Birthday Love, Good Food, & Live Entertainment

I have said before that my birthday is my favorite holiday. Mother's Day is my new 2nd place winner, but I've only celebrated 2 of those so far. Thanksgiving would be number 3 for the food and family. But nothing beats a birthday. It's time to reflect on a year passed and plan the year ahead. My childhood birthdays were usually spent at Chuck E Cheese. As a pre-teen I preferred sleepovers. I became best friends with my friend Jeretha at my 13th birthday party. And, 17 years later I'm a godmother to her 2 girls. As teenager I asked for money to go shopping and we went out to eat as a family. In college I continued that tradition and ate out at a favorite restaurant with friends if I couldn't make it home for a visit. Most of my favorite memories involved a good meal. I can do without a Christmas gift but my birthday must be met with pomp and circumstance even if I have to make a ruckus all by myself. Thankfully, I have friends and family that caught on quick and try to make the day special for me. God bless them!
 
My mother surprised me with tickets to see Norah Jones in concert at MGM at Foxwoods. It's about an hour and a half drive from where we live. We wanted to get there early to find parking and pick up our tickets from Will Call so we scheduled the day to have time for dinner. The gourmet restaurants at the casinos are pricey. Since we aren't high-rollers, I did some research and found a restaurant on the way. The Blue Crab is 2 right turns off of Exit 66 on I-95N. Nothing fancy on the outside and the decor reminds me of a country B&B. The reviews I read were on point for the most part.

We arrived around 5:30pm and avoided a dinner crowd so it looked as if we had reserved the restaurant just for us. Fine by me. We had our waiter's full attention. I forget his name but he gave excellent service. He described everything in mouth-watering detail. We started with complimentary warm pumpkin bread with sage butter and then shared a seafood bisque for an appetizer. My mom ordered the blackened salmon which was a special. And I ordered the cajun ribeye from the menu. I was leery of the jalapeno butter that came on top but I went with the waiter's recommendation and it was not as hot as I feared. It was a perfect compliment to my steak as it melted in front of my eyes. If you like a little spice, you would love this dish. Not too hot or overpowering. I was stuffed to the gills but he offered a dessert because he knew it was my birthday. I don't pass up free! I chose the banana and chocolate spring rolls with vanilla ice cream. I wish I would have passed on the dessert. I could barely swallow a few bites because I was so full from the meal. As my grandma would say "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach!" I have been thinking about that steak since Friday. Yummmmm.

My husband ordered this beautiful cake made of flowers. I've never seen this before. I'm going to keep watering the foam thing in the middle and see how long the flowers live. Then he took me to another restaurant I like in East Norwalk, CT on the harbor called Harbor Lights. I was surprised that another couple that are friends of ours were waiting for us. We enjoyed a lovely meal and excellent service. It was so nice to have adult conversation with another married couple. And after dinner I was glancing out the window and thought my mind was playing tricks on me but a swan floated by! One lonely all white swan glided by. It was a lovely sight. I asked the restaurant owner (he's a high school alum of my husband and the other guy at dinner with us) about the swan and he said there was a whole family there last summer. Maybe they're coming back? Overall, it was a good day.