Last week I celebrated my 26th birthday with my family.  First the hubby’s family had a party full of meat and games at his aunt’s house.  Then my parents made a trip to San Mateo and we went to a Chinese restaurant nearby.  Finally on my actual birthday the hubby took me out to The Village Pub, which is a Michelin starred restaurant that is practically down the street from where we live.  Needless to say I enjoyed spending time with my family and eating everything very much.

The hubby and I have not been to a fine dining  restaurant for this entire year  so it was really a fun treat  to go out.  The hubby actually convinced me to go because I was a bit hesitant about spending on my birthday this year with the recession and the coming of the baby.  In reality we are still saving around 50% of our income and neither of us got a reduction in income.  So we could afford to celebrate without worrying.  The hubby was a little apprehensive about the dress code since our experience with , but we read some reviews of the Village Pub and found that they allow jeans and shirts.  After all, we are back in Northern California.

On the way to the restaurant the hubby said that if they try to turn us away due to dress then he would say something like, “can you really afford to turn customers away?  In this economic climate?”  When we got there we found that the whole place was packed, and most people were dressed quite well, but there were a few people in jeans and Hawaiian shirts.  The servers were quite prompt with us and there was not a problem even though we showed up in jeans.   The hubby sat down, looked around,  and said, “well, I guess they can afford to turn us away.”  We opened the menu and found that it was not overly expensive.  Each appetizer was a bit under $20, and entrees were between $20 and $40.  So it was possible to eat pretty well for under $75 per person.  So the hubby concluded, “I guess maybe  this is recession dining for the rich.”

We both agreed that we always find the appetizers and desserts the most memorable at these “fancy” places, and The Pub was no different. The hubby had a mushroom and sweetbread salad topped with a poached egg for his appetizer.  I had a shaved foie gras salad with plums.  Both were seasoned just right and the ingredients tasted very fresh.  I had a rack of pork for the entree and the hubby had a spring lamb in three preparations.  I think the hubby’s lamb was better than my pork.  The pork was well cooked and seasoned, but it was a bit boring.  Finally for dessert I had a plate of strawberries prepared in several different ways.  One preparation was in a beignet, one was a frozen bar of strawberry with cream, and then there were a bunch of fresh strawberries on french toast.  It was really a very large dessert.  The hubby had a peach dessert that was prepared like a cobbler and also a frozen manner.  Overall we enjoyed our meal very much and it was a very good birthday for me.

Looking back on the past few months I think we do have a lot of reasons to celebrate.  and a wonderful family and we are soon enough.  I think that the horrid state of economy and the coming of the baby did add a bit of anxiety to our lives, but when I write it all down it seems that we are worrying for nothing much.   As my old roomie Cathy used to say, “all you need are faith, family, and friends”, and we have all three.

Anyway, I guess what I am trying to say is that I  think everyone who has a reason to celebrate this year should go ahead and do it as long as it is affordable.  There is no point in worrying about things you cannot control, and life really passes by faster than you can enjoy it.

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