Burfday…It’s my Burfday

Jun 20

Written By Ferg

Hey Siri, play Birthday Song by 2 Chainz

Quick sidebar: When I die, do not burry me inside the Gucci store. Cremate me and spread me at the beach somewhere.

Anyway, It’s my Birthday and despite all the turbulence in my life right now, i’m actually excited about it this year. Usually, i’m stressed out about what I want to do and trying to make plans that will incorporate all my friends & being worried that people won’t show, or won’t stay long, or won’t appreciate the effort I put into whatever it is. On top of that, being frustrated by my own indecisiveness around my hair, what i’m going to wear..shit, even what the hell the plans are. & I can’t forget about my annual “all my friends hate me” meltdown.

Last year, I decided to spend my 30th Birthday ALONE! Well, I went on the trip alone. I ended up meeting some really cool people and spent it with them, but I may have to make that a tradition. Making plans alone and seeing where the day takes me. (last year I did also have a birthday cookout but i’m talking about the actual day of. & that was my 30th, I really wanted to get my fam and friends together…anywho). With that said, the birthday plans this year were simple:

No trip (cause it ain’t in the budget)
No group activities (cause to hell with trying to get people together)

I decided to just hang one-on-one with a couple of friends and then bring my birthday in alone.

I did one-on-one really because they reached out and asked what I wanted to do or just invited me to something. Works for me! I didn’t have to think or plan, and they reached out to me so I didn’t have to wonder if they wanted to celebrate with me (ya know, referencing back to the annual “all my friends hate me” pre-birthday meltdown).

That said, let’s get into the details

Before I left for Detroit I was tying to decide if I wanted to keep my faux locs in or straighten my hair. I was leaning toward straight hair but wanted some UMPH! so I was considering clip-ins or a sew in. Well, that sew-in shit is expensive and the girls have been complaining about booking, fees, and customer service (or lack thereof), so I decided to just get the materials and do it myself. Spoiler alert, it came out pretty damn good, if I do say so myself.

Me to Me

:

"I feel like I can do that myself..."

Me to Me : "I feel like I can do that myself..."

I got the clip-ins from amazon & i’m no weave expert but they held up well for what I needed them for. I used the water color method to dye them closer to my hair color & one bundle was enough for my head. I wanted to wear it down one night and in a claw clip another…so, how did I do?

I, of course, went and got a pedicure. My gel polish was so old it was looking more like a French tip, but I digress. I didn’t get my nails done cause I decided i’d just do press-ons …I should’ve gone ahead and gotten my nails done cause I forgot to put them bad boys on. My pics came out cute but they would have been absolutely PERFECT if my nails were done.

Now that we’re all dolled up, let’s get into the weekend Festivities.

Thursday June 13th

I started out the weekend with attending one of those Candlelit Concerts. It’s like a symphony kind of but with, I believe, 3 instruments. Brianne got us tickets to the Beyonce Tribute. So we got dolled up and were on our way.
I’ll be honest, it was a pretty short show and they did a phenomenal job, I just wished they offered wine or refreshments or something. I know eating in the theater isn’t allowed cause it’d make too much noise, but a glass of wine would have be perfect. The only other downside was the people lol. They were humming along to the songs and at one point full blown singing along. There was a man behind me STOMPING HIS FEET to the beat, like y’all I wanna hear the strings omg. But, other than that it was very nice. It also wasn’t expensive and it was completely free to me so let me not complain. I’m assuming the humming and singing is acceptable because they didn’t tell the audience to shut the hell up like I wanted them to. Just FYI incase you go. We asked a lady outside of the venue if she could get a photo of us and after 2 tries and 15 photos later, we politely smiled, thanked her, walked down the street and propped my phone up so we could get some good ones. Shoutout to Octobuddy.

Friday June 14th

I was going to say that this was the day I was most excited for but this meal and the beach were tied neck and neck.

A few weeks before my birthday I texted Brianne asking her work schedule but then I didn’t respond when she sent it over cause I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do just yet. “What we need to do is get that 6 course meal at LaGrotta” & she was absolutely right. We had gone once before and absolutely loved it & while we were browsing the menu we noticed they had a 3 course meal option with wine pairings, a five course option and a six course option. We wanted to try it then but it wasn’t in the budget lol but NOW?! We in there.

I wanted to get dolled up for dinner cause I really don’t ever get really dressed up. I’m just not a dressy type of girl. It’s not comfortable so i’d just rather stick to my basic outfits, my sweats, my bikinis and be happy…but its my birthday so, might as well. I found THEE cutest dress and it was on sale for $14. I been in the gym so we wanted to show off the legs a lil bit. I was skeptical about what color shoes to get since the dress was purple, I felt like white shoes would be too bright and black shoes would be too dark. I decided to go for something close to my skin tone. Now, the tan is poppin but not that popping, so the shoes weren’t quite my complexion but I still think they paired perfectly with my dress. Borrowed some pearls from my mom, and took the strap off of my beige-ish tan color coach bag so that I could wear it as a clutch. I’m so proud of how I pull shit together sometimes!

Speaking of tans, I love the look my tan lines give. Not sure what the fashion girlies think or if its considered tacky but I absolutely LOVE some cute ass tan lines, especially how they were peeking out over my dress. * chefs kiss *

Before dinner we decided to head to a cocktail bar, The Jasper, in Carytown for Happy Hour. The take reservations I believe and you probably want to make one! If not, we were planning on being there by 5:30pm latest in order to get a spot at the bar or a table. We arrived at 5:36pm and was told that the wait would be about 30 minutes. No problem, we headed back to the car, put our heels on and took some photos while we waited. Just as we were wrapping up our photos we got a text that our table was ready and I think we had 10 minutes to get back before they gave our table away. My shoes understood the assignment cause they started unraveling as we were walking back to the car. Literally both of them, coming undone at the same time. I had to put some pep in my step so that i’d make it to the car before the shoes came off of my feet lol. We changed back out of our heels and headed back Jasper. The wait ended up being about 15 minutes instead of 30.

When I tell you this was the CUTEST little cocktail bar. We sat in the back, idk how to explain it but it gives speakeasy a little bit. Shit it might be a speakeasy, or like speakeasy themed since it wouldn’t really be able to be a true speakeasy, ya know? Anyway, Brianne had been there a few times and they had $7 select drinks for happy hour so we started with 2 Gin Martini’s. Now, I know that a traditional Martini is made with vodka, what I didn’t know was that it was basically straight vodka. I say that to say that Gin Martini was chilled Gin with garnish omg it was so strong. I’m being dramatic, it was strong but not as strong as straight Gin. It was cute for the photos, but the star of the show was the daiquiri! No, not at all a daiquiri in a frozen Caribbean vacation sense, but still very tasty, and the glasses were also very cute. We finished off with 2 more daiquiris before heading over to LaGrotta Ristorante for dinner.

We made one wrong turn on our way to dinner and added an extra 15 minutes to our trip that was supposed to only be about 12 minutes but its all good. I put some good ‘ol music and we were on our way. You can’t go wrong with Frayser Boy. I think it’s perfect bad bitch music even though he be rapping about robbing, stealing, and beating the breaks off people. idc. It makes sense in my head.

We arrived, we were seated, and we were handed menu’s. We don’t need these playa. We told him we wanted the 6 course meal and he said “Chef’s Choice?” We said absolutely and handed those menu’s right back to him. I don’t even remember what his name was. I don’t know if we gave him time to even say his name. I ordered a Moscato D’Asti, because that’s the best kind, and we enjoyed the bread that was brought out.

Course 1 really set the stage. The Octopus…FIRE. I eat so much salmon ima turn into one so you know I loved the smoked salmon. The Ground beef (which he explained exactly what it was but that didn’t make it into my note so all I know is that it was ground beef and that it was delish!). Everything else in course 1 was amazing but those were my top 3. Honestly, the Octopus deserves the top 2 spots if i’m being completely honest.

Course 2 was probably my favorite course. It was a seafood ravioli covered in Shrimp Bisque. MAAAAAAN, I needed a whole bowl of this but had to be mindful that this was only course 2 of 6.

Course 3 was also delicious, Rockfish topped with lump crab meant over a white wine sauce served with sautéed spinach. That white wine sauce was AMAZING omg.

Course 4 was a salad, a nice little pallet cleanser before the entree.

Course 5 and surprisingly not the star of the show but still insanely delicious, was Veal wrapped in procuttio with sage and “something else”. I had that man repeat to me what this dish was 3 times and I still didn’t get it down in my notes. We are also kinda lit by this point cause when he was handing us the knives he paused and said “are you all ok to use these?” lmao. He was partially joking. This was really good though. I didn’t finish it only because I lost count and assumed we still had a pasta dish before dessert and I didn’t want to overdo it.

Course 6 we got to choose our own dessert and I chose the Coconut cake and when I tell you I finished every last crumb, it was amazing! We left dinner so full and so happy! I will definitely be back for the 3 course with wine pairings, the 5 course and even the 6 course again to see what new things will be presented.

Saturday June 15th

Saturday morning to start off the day I was taken out to brunch. We hit a spot called Lulu’s and it didn’t disappoint…for the most part. I’ll get into that later. I’ve been to Lulu’s once before but it was years ago so it was basically like going for the first time all over again. We got a pitcher of the tropical mimosa and that was just enough, we barely finished it and we both ordered the Atlantic Omelette, no bacon for me. THAT SHIT WAS SO DAMN GOOD OMG! The Lump crab meat, the cheese, the sauce, everything in that omelette dancing around on my taste buds was the perfect start to my day. My mom loves some lump crab and all I could think about was that I have got to bring her back here so she can try this omelette. It came with a side of roasted potatoes and they had a little kick to them but they are delish as well.

Now, we ordered the apple bread pudding to go and it looked so pretty all packaged up. One thing about me I love break pudding, and all kinds too, just. hold those nasty ass raisins. I put my bread pudding in the fridge to save for later. Fast forward to later so I don’t forget to write about it and the break pudding was so underwhelming. Extremely underwhelming. I took about 3 bites and threw the rest away. I’ve never had a bread pudding I didn’t like, until now. Like, I love all the different types of bread pudding, I literally went on a bread pudding tour through New Orleans! But this was so disappointing. My friend said the same thing about his but maybe they just made a bad batch. I’d for sure try it again just to make sure it wasn’t an off day.

After brunch, I gathered my picnic materials and headed to Brittany’s house cause we were going to a book event, Lit on the Lawn put on by Lit with Literature. This was out in Powhatan and basically it was an event where we brought our own wine, set up a picnic and had a good time. There were food vendors, a flower truck, photo-ops, a book exchange, vendors and more! & it was founded by a black woman! Read more about Lit with Literature here.

I got us a bottle of Black Girl Magic Riesling and a bottle of the Viarae Prosecco since I hadn’t tasted it yet. Black woman wines for black woman events! p.s. absolutely love the Prosecco.

We socialized, talked about our bookclub and books with other black women who also love books, we made our flower bouquets, we sat and drank wine while soaking up the sun. I honestly could not have asked for a better day. I am so looking forward to more of their events specifically and just more chill summer events in general!

Sunday June 16th: Ferg Day!

Now earlier in the vlog I mentioned bringing in my birthday alone but that’s just not how the wind blew. Since I was sharing my birthday with the Father’s this year, Brittany and her fam decided to join me at the beach and i’m glad they did! Watching the kids play in the ocean, sitting out on the beach soaking in the sun. Good music, laughs, it was just a very relaxing day. & did I mention there was cake?

Brittany brought a whole ass 1/4 sheet cake to the beach and we sure did cut it and eat it lol. It said “Happy Birthday and Father’s Day Dad” and they sang happy birthday to me and we wish her hubs a happy fathers day. & since I didn’t drive I didn’t determine what time we left, which is probably a good thing cause its been nice all week, my ass might have probably still been there lol.

I was skeptical about spending my birthday home and not on a trip somewhere but I realized it’snot necessarily where I spend my birthday but who I spend it with. I’m so thankful for all of the birthday wishes I got, everyone who took the time out of their day to say something to make me feel special, all the gifts I got (y’all know I love a gift lol). It was just a wonderful weekend. So, I hope you enjoyed the recap and I can’t wait to chat with y’all in the comments!

More Photos!