Thanks to my awesome husband and some good friends, I just had the best birthday weekend ever (even though I turned 40!).

We decided kind of last minute (like the Monday before), to have friends over for pizza, beer, and cupcakes on Saturday. We had a good number of folks make it, and I had a ton of fun. Honestly, I’m usually not all that great at parties, but it was so wonderful to be surrounded by a bunch of people I know and love, instead of trying to figure out how to make chit-chat with people I don’t know. Maybe we should throw parties more often!

Then on Sunday morning, we headed south. On our way out of town we stopped at our usual local coffee shop for something to go. I mentioned to Emily behind the counter that it was my birthday and that I was officially old and she said, “3-0?” I thought that was a great way to start the day! She seemed genuinely shocked when I told her it was actually 4-0. (Later I wondered if I should be offended that she thought “officially old” was 30, but I chose to let that slide!)

Anyhow, we stopped in Gilroy to visit some downtown antique shops. We made one fun purchase (I’ll show you in my next post), and ate leftovers from the pizza party on a bench downtown. It was beautiful out and we were in no hurry and everything was just lovely!

After a few hours there we headed down to Pacific Grove (which is right next to Monterey). My husband had surprised me with a night at the Seven Gables Inn in the Seal Rocks Room. This is hands down the nicest place we have ever stayed. It’s the big yellow buildings in this photo, and our room is the one on the second floor on the right with the giant windows that overlook the beach.

And here are a couple of shots of the view from our room.

Seriously.

And even, I kid you not, the view from the bed.

So, after checking in we went down for the very nice complementary local Monterey County wine and cheese reception in the main house, followed by some hanging out in the two awesome cushy chairs in our room, overlooking the ocean. A little ocean view, a little ocean breeze through the window, a little knitting, an unexpected call from an old friend to wish me happy birthday. Fabulous.

They even provided a pair of binoculars in the room so you could watch things like the local sea otters playing. They were so cute!

We had 7pm dinner reservations for Le Normandie, two blocks away. This was an absolutely wonderful restaurant. I had the duck confit which was really unbelievable. A fabulous meal and a short stroll back to the main house to pick up the evening’s complementary milk and cookie offering — brownies! Then back to the room to relax before bed.

The next morning we woke up two hours before the complementary full breakfast would be served, so we lay in bed and watched the fishing boats head out to sea. Then we finally got up and took a stroll on the beach across the street at Lovers Point. That’s the Inn on the right.

After a spectacular breakfast of French toast stuffed with strawberries and cream and other breakfast fare, including a fruit plate with strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, mango, papaya, grapefruit, watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew, we went literally went back up to the room and just hung out for the three hours we had until check out. I worked on a new knitting project, while Thomas watched the goings on out the window and took a little nap.

We did eventually have to check out, but before we left Pacific Grove, we stopped in at Point Pinos Lighthouse, the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the west coast. A lovely spot and a beautiful day!

Sadly, it did all have to end, but I had such a wonderful weekend. I never would have thought I would say that about my 40th birthday, but it’s all thanks to a husband who was determined that I would have fond memories of this birthday for the rest of my life. Thank you, sweetheart!