Birthday weekend

Today is Carla's birthday, but we celebrated it last night. She chose Antico Noe (naturally) for her birthday dinner. Yes, it is the sandwich place, but there is also a restaurant side to this delightful location. So, Andrea and I of course missed drinks beforehand (because the bus is a nightmare), but made it downtown in time for dinner at 9pm. Carla looked fabulous, as always, in her little birthday dress. Her parents had set up the menu and pricing with Antico Noe beforehand, and we certainly did not go hungry. We were served by Carla's now boyfriend (Andrea, the one that I have mentioned before who works there). We had unlimited Chianti and amazing antipasti consisting of bruschetta, mozzarella burrata, salami, proscuitto, pecorino with honey (soooo awesome), and arugula and tomato salad. For dinner, we were given spaghetti carbonara and rigatoni "ala noe." Everything was sooooo delicious.

After dinner, Andrea (the boy) called Andrea (my roommate) to the back to ask how to present the American cake that we had bought for Carla. Next thing we knew, the lights and music in the whole place went out. We thought that it was a black out. Instead, it was just Andrea (boy) doing a very thorough job at the American birthday celebration. He came out singing "Happy Birthday" in his thick Italian accent and put the cake in front of Carla with a small candle in it. It was adorable. And he got everything right! Andrea's (the boy) Dad, who owns the place, brought us out some champagne to celebrate. Once everything was finished, Andrea rushed home to change and then came back to get us to bring us dancing.

He took us too a small discoteca near the Uffizi that I NEVER would have found on my own. It was called GLAMOUR, but was completely filled with Italians! No Americans, yay!!! So, we were able to use our Italian a lot. We were all having a good time, but a few people in our group started to get sick from dinner. I was surprised that I wasn't one of them because I'm usually the one complaining of a stomach ache. So, around 2:30am we decided to go home.

This morning, I managed to sleep until noon! I never do that, so I must have been really tired. At 1pm, we all met at "The Diner" which is an American-style diner with the breakfast foods that we miss so dearly. I had an egg-white omelet and Maggie had chocolate chip pancakes. Everyone else chose breakfast sandwiches.

All in all, it was a very fun weekend, but I am exhausted and not very happy to start the week again. Next weekend, is the Thanksgiving celebration at Uncle Ellis' and Aunt Gail's. I can't wait! Now, I'm off to bed. Buona notte!