28th Birthday!

I managed to keep the celebrations going for my 28th birthday for over a week this year! I am one lucky duck. I have been really bad at using my camera lately so I have very few photos to share. Oops!

The celebrations started with a beer gift and then a trip out of the city over Memorial Day weekend. I went to Gloucester for the first time (I think) and it was a wonderful escape from city life. The weather was gorgeous two days and pretty bad the other two, so we got in a good mix of activities. We did a lot of drinking, eating (of seafood, of course!), game playing and walking. We spent some time in the adorable town of Rockport, visited Hammond Castle (so cool), sun bathed at Good Harbor beach, and had a failed visit to Wolf Hollow (sad).

Beer!

Hammond Castle

Rockport

Lots of rocks in Rockport :)

Yum.

Cape Ann Brewery

Buddies.

On my actual birthday the weather was GORGEOUS. I had to work and came in to some nice gifts and cards from my new coworkers! Then I was taken out to lunch by some people on my team to the nearby food trucks and we ate outside and hung out in the sun.

After work I was treated to an amazing dinner at Sarma, a restaurant I've been wanting to try for ages! From the website: Modeled after the traditional meyhanes of Turkey, the menu is a large selection of small, seasonal plates that are designed to be shared. The flavors represent the Mediterranean and encourage food-friendly cocktails, craft beers or a glass of wine from a small but carefully selected list.

Sarma was everything I hoped it would be. The food was amazing and the cocktails were fantastic. No photos but here's what I tried:

Tunisian steak tartare radishes, soft cooked egg, harissa chips
Black orzo paella octopus, squid, loukaniko, sunchokes, celery
Brussels sprout bravas hazelnut migas
Sweet potato latke jalapeño labne, rhubarb, lime, scallion
Fried chicken (special)

The black orzo paella was insanely good. After dinner I got some ice cream from Scoop n' Scootery, my new favorite ice cream delivery truck!

Later in the week I continued the celebrations with another dinner at Tavern Road. There were 9 of us so I think we tried every single item on the menu. Again, no food pictures but here's a group shot!

Finally, on Saturday I had a joint birthday celebration at Lawn on D with one of my good friends. I think about 30-40 people came out to celebrate with us and it was such a blast. We stayed there for almost 7 hours! I was too busy having fun to take any pictures, but here's one my friend Caity took of the birthday girls.

Birthdays always make me feel extra loved and special. I'm so lucky to have so many great people in my life who want to celebrate (multiple time) with me. I'm only about a week in, but so far 28 has been awesome!