Porch Dining, and My First Giveaway!!

Hello there my lovelies! I've been having a great week so far, and the greatness is not even close to over! Here's why:

1. There's something fun happening at the end of this post....

2. We get to wear jeans to work today (even though it's Thursday)

3. I have my family birthday dinner at my house tonight, with just my smaller, immediate family

4. Tomorrow night is my whole family dinner at my Grandparents house, shared with my Grandmother, because her birthday is just five days before mine! and,

5. Dinner with friends on Saturday night for a small birthday celebration! Hooray! Lots of good things this week.

So first of all, I want to recap my birthday dinner date with my sweet boyfriend from Tuesday night! We decided to splurge a little bit, and try a new restaurant here in town, The Front Porch. And this joint did not disappoint. 

We got there pretty early trying to avoid a crowd, and it seems we had perfect timing. We went right in and sat down immediately. It was a nice night out, so we chose to take advantage and actually sit out on their front porch! And it was so nice out there. It felt great, and it was decorated so beautifully! They have giant, gorgeous chandeliers, but to fit the slightly nautical theme, they're hung by giant boat ropes. And it looks really awesome. 

This is the best the waiter could manage apparently...

We had looked at the menu online the night before, and we had both pretty  much already decided what to get. I got Shrimp & Sausage Strozzapreti. Holy yum people. They make their pasta noodles in-house there, and it was so fresh and yummy. They weren't skimpy with the shrimp on it either, so that made me happy. And it was a huge plate of food. I couldn't even eat it all, so I brought home a cute little to-go box. Jeff got Ashley Farms Chicken Chevre, and his was super yummy too. It was goat cheese-stuff chicken, wrapped in bacon! Soo good. 

And then I wanted dessert to celebrate my birthday (the proper way), so I thought we could share one. But Jeff gave the go ahead for us to both get one! So I got Whoopiemisu - which is espresso-soaked whoopie pies, layered in a little cup with white chocolate mousse and cocao powder. So it was like a jazzed up tiramisu, and this baby was the jam. I ate the entire thing. And Jeff got a giant slice of Peanut Butter & Oreo Ice Cream pie, and his was super delicious too! But he couldn't eat his whole piece. 

Top L: my pasta. Top R: my whoopimisu. Bottom L: Jeff's pie. Bottom R: Jeff's chicken, with potatoes & asaparagus.

So a quick review: we both had super delicious entrees that we both loved, and they were great portion sizes. (Not like most fancy restaurants where you pay a ton of money, for the tiniest bit of food.) We both loved our desserts. The atmosphere was great. Our waiter was super nice. It was all very quick service. This place definitely gets two thumbs up. We will absolutely go back one day. It's not the kind of place we can afford for just any random night, but it's totally worth it for special occasions. 

After the movie, we stopped by Redbox and rented "Moonrise Kingdom." We had already seen it, but we liked it a lot, and wanted to watch it again! It's just such an easy, silly, cute little movie, and it was perfect for a chill birthday night after such a yummy and filling dinner. It was a wonderful way spend my birthday night, with my love!

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And now for the second portion of this blog post... Today I'm finally doing my very first giveaway! (I know, I helped host one a couple of weeks ago, but I'm not counting that one, OK?!) This is in honor of my birthday this week, as well as reaching 300 followers yesterday! I had been thinking about doing one, but wasn't sure. Then all of a sudden yesterday, I just made the decision real quick, and headed to Target! I decided to keep it pretty simple, and I'm just going with a few of my favorite things!

Notepad: I love making lists and notes, so I have about a million of these around my house and work all the time.

Lotion: Always, always keep a baby lotion in my purse. I hate it when my hands get dry!

Washi Tape: Who doesn't love this stuff these days? It's just a super simple way to make something a bit cuter!

Burt's Bees Chapstick: I am seriously, literally addicted to this stuff! I think I currently have 4 tubes of it...

Candle: They make me so happy! I love the way they make a room look, and love the way they smell!

Nail Polish: I just love painting my  nails, and this is a pretty pink, perfect for spring time!

Earrings: My favorite jewelry. I can never have enough. In fact, it's hard to give these away, 'cuz I want them myself!

Moulin Rouge: This is definitely one of my favorite movies. I know every word to every song, and love to sing along!

See? Simple. But I think it's a pretty good little bundle of stuff! :) So here's the deal for the giveaway:

1. You have to be following me. Period.

2. Just leave a little comment on this post! I want to hear something good, so tell me something fun/good/exciting.

3. Leave your email in the comment, so I can contact you if you win.

4. You have until midnight Saturday on night to comment. I'll choose a random winner Sunday, and verify you're following me. And then I'll announce it on Monday. 

5. Duplicate comments will not be counted.

6. United States and Canada only please. (Sorry if I actually have followers elsewhere!)

Guys - I love, love, love having this little blog space of mine. It's grown rapidly, and unexpectedly, and I'm still so amazed at what's been happening around here lately! I'm humbled and grateful and just so excited. Thank you, THANK YOU to all of you lovely followers, readers and friends! Can't wait to see what else this little blog of mine can do, and what else she has to offer! Looking forward to wherever this takes us next :)