Beginning of the Birthday Extravaganza!

This is us before we headed out.

Garret and I were headed to Bury St. Edmunds yesterday because I had entered a drawing at Noa Noa, a Danish clothing company, and had won a gift card for ₤20. On the way out, I checked Garret's e-mail to see if a friend had e-mailed us a recipe for the best sugar cookies I have ever tasted. In his inbox was a letter from Cafe Rouge that was a voucher for a free ₤30 of champagne to celebrate his birthday (we had to spend ₤30 in food, but that really wasn't hard). So we printed the voucher off and away we went. It was freezing rain out, so the market wasn't very busy as we arrived there around 3 in the afternoon. Immediately we headed to Cafe Rouge to make reservations for the night (because on a Friday or Saturday if you want to eat from 7 or later you need them) and also warmed our insides with a couple of cappucinos. Then we shopped, killing time in bookstores, clothing stores, and once we ran into a jewelry store so I could try on a Cartier watch I have been eyeing (at over ₤4000 I will be saving for quite a while, but you have to have goals) and also to look at a Links of London travel clock. Finally we made it to Noa Noa, picked up my gift certificate and spent half of it on a gorgeous pair of earring made from shell.

Me with my new earrings at dinner.

Our dinner turned out to be absolutely sumptious. We got seated in the section of our favorite waitress Ewa (pronounced Eh-va) who is from Poland and always an absolute delight, enough that I wished she would have joined us. While I ran to the restroom to try and fix my windblown hair, Garret handed them the voucher and asked that the champagne be brought with the hors d'oevres. I had Crevettes à l'Ail which were king prawns in a garlic, tomato, chilli and basil sauce served with French bread. And Garret started out with a small order of what I would have as my main, Moules du Cafe Rouge, yummy mussels in a white wine, garlic, herbs and cream sauce with French bread. Garret's main was a casserole called Marmite Dieppoise that had salmon, dory, mussels, carrots, leeks, and potatoes in a white wine veloute. All of it was delicious! For desert we had a crepe filled with bananas and topped with chocolate sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Unfortunately, the only thing I got a picture of was my empty mussel shells, because we were too busy with our meal and our conversation that I completely forgot to take pictures! We ended the night with a cappucino and an espresso, feeling very much sated and satisfied.

My favorite pic of my husband with his new contacts!

Part of the restaurant, it's this beautiful golden yellow wall paint, with words and pictures painted on it. The chandeliers and wall sconces are all different, it's just kind of a whimsical little cafe. And when it's full (like last night) it's noisy but relaxing all the same time.

Garret's birthday is the day after Christmas but we have begun to celebrate early, and plan to continue our birthday extravaganza through New Year's!