking good pictures-they don’t do the dishes justice, but you get the gist.)

Here’s another video.

One more!

The big 3-0 wasn’t so bad after all…I told Laura and Thomas that I would happily turn 30 again next year :-)

Thank you, Laura and Thomas, for an amazing weekend!