farrell's for the februarys

there happen to be quite a few february birthdays in our family. this sister (and the one in brazil) are included. so where did we go??? farrell's ice cream parlour. have you ever been there??? 2 words . . .

heart. attack.

because of the food? maybe. but i'd say it's the constant noise, beating of drums, yelling, shouting, running through the restaurant. let's just say it's a birthday to remember and something you have to experience for yourself! LOL.

a banana royal. divineeee.

08.28

had such a good and relaxing time at maggiano's for my birthday dinner. there's nothing like enjoying family, delicious food, and amazing weather at the end of summer.

me and blabs

duck face. i can't do it without cracking a smile. she's a pro.

profiteroles and the big 2-5

linguine con vongole

chicken parmigiana e rigatoni

birthday boa from gram

my brother's a model :)

the boys

g-ma and the cousins

shogun love

bree bailey had a special birthday (the one in the middle). we got a group of her friends and went to shogun for dinner.

a couple surprises & a little skatin'

we love our brown boots!

cute little mel had a birthday in october and so we all had to celebrate! we wanted the whole day to be a surprise.

first we took her out to lunch: panera

then we blindfolded her and drove her to an ice skating rink where one of the employees was going to hand mel her personal skates. sadly this didn't work very well because there was not an open skating session. our mistake. so we handed mel her own skates and drove to another rink.

this girl was in hea.ven. she couldn't stop smiling! mel also used to be a figure skater so i think it was a job well done. it felt so good to be back on the ice. the next day i was so sore! it's amazing how much of a workout skating really is.

my 24th birthday festivities part I

for my 24th patty, me, and some friends of mine went to l.a. for dinner to go to one of my favorites, ketchup.

mel, me, jami

patty. . .i mean sister ricchio (she's going to brazil on her mission) and I

me and mel

my DELICIOUS red velvet 'nothing bundt cake.' have any of you had these? they are seriously the best cakes i've ever had. the one i have is called a bundtini. they all come with flowers in the center . . . kind of like in my big fat greek wedding. lol.

if you don't have french fries, it's not an american meal. their fries are the bomb. i've talked about them before, but seriously with the multiple flavors of ketchup they have (chipotle mangoe, barbeque, ranch, wasabi, etc.) you could not stop eating them! we thought this 3 ramekin french fry appetizer was called the 'trio,' however the waitress scorned us and said it was called a 'threesome.' i think i prefer the other name.

this time around at ketchup, patty and i shared the 'shake n' bake' which was breaded chicken over garlic mashed potatoes and sauteed carrots/string beans, and mac and cheese. for dessert we had banana bread pudding with carmel ice cream and ice cream cookie sandwiches. sisters are the best because you can order two things you like and share them :)

the food was a.maz.ing. ketchup is all about american classics with a little gourmet flare. take for example the mac and cheese . . .

mac and cheese

dungeness crab

white truffle oil

with panko breadcrumbs

. . . seriously the BEST mac and cheese I have ever had

next time we go, we are heading up le petit four on sunset

midori satin ribbon

i would love this ribbon, if it weren't $64 per roll.

patty's birthday

went and did some shopping (bought a pair of jeans i love and were on sale!), ate at macaroni grill for lunch, and had a little pf changs for dinner followed by 'Julie and Julia' to ring in the new b-day year. cute movie and totally made me want to visit france again, and maybe go to cooking school.