Birthday

As usual, Lizzie makes sure that I have a wonderful birthday. This year was no different. We kind of turned it into three days of cool stuff. 

Saturday, the day before my birthday, Lizzie and the kids surprised me with a Crab Boil and gifts of fine spiced rum and beer, which is totally my favorite. We ended the night with a brutal game of Monopoly (which I won) the birthday luck was with me! 

Sunday we had a fabulous breakfast and we went to BJ's for dinner. 

Monday we took off to Seattle to have brunch at Americana. If you make it to Seattle, this place is bad ass and often has an hour wait. The maple glazed pork belly is off the charts awesome. We then hit two record stores for some new vinyl I ended up getting Alt-J, Russian Circles, and Slayer. I've always loved buying music. In between stores we hit a really awesome bar called Hazelwood which was a tiny old style European looking place with vintage cocktails. Then we went to dinner at Poquitos a sweet Mexican restaurant with awesome authentic tacos. Then finally we got to see the final Hobbit movie at IMAX and in 3D. I have to say seeing a movie like that is fabulous! 

It was a great birthday and as always it's a little sad to see the celebrations end but man, it was fun!

The Crab Boil complete with 4th child (Kaya's BFF and Elsa)

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In Seattle we stopped by Twice Sold Books for some neat used book finds

Lizzie in Twice Sold Books

Drink at Hazelwood in Bellingham

Lizzie at Poquitos

Tequila at Poquitos

Space Needle at night

HUGE 3D glasses for IMAX

Portland OR

Lizzie always makes my birthday an absolutely amazing. This year she surprised me with a trip to Portland OR, a place I've always heard about and always wanted to go. We stayed at a hotel with a river view, immediately got a drink and headed out for the night. We ended up at the Kennedy School which is an old school where the classrooms had been converted to separate bars. We even got to see the end of the Seahawks football game and I have to say being around the excitement was pretty cool.

Ok... The Kennedy School is absolutely awesome! They have their own brewery and each room has a sort of theme that went along with what kind of classroom it once was. For instance, The Detention Room was a tiny place that could hold maybe twelve people and is one of two places left in Portland where you can purchase and smoke cigars indoors. The Honors Room was my personal favorite, another tiny room with a wood burning stove and each bartender made absolutely killer Negronis! We ended up having dinner in The Boiler Room which is exactly what you think it was but much cooler with old plumbing made into gates and decoration.

The bar at Vivant

Dessert at Vivant

The next day we slept in then had a couple's massage at the hotel then off we went to find some food. We wanted to soak in as much Portland culture as we could so we went to two small plate places for dinner. The first was Bar Vivant, a Spanish Tapas slash in house dessert maker run by a few bearded awesome guys. Talk about authentic! The bacon wrapped dates are to die for. From there we went to the dark and secluded Expatriate which is run by Top Chef Masters alumni Naomi Pomeroy. The Drinks were to die for as were the lobster rangoon. From there we visited the small but nice Blush club for the remainder of the evening. 

The entire trip was so great! I'm sorry we didn't get as many quality pictures as we hoped but we're already looking forward to getting back to Portland as soon as possible. 

My Birthday and 200th Post

Well hey, it's my birthday and my 200th blog post. First I want to thank each and every one of you for following my blog and reading it. My reader numbers far exceed what I ever thought they would be and it means a lot to me that you all take the time to be a part of my life no matter where you live. I appreciate you and your time so much!

For my 200th post I want to dedicate this to my lovely, amazing, mega-talented and truly perfect wife, Elizabeth Valentino, who literally showed me how awesome life can be. She inspires me every day and  she has made me the happiest boy on Earth. 2014 is already shaping up to be a blockbuster year for her, she's writing a lot of new things including a steampunk erotica anthology, a RPG with me and she continues to work on a full length book that is going to blow your socks off. Not to mention a re-release of Bound By Blood! Everyone be on the lookout, this year is going to be an exciting one.

To you Liz, you are my everything and thank you for your amazing love and my amazing family! I love you all so much!