Birthday!

I'm 23! 

Mom woke me up for breakfast in bed (cinnamon-sugar toast and coffee) before her first day of class!

Then I spent the majority of the day lounging around, relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather (sunny and 65) When mom came home from work we got ready to go out to dinner.

Me in front of our house before heading out to dinner!

We walked down our street to the Olive Grove restaurant, a local favorite that is right on River Shannon with amazing views.

The food was delicious but huge portions! We both ordered off a pre-fix menu that included 2 courses, and I was pretty full just after the first!

 The salad I ordered was more of a main dish, it included sundried tomatoes, baby potatoes, brie cheese, and basil oil.

Mom's first dish was a smoked salmon & avocado tian with a lemon cream - she said it made her feel like she was a judge on some food network show haha!

We were already feeling full of food and wine when our second courses came out, and they were HUGE!

I had the penne pasta with roast Mediterranean vegetables in a tomato & herb sauce...

 and mom had the Chef’s Fish Pie topped with a cheese gratinated mash, basically just a big pile of cheesy mashed potatoes. We both had to take home most of our second courses, but they were delicious! A perfect birthday dinner out!

After stopping by home, we headed across the bridge to Sean's Bar, the oldest pub in all of Ireland to continue the celebration! I unfortunately didn't take any pictures there, I was too busy soaking it all in, but I'm sure we will be back! There was live music and lively locals, most of who you could tell were regulars, when they came in people would give them "their" bar stool and the bartenders would start pouring their drink before they even said a word! It got pretty packed out as the night went on and the Guinness was flowing! It was such a fun night, and so fun to walk out the door and be standing at the foot of gigantic 11th century castle, knowing the history that this pub and that castle have together! I feel so blessed that I have this amazing opportunity to travel and experience all these wonderful things, I will always remember my 23rd birthday as an Irish one!