So, that morning before Tim left for work he gave me my gifts (French press, book on tea and some cute (and very sharp) cheese knifes). All things I absolutely love and could not wait to use! After he left, I took the dog to the groomer, stopped at Starbucks for my free venti soy latte and headed to Cose Dolci for my favorite scones of all time. It was the perfect way to start my day.
The weeks before my day, when people asked what I had planned for my Birthday, I would respond by saying "a little of whatever I want". And that is exactly what I did. After breakfast and playing on the Internet (aka - reading all the birthday love on Facebook) I did a little more cleaning and decorating, then I decided to go cheese shopping. I needed fancy cheese for my new knifes after all! I had originally planned on getting a pedicure, but I choose cheese instead. Is that lame or what? But what can I say, I love cheese and shopping for it was actually pretty fun and exciting. I ended up with a Black Diamond 5 yr Cheddar, Cheddar Habanero, Spanish Wine Cured Goat Cheese and a Porter Cheese (not shown). All delish, but the goat cheese was by far my favorite. 
After cheese shopping I thought it was time for a little lunch. That's right! I had beer for lunch, and it was awesome!
That night Tim took me to Cork, we watched a dumb movie and ate some cheese. May not sound like much, but I had an awesome day!
Now for the Luau...
Saturday morning started off lazy and pretty slow paced. I had done most of the decorating a few days prior and there wasn't much food to prepare so we just took our time getting things in order. We made the blue Hawaiian and mai tai's first, of course. The blue Hawaiian was pretty tasty but the mai tai ended up waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay strong! Oh well, people still drank it.
The pork had been cooking since the night before so it was well on it's way to being finished. All we had left to do was make the poi and lomi lomi salad. Well, it wasn't really poi. We couldn't find taro root so we ended up using purple potatoes. The end result look exactly like poi and was almost as bland. The lomi lomi is just tomato, onion and raw salmon. I started chopping the tomatoes, not using the knife skills I learned at Kitchen Conservatory apparently as I proceeded to chop right through my thumb! I won't gross you out with the details, but it was NASTY! Blood everywhere! My brother and Tim were saints. They were on their hands and knees almost immediately cleaning the floor and walls. Well, after attending to my wound. We wrapped it up and it took all I had in me not to continue helping prepare for the party. No, I didn't go to Urgent Care or the ER. We had a party to throw! HAHAHA
Needless to say the party went on and it appeared to go well. I did have a good time even though it may not have appeared that way. Thanks everyone for coming and for your concern and thanks for having a great time. And don't worry, we did go to Urgent Care the next day before Father's Day brunch. They made me cry, cleaned it up, bandaged it and sent me on my with with some pain pills that made me have the craziest dreams I have ever had. I might have to write a book or movie about them. But that's another story for another day.
So, all in all my birthday weekend was a success despite my little accident. As much as it hurt, and BOY DID IT HURT (and still does), it was a weekend to remember. :)
Here are a few pictures of the luau for your enjoyment.
