Monday, September 12, 2016

A Birthday Mystery Guest!

Over Labor Day weekend I flew to Pennsylvania with my parents to help my sister celebrate her 30th birthday.  The fun thing about this trip was that my sister had no idea that I was flying in for her birthday.  She knew my parents were coming but had no idea I was joining them on this trip. In my family this is called being the mystery guest.  It may sound odd to just show up somewhere but in my family it is perfectly acceptable to show up to a party/event as a mystery guest.  Someone always knows you are coming but you are the mystery guest to everyone else.

Her birthday was the Friday of Labor Day weekend so we took a red-eye flight Thursday night and were there in time to take her to a birthday lunch. Her dessert came on a slab and my mom thought she should eat the chocolate by licking it. It was pretty funny so I had to take a picture of course.


After lunch it was nap time for us (we did take a red-eye after all) and study time for her. After my nap and a shower it was time to get ready for the main event.




We headed downtown to a farm to table Italian restaurant called Molinari's. While we waited for everyone to get there we decided to start the evening with a pitcher (or two) of white sangria. The evening was warm so this was a perfect way to start it off.

My sister looked fabulous in her navy blue maxi dress and I went for colorful in my dress. My dress is so comfy that I felt like I was wearing my pajamas. As you can see there is no family resemblance at all!


Three of my sister's friends met us for dinner and the food did not disappoint. I had a pizza and a glass of wine for dinner and trio of gelato for dessert. I don't remember the other two flavors I had but the strawberry basil was my favorite.




After dinner we headed over to a distillery to meet up with a bunch of my sister's med school friends for drinks.  


My sister had some kind of cucumber martini and I had a "Violet, you're turning Violet" martini.  Both drinks were delicious but a long day of traveling and fun it was time to call it a night.


 Saturday we went out to a fabulous little (and I do mean little) place for brunch.  I had a breakfast mac and cheese but didn't take any pictures.  We spent the rest of Saturday at my sister's place playing Hand and Foot and Mexican Train.  After working up an appetite loosing at both games we went to a gastropub for dinner. Everything we ate there was delicious but again no pictures.


Sunday morning we headed out to brunch at an Irish pub with live music.  We ended up sitting right by the band so it was a bit loud but we had fun and the food was good.



Sunday afternoon we drove to New Jersey to catch our flight back to California.  I was sad to leave my sister but also excited to see my husband after 3 days away.


My parents were flying first class and I was going to fly in the back but at the last minute there was a cheap upgrade so I got to fly first class too. Thanks parents! I had a glass of wine while waiting in the first class lounge and then we boarded our flight. The flight home was uneventful and I passed my time watching food shows and reading in my comfy seat.



Home from this trip but only home briefly before heading off on my honeymoon!

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