One year older and wiser too!

Albert had to work Saturday so I decided to make myself breakfast in bed and then I drove up to the Washington, DC Temple...I couldn't think of a better way to start out my 28th year than in the House of the Lord :D While I was there I saw 5 different brides, which reminded me of our special day three months ago.

Afterwards I stopped by the LDS bookstore to get a case for my new scriptures but they didn't have one that I liked. I did, however, get a few more things while I was there. I picked up a book called Between Husband and Wife: Gospel Perspectives on Marital Intimacy, which I have found quite insightful. It explains the emotional, spiritual, and physiological aspects of sex and marriage in a very open and informative way. The authors are a medical doctor and a marriage councilor. Albert and I have been reading it together and I think all married and engaged couples should have a copy.

By the time I got home Albert was already home from work, he was able to get home a couple hours early which was great. I also got lots of calls and messages from our family and friends, which was a lot of fun.

Our reservations for dinner weren't until 9 pm so we had a bit to eat around 6 or 7. We then went to the very fancy restaurant in Alexandria, Farrah Olivia. It's the type that gives you small portions packed full of deliciousness. Fortunately for me my birthday landed on the last day of Restaurant Week in the District so we could go to such a high end restaurant like that.

At first they brought out bread with four different types of spreads and little balls. We couldn't figure out what was in the balls, but they were very good.

Then came our appetizers. Albert got a divers scallop with bacon powder and melon seed milk...

and I got Manhattan style chowder with crispy bacon and parsley crunch. The clam was much larger than Campbell's usually has and very tender. Usually I find clam to be rubbery, but this was quite soft.

They accidentally brought out the wrong dish for me so they gave us another appetizer while we waited an extra 10 minutes. This ying and yang dish is the painted gazpacho (cold soup) the orange half being vine ripe tomato and the greenish side being curry eggplant.

By this time I was getting kinda full since I already ate and it was late so I wasn't feeling all that great.

Finally the main course was served...

Albert had the niman farm natural pork chop with creamy smoked green lentils and sauteed mustard greens. I didn't try any, but he said it was delicious.

Here's my pan roasted chicken bread with curry banana crust and quinoa salad. I really liked the curry banana crust. It added a really nice flavor.

I only ate a little bit when we decided to get dessert to go. We got the coconut panna cotta that we ate the next day for lunch...it was really good. Everyone was really nice and the food was great.