Birthday Celebrations

Happy week everyone! So you know Saturday was the 14th. But did you know it was my birthday? The neat thing about December 14th is that my grandpa was born on this same day nearly 90 years ago. And on that very date I also came along. I just made the cut off at 11:53 at night! I kind of love that my birthday is in December, such a culminating time off year. I mean there's holiday excitement, wrapping up and preparing for a new year, it's a time of change and renewal. 

Welp, here's some photos from that lovely day (and please excuse the horrid quality - the lighting was difficult for the camera). I'm so glad I had people to share my day with :) 

Part 1:

I was glad it was on the weekend this year and I hardly worked :) But there was a little holiday celebration at my work, which was fun. They sang and gave me a panetone with a candle on it. And it was also a 'see ya later' for the holidays since several of us are heading out for awhile.

Part 2:

In the afternoon my hubby and I were looking for some mini-apartments (which turned out to never exist - who posts false places for rent anyway??) ...On our way to dinner, we walked through a residential complex where Rafa grew up as a child. He told all the stories and memories with a smile of wonderment from those times long ago. He showed me where he used to play, what he remembered about several big earthquakes,  where his friends lived, where he first told a girl that he liked her (awww). Even his pre-school and elementary schools were in the complex. It was a really neat experience to be with him remembering all this and see what his life as a kid was like. I felt that much closer to him. 

So after walking down memory lane (kind of literally), we arrived for dinner. It was both of our first times to this sushi place, called Kaori Sushi Bar. We had really good luck because one of the rooms with the special tables was available. We were able to take our shoes off and climb into the table booth. That was a fun new experience for us! 

Here's a little preview of what we had, which was not so little.

I learned that it's called "gustito" (literally little liking) when you go out to a restaurant and splurge on a lot of good things. We definitely did just that. It's not something we do often, so it was even more special and we really savored it all. Did I mention, the food was delicious!!! Here's our empty plate: 

My birthday ended very full and happy.

Do you have any birthday traditions or stories? Do you like to celebrate big or more on the down-low?