Jo's Birthday

Hi everyone, just a quickie to let you know that Jo had a wonderful 30th birthday and to thank every who helped to make it so special.

We did all sorts of lovely things... On the Friday after work we went to a real Texan outdoor drinking establishment (La Tuna - I've mentioned it before) for beers and wine served out of a little shed and drunk at outdoor tables under pecan trees. It's the place where the ground is covered in bottle caps instead of pebbles! The plan was to move from there through some of the other boutiquie pubs on that edge of downtown, but it was such a lovely afternoon and we were all enjoying it so much that we just stayed!


Later that eve we went to one of the well known Mexican restaurants here, La Fogata, well known for its margaritas that is! Jo was serenaded, not once, but twice by the mariachis, much to her delight. We also had a unique kind of birthday 'cake' with all sorts of yummies (including chirros, my favorite).



On the day of her actual birthday we had a big fry up at home, then she set to opening presents (many of which made her cry!) We had a lovely visit from Oscar and Leo who brought her a ziplock bag full of mud and water with a few flowers in it, as only kids can. Collected with much love I am sure!


That night we had an amazing dinner at a restaurant called the Grey Moss Inn. Grey Moss is on the outskirts of San Antonio in a place called Grey Forest and it was so beautiful to drive out there and be in almost rural countryside, but with trees and even the odd hill! Again it was a truly magical night for sitting outside, and we did so under the enormous oaks strung with long tendrils of swamp moss. The food was gorgeous. I had fresh Hawaiian tuna with foie gras and a leek custard and Jo had an amazing looking filet (yes, steak) cooked on the charcoal grill. I won't go into too much detail because I know some of you complain about the blog being all about food (I love food!) but amazing desserts, wine and even hot tea were present and accounted for. It was also a lot of fun because we all decided we'd frock up for the night (yes, even me, in a dress).



The next Saturday night we had a birthday bash in the evening which was pretty much a repeat of the superbowl party, just with a different reason for celebrating. We made chili and sushi and I became the bar queen and made mint juleps and mojitos with the fresh mint we'd been growing on our deck. It was pretty amazing to see all the people there and realise just how big our social network here is. We are very lucky to have so many good friends both here and at home.