Dive in

About 15 of my friends new and old gathered at Mike's Wine Dive last night to help me celebrate my 32nd birthday. There were laughs, wine flights, S'mores and shout outs by the live musician, who announced to the wine bar that I was old. But he also remarked on the large group of people and said that I must be doing something right. I'd like to agree, based on the company.


My friend Amy, whose birthday also is March 9th, thanked me for gathering all my friends together just to celebrate her day. Aren't I a good friend?!


It was great to finally have some time to catch up with my KU journalism school friend Chris and his lovely wife Ashley, who moved to the Wichita area from Texas in August. After months of living here, Brian, Westley and I bumped into them at Cocoa Dolce late Saturday afternoon. We chatted for a little bit, and I told them that I highly recommended their Mayan Hot Chocolate (Brian and I had just shared an impromptu dessert-before-dinner snack there). Turns out, my friends were there to pick out a birthday gift for me! A few hours later, I opened a bottle of wine and a box of the Mayan Hot Chocolate. Loved it.

In addition to the Mayan Hot Chocolate, we also sampled a few chocolates, including the PB&J, Irish Cream and Coffee Spice. Wowzers. Westley was so cute and crawled around and interacted with a couple other kiddos there was we nibbled and sipped and chatted. It was spontaneous and relaxing and wonderful.

It was also part of a wonderful day that started with me climbing 134 stairs at the Y (my personal best to date), getting a haircut and style and a private fitting at Talbots, my favorite clothing store. After dessert, we grabbed dinner at nearby Il Vicino.

What a very sweet super sweet 16.

Click to see additional photos from the evening in my Facebook album.