A few nights ago, the BF and I were discussing my upcoming birthday, and we realized that neither of us were quite sure how old I was going to be.  Apparently, he bases his age off of how old I am, which I attribute to his burning desire to draw frequent attention to the fact that I am six months his senior and thus a cradle robbing cougar.  Rawwwrrrrrrrrr!

Anyway… after several rounds of bantering back and forth, we came to an agreement.

I was officially turning 27.

Twenty-seven years ripe.

Twenty-seven years seasoned.

Twenty-seven years matured, if you will.

I’m pretty sure you’re officially “old” when you can’t remember how old you actually are.

So there I was, about to turn 27, in a new city, with no one to keep me company but a crappy (albeit tasty) tuna sandwich and a crap load of work to get done.

As fabulous as this sounded, I decided to be proactive with my Ladies who Lunch goal, and invite a few ladies in the area to lunch.  Was it a longshot to invite a bunch of ladies I barely know to have lunch with me on my birthday?  Perhaps.  Was it awkward to put myself out there?  Slightly.  Did I send that email anyway?  You’re darn tootin I did!

One short email followed by four quick responses and I was headed to Savor Café and Catering to have lunch with four fabulous blogging ladies:  Jamie (Bibliophiled Away), Vanessa (Life Undeveloped), Julie (Willow Bird Baking), and Katie (Sweet Tater Blog).

I don’t know what came over me, but I hardly took any pictures during lunch!  All I can say is the interior of Savor was eclectic and slightly rustic.  The restaurant was small and cozy, with super tall ceilings, and exposed brick walls.   Lucky for us we got there before the lunch rush because that line was out the door!

For those who were curious, yesterday’s post about the best birthday present ever came from Jamie.  Seriously, how perfect?!

What’s not perfect is how much my hair hates NC weather!  Also, thanks Vanessa for the pic!

Savor had quite a few options on the menu that sounded worthy of a birthday lunch, but  since I had plans to end my big day with an Italian feast I decided to stick with the Savor Salad.  It had mixed greens, tomatoes, carrots, chickpeas, and cucumbers plus some tasty grilled chicken on top:

The balsamic vinaigrette was so thick, I literally had to slather it on my salad.  It was fabulous.

The ladies:  Julie (Willow Bird Baking), Vanessa (Life Undeveloped), Katie (Sweet Tater Blog), MOI!, and Jamie (Bibliophiled Away).

When I got back to work, I had a little surprise waiting:

A birthday treat from the mama

P.S., chocolate covered apples are AMAZING.  Who knew?!

My mailman also brought me a card from my dad

Like father, like daughter?  Perhaps.

And my friend Tracy sent me a big ass tub of Frank’s Red Hot:

You may be wondering what the heck I am going to do with 756 servings of Frank’s Red Hot.  To that I say don’t you worry

< Insert 6 or so more hours of work here >

And it was time for dinna with the Man Candy

We haven’t had an Italian dinner in quite a while, so my pick of the evening was Villa Antonio in Ballantyne.

I was so surprised by how fancy schmancy the restaurant was.

Even though the restaurant was very formal, it was by no means uninviting.  Jarrod and I perused the menu, and were brought *free* bruschetta to munch on while we decided.

At this point I was pretty much in love with the place.  Who doesn’t love free?!

Once we ordered, we were brought *ahem* *FREE* house bread and dipping oil:

Did I mention I love this place?

I wish every meal started off with two courses of bread

While I sipped on a glass of Banfi Col di Sasso (a Sangiovese/Cabernet blend), we dug into our sausage and pepper appetizer:

Everything about this dish was perfect.  The sausage was slightly spicy, the marinara sauce was deep and garlicky, the roasted peppers were sweet, and the cheese was melty heaven.  This alone could have been a delicious entre…  but ‘twas my birthday, so we certainly did not stop there!

After the appetizer, we were brought *FREE!!!!* lemon sorbetto to cleanse the palate. At this point I audibly exclaimed “I LOVE THIS PLACE!”.  I can be slightly embarrassing when it comes to food.

For the entre, we decided to split a chicken and gnocchi dish.  Half of the entre was the PERFECT serving size:

The chicken was layered with garlic, pomodoro, goat cheese, spinach, and mozzarella.  And as if that weren’t enough cheesy goodness, the gnocchi was covered in a creamy gorgonzola sauce.

Absolutely divine.

Surmounted only by this large slice of chocolate peanut butter cake that followed:

Two happy diners:

Thanks everyone for the b-day wishes!