this post is a bit overdue, but since i’m in the mood for catching up, here i go!

last week was my birthday. the big 3-5! drei-fünf! tres-cinco! see? it says it on my cake…

i’m not big on birthdays. i’m not big on things about me or for me. but kerri is all about things about me, and for me, and it’s just another reason that i’m very lucky she’ll have me.  yet another reason is because she planned a kick-ass birthday.

first, the set up. kerri has a hard time keeping presents from me. it’s a gift i have. it’s very annoying. go ahead, ask her. so all day, i was asking her what was going on. we had lunch together, and i kept asking questions. she was very strong, but she said something about having to get something canceled. ah, a clue! so i pressed some more (see, truly annoying), but she wouldn’t budge. i was mildly convinced there was a surprise party planned, which would have been fun and all but with the week i had and that whole attention thing it probably wasn’t an ideal situation. she said it wasn’t a surprise party, though, so i almost kinda sorta believed it.

long day at work, i get home. the house is immaculate. there is a bottle of wine ready to go. she tells me to go get out of my work clothes. noone jumped out at me. so far, so good. we sit on the couch and drink our wine and talk when the doorbell rings. we get up, go to the door, and there is this guy on the porch. kerri tells him that i have no idea why he is here, he says “great, i’ll go get my stuff.” so, he didn’t have makeup on, so i’m pretty sure he wasn’t a clown or, worse, a mime. he wasn’t carrying a pizza or chinese food, and that’s all i really ever have delivered. and he wasn’t wearing brown or show up in a big brown truck, so i’m pretty sure he wasn’t carrying my camera. he walks out to his car and comes back with a tool box and a bag. a carpenter?

no, it’s joe, the professional chef from clandestine chef! he’s come to teach us how to make a fancy meal! it was all kinds of awesome. kerri bought all the ingredients (after, it turns out, a lot of frantic phone calls with joe asking ingredient questions) and joe showed up with some nice kitchen ware and we stepped through making the meal. it was organized so that the components of the meal would all be ready on time…put the thing that takes the longest in the oven first, work your way backward so that it’s all ready at the same time. smart! we went over the right way to cut veggies and such, how to properly sear a steak, and all kinds of basic stuff that makes a lot of sense but isn’t always intuitive. the menu consisted of:

thai lettuce wraps

beef wellington and blue cheese potatoes gratin

we made everything! well, mostly everything. the pastry wrapping the steak was the frozen  kind. we sliced the potatoes using a mandolin (not the musical kind, although you might be able to). he brought some demi. the sauce was amazing, as were the potatoes. the thai wraps were awesome, great flavors and bright colors! joe, the chef, was very knowledgeable and a very nice guy. he cleaned up when we were all done, and we finished our awesome meal.

my wife did good. real good.

so, in conclusion, this is why my 35th birthday was the best birthday ever.

the end.