Wow, I had a very happy birthday weekend! It started off on Friday when Peter took me out to the Bristol for dinner. I’ll let you in on a secret… if you want to make me very happy feed me really good food! I spent the entire dinner smiling since every dish was delicious! Afterwards we headed into Wrigleyville to see a show at Improv Olympics, which was so entertaining and fun!

On Saturday morning my mom and my sister Liz came over to help me prepare for the dinner party I was hosting with my friends later that night. We started off the day by grocery shopping for the long list of ingredients needed for the night’s menu. Once we returned to my kitchen each of us chopped, sauteed, and baked the vegetarian lasagna, caesar salad and appetizers.

Once the food was prepared we packed up the car and headed over to Peter’s apartment where the party was to be held. My mom is responsible for setting the table, which turned out beautifully with an eclectic mix of my Oma’s china and different colored vases filled with flowers.

I made the streamers ahead of time by cutting out lots of yellow and white paper circles then threading them through fishing line- we hung these streamers above the dinner table.

I was so lucky to have the aid of my mom and sister, I wouldn’t have been able to do all that work by myself.

The party was so much fun and the food was so good. To top of the night, my friend Annie presented a cake that she made composed of vanilla cake and three types of caramel, she even decorated with a birthday banner that she also handmade. I am so lucky to have such great friends and family, they made my birthday so special.