V's 30th Birthday

Most of you know that my birthday is in August, so why, you might ask, am I doing a blog post about it in October? Well, life has been a little busy in the past few months, and I have not made much time for blogging. I have quite a lot of catching up to do, so this is the first in a long list of posts on my to do list. I write these blog posts as much for myself as for our family and friends. It is kind of an online scrapbook to document our life, and I want to make sure I cover all the highlights!

I turned the big 3-0 on August 7th, and it was a great weekend! My mom came in town a few days before my birthday. On Friday she took me, KZ, and Brandon out to dinner. On Saturday (my actual birthday), KZ made me Polish crepes for breakfast, we went to one of my favorite brew pubs for lunch, and then Mom and KZ made me a fabulous dinner at home. (Yes, my birthday usually does revolve around food)

Here I am with my birthday beverage of choice (Veuve Clicquot Champagne) and wearing my amazing and unexpected birthday present in my ears.

Mmmm...Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. Yes, there were 4 pieces and only 3 people (It's probably better that Brandon doesn't know what he's missing). The problem with getting 4 different kinds, is you have to have some of each one...

On Sunday morning, KZ and I left for a short one night trip, and my mom graciously stayed with Brandon. This was our first night away from Brandon together (and my first night away from him ever). KZ planned a little getaway to the wine country in Augusta, MO (a little west of St. Louis), which is where we had our first date back in September 2002.

We had such a great time!


This was at Sugar Creek Winery.

You are right if you notice that we were not drinking wine. We are not the biggest fans of the wines produced by this winery (but we love the atmosphere and entertainment), so we purchased one of the local microbrews to enjoy outside while we listened to the live music.

This was at Montelle Winery, which is our Favorite of the 3 we visited. They have this great deck with beautiful views and live entertainment on the weekends. We served some of their wines at our rehearsal dinner.

The last place we went was Mount Pleasant Winery.

After the wineries, we went to the local brew pub for some food and to listen to the band they had playing. Then we spent the night at a cute little Bed and Breakfast.

On Monday we had a fabulous breakfast at the inn, and then we went on a bike ride on the Katy Trail, which passes through Augusta.

KZ then headed east for Indiana to work, and I drove back home. It was a great birthday weekend!