As much as I was dreading it leading up to my birthday weekend, I can’t believe I’m finally 30! I still remember making birthday cards for my parents when they were 30-something, and now I’m 30… How did that even happen?!
Two weeks later (because life happened). I thought I’d share with you about my birthday weekend, mostly the food that we ate, and at the same time documenting the weekend for myself š
My sister, Kyla, actually flew in for the weekend to celebrate my 30th birthday with me! The last few birthdays have been really lonely for me, and I don’t really know why. Sure, there’s the pandemic which happened a month before my 2020 birthday, then 2021 just felt…sad for some reason. I really wanted to make this one a happier and memorable birthday. I only turn 30 once after all. Kyla being Kyla was determined to help make it happen, which included coming to visit me (because her sis is such a drama queen obvi)!
Kyla flew in on a Wednesday evening and we started her trip with a stop at our favorite pizza place (for thin crust!) in Chicago, Pat’s Pizza. Most of our closest friends expect Pat’s at our place when we have pizza for get togethers because it’s so conveniently close, and so darn good. I made a quick arugula salad which is one of Kyla’s and my favorite go-to salads, along with pizza, wings, and of course some wine! We forgot to document the pizza before devouring it, so…
Thursday
On Thursday, I still had to work, but we grabbed lunch at Cafecito! Cafecito has been one of my favorite places since college. It’s a chill cafe serving great Cuban food and drinks around Chicago! It was a nice day, so we walked to the location closest to us. We ordered a colada of cafecito to share. Kyla got the lechon plate, and I got the vaca frita plate (fried shredded beef with peppers and onions – so good). Patryk got the chivito sandwich (a favorite with a couple types of meat and a fried egg).
For Thursday’s dinner, we went to our family’s absolute favorite spot in the city, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! Every time my family comes to Chicago, we have to stop here. In fact, it was the only place Kyla said was her “must-do” for this trip. We skipped the paella this time and only ordered a bunch of tapas. We’ve gone there so often we just have a go-to set of tapas we order at this point. Haha. We always get the grilled squid, octopus, spicy potatoes, and hanger steak. As a few extra things this time, we also got the catalan bread, some deviled eggs, and a couple croquetas! Of course, we had to get a pitcher of the red sangria for happy hour. For dessert, we walked over to Jeni’s Ice Cream! I got half Sweet Cream Biscuits & Peach Jam, and half Brown Butter Almond Brittle in a waffle cone.
Friday: Birthday Weekend begins
Friday was my birthday! I took the day off so I can enjoy the day, and enjoy the day I did. I slept in a bit, and did a few work things, and started getting ready for brunch!
We went to 3 Arts Cafe which is another favorite spot for Kyla and I. Elin, one of my closest girlfriends and my go-to gal for food and bougie things, met us for some lattes and bubbly!
Kyla got a burger. I got some scrambled eggs that came with sourdough and avocado. Their scrambled eggs are extremely overpriced, but I love eggs. I get it anyway, and I’m always happy about it. Besides, their sourdough is so good! They got rid of their pastries since the last time we were there. So, I was bummed I didn’t get to have a croissant on my birthday. Elin got the avocado toast, and it was a really good serving! I would think it would be enough to split between two people, especially if you order a few other things to try. To share, we had the bacon and some truffle fries.
After a nice brunch, I wanted to walk around Target with my sister. I haven’t walked around Target without rushing to leave in so long, and who better to do it with than my sister who has the same shopping habits as me?! Welp…we wandered the Dollar Spot for a good while. One of the things I picked up was a pineapple shaped jar. Patryk and I have these random Spongebob reference easter eggs in our condo, and I thought that was a cute addition! Hehe. We also grabbed a bunch of candy we did not need in our lives, and some balloons to take photos with that evening.
For my birthday dinner, we went to Formento’s with my closest friends. Formento’s is another one of our (Patryk and I) favorite restaurants, especially for special occasions! I got the ribeye, and I did a little happy dance after every bite. Our entrees came with brussels sprouts, crispy potatoes, and asparagus on the side. Many of us had cocktails, but I mostly had wine š For my dessert, we had a few choices but I had the chocolate cake and an extra one to go!! Formento’s chocolate cake is my favorite cake of all time (next to our wedding cake). The cake is so rich, but not too sweet, with a little crunch from the hazelnut. After dinner, while we had hoped to go to another bar, I felt very much 30. We decided to just have a few more drinks at our place with a couple of our friends instead.
Saturday
Saturday brunch was at our other favorite restaurant: Cocina Tarascas. We haven’t really been there for brunch since 2020, so we didn’t realize they didn’t have a brunch menu anymore š But the rest of the menu is just as good. I had the steak enchiladas with poblano sauce, and Kyla and Patryk had steak burritos! We then walked to a coffee shop since it was a nice day out. The rare sunny day drained us pretty quickly, so Kyla and I decided to spend the rest of the day on the couch watching the new Kardashians (don’t @ me!).
Closed my birthday weekend with a homecooked dinner on Saturday. We went out for almost every single meal for the weekend, and my sister really wanted to try the salmon salad Patryk and I make and look forward to every week! At some point, maybe I’ll share how we make our salmon. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s pretty good and may be a new way to some of you! We ended the day sitting on the couch eating the candy we got at Target.
Kyla left early Sunday morning, so the fun was over. We drove her to the airport pretty early, and Patryk and I ran errands and did chores the rest of the day. That’s my birthday weekend! It was a wonderful few days spent with my sister with great food and a great amount of wine too!
