Birthday Girls

I kicked off my birthday festivities with dinner at my parent's house. My mom made her fabulous spaghetti and basil meatballs. Instead of birthday cake we had decadent desserts of dark and white chocolate macaroon bars and cannoli. We toasted to 31 with orange infused champagne (divine!). After such an amazing meal I was tempted to take a nap but we pressed on to our next destination, meeting friends for drinks.

My friend Britni and I have birthdays 2 days apart so we did a joint affair this year. At the suggestion of another friend we met up at The Spirit Room in downtown Fullerton. This place is amazing! It's a cozy little speakeasy tucked away below street level. Dim lighting, big booths and an amazing attention to detail with turn of the century and prohibition-style libations. 

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I love how their menu listed the origin of each recipe, for instance The Aviation, from Hugo Ensslin, Hotel Wallick. (New York 1910) A chilled mix of gin, fresh lemon juice, maraschino, and Violet liqueur.

 

Everyone was sharing sips of heavy hitting drinks. The "one and done" rule pretty much applied here, particularly with the absinthe infused cocktails. I kept things mild most the evening with the French 75 comprised of gin, lemon syrup and champagne.

We pretty much had the run of the joint. It was nice, like having a private party without the hefty price tag. It was such a treat to actually be able to have conversations with friends without shouting and always have somewhere comfortable to sit.

Here's one of me & the mister and another great group shot: