Happy Birthday Happy Weekend

So last weekend could have sucked. I should have could have spent it in bed moping and crying and cursing my former employers for derailing my life and plans and happiness and all that dramatic malarchy.

But instead, I packed up my soggy, messy, fussy self and headed off to my dad's to celebrate his birthday.

This is my dad:

So you know spending a birthday weekend with him isn't going to be boring.

Presents! You'll know I'm weird because I apologized for how boringly wrapped these are. Don't save wrapping presents until the last minute because you'll end up doing it the day you get laid off and have been crying all day and they will end up boring. Fun fact.

First, we headed off to Warrenton, VA to eat at one of his favorite restaurants, Iron Bridge Wine Co.

And it was crazy tasty and everyone was in really good spirits and we spent a really long time bitching as a group about my job situation so that was nice.

Shamps! Or champs? I don't know...champagne!

Then, we walked around downtown, Mike forced us to go to a Golf Smith, we ate a bunch of cheese, more wine, and cheesecake, and looked at funny old pictures until we all shuffled off to bed.

My favorite funny old picture, my grandpa with a monkey. Because he can, is why.

Sunday, we hung around the house chatting, watched Thor 2, pet the cat, and then headed off to brunch.

One of the only cats in the world I'm not terrified of.

Brunch was at Bistro L'Hermitage in Woodbridge, VA and it was seriously amazing. 

I couldn't find a picture that accurately shows how weird this place is on the inside, but it is to the point where it had me teach my dad the meaning of the word kitschy.  It's like having a perfectly cooked French meal served to you impeccably in a crazy old lady's tea room. Pretty darn awesome. 

If you order your bloody mary spicy, it will burn your throat off by the way. You've been warned.

After that, we headed back to their house to finish Thor 2, pack up all our goodies and head home to our pups. We always end up leaving their house with more than we came, even on my dad's birthday. This time, we left with a bunch of tote bags, like 8 bottles of our favorite salad dressing, a cute serving platter, earrings passed down to me from my step-mom that her mom gave her, some Poirot for Mike to borrow, and a bunch of cheese and crackers.  Quite the score.

Overall, it was the perfect getaway to try to get my mind off of the shenanigans at work. I still had a sleepless night filled with stress and anxiety over my future and far too many talks about how "everything happens for a reason" (dear god I hope so), but I wasn't wearing pjs, drinking heavily, and crying in my bed all weekend so I'm pretty happy!

Happy birthday weirdo, thanks for having your birthday right when I needed it! (selfish)

You're welcome.