The Big 3-0!

Well, I can no longer say I'm in my twenties. Yesterday was my 30th birthday - is that really possible?!?! Anyone who knows me knows that I love birthdays, so the thought of spending my 30th in a new place away from my family and friends was not a happy prospect for me. Much to my surprise and delight, it ended up being a wonderful day! First of all, I got so many messages and phone calls from friends and family around the country - thanks to everyone for the messages - they made my day!! My sweet hubby even organized a "conference call," getting together so many of my friends, family and co-workers from back in Dallas and Houston on one phone line to sing "Happy Birthday" to me. It really meant a lot to me that everyone took the time to call in together - it was awesome! (OK, so I may have cried after everyone got off the phone - it was that special to me!)

I left work a little early because we had dinner reservations in New York at Babbo at 7:30. For those not familiar with the restaurant, it is Mario Batali's first New York restaurant and apparently one of the hardest places in New York to get reservations. We had tried to get reservations here for our anniversary, but it was full when we tried. We were told by the hostess that they take reservations 1 month in advance, so on June 9th at 10am when the lines opened both Tommy and I started calling. After 20 minutes of busy signals and redials for both of us, I finally got through and secured us a 7:30 reservation on July 9th. Whew!

Needless to say, our expectations were high. We're learning from our mistakes and took the subway this time instead of trying to get a cab. Our only mistake was getting off at 14th St. instead of 4th, but the restaurant was near 8th, so it really didn't matter. We even arrived early! Here's a picture of the restaurant:

After reading all of the reviews, we settled on the 8-course pasta tasting menu, with accompanying wine flight. They gave us a menu so we could follow along - here it is:

The meal was absolutely amazing - we've debated about our favorites, but with little success. I really liked the black squid ink pasta with peas and parmigiano reggiano. Suprisingly, Tommy really liked the stuffed pasta with beets and ricotta. Actually, we loved them all. They even substituted the first dessert for one with no chocolate especially for Tommy. Here's a picture of us at the restaurant. Notice that this was the dessert course - I think Tommy is already so full he can't keep his eyes open :)

(by the way, Grandma Rose, if you look very closely, you'll see that Tommy is wearing a shirt you gave him for Christmas and I am wearing a necklace and bracelet that used to be yours. They matched perfectly!)

All in all, a very nice birthday, even if I am 30. Thanks to everyone who made it so special. Special thanks to Caroline and Jonathan for the beautiful flowers - such a nice surprice! This is what they looked like:

The fence is in progress...more to come about that this weekend. Hope everyone has had a great week! Tomorrow's Friday!!