And just like that, I turned another year wiser!  :)

Thank you to all my family and friends for the birthday wishes, gifts, laughs and so much love!  Although I may be in denial about how old I am, it was another great birthday in the books and I wouldn’t have had it any other way!  Here’s a little recap of the weekend long celebration!

FAMILY TIME

My brother-in-law and I share the same birthday.  I decided to be nice this year and let him choose where to eat.  Since he’s a guy, of course he wants lots of meat, and we ended up at Gyu-Kaku.  I had no objections though since I do like their Original Bibimbap and Spicy Green Beans, not to mention I had a $25 off coupon!  If you dine there frequently, I suggest you download their free app!

I’m sure you know what comes after a big lunch….. the unstoppable kanak attack!

Someone passed out after lunch.....

Someone passed out after lunch…..

FRIENDS TIME

It’s unfortunately getting harder and harder to schedule outings with the Castle girlies, but none the less, we always make birthday celebrations happen, even if it’s months late.  This time though, we must have broke all records by celebrating the very next day after my actual birthday!  In my mind, I devised the perfect plan that combines everyone and everything I love – hiking with my friends and our doggies and sippin’ some yummy drinks at the top while whale watching!  Even though we didn’t see any whales this time, it was a perfect morning and I’m so thankful we were able to spend time together.

Makapuu Lighthouse Hike

Makapuu Lighthouse Hike

FRIENDS TIME TAKE 2

Matty planned a mini bbq potluck with some of our other group of friends.  I think he just wanted to watch the BJ Penn fight and a good excuse is to say it’s for my birthday!  It was truly a Kathy party though because there were so many veggie dishes!  My friends are so thoughtful!  Don’t worry, Matt also bought some steak and sausages for the guys to enjoy!  Since it was a Sunday, everyone left pretty early which is good because I’m a grandma now and my bedtime is getting earlier and earlier!  We learned Sunday parties are the best – you still get to hang out with everyone and at the same time still get your beauty rest!  See, I told you I’m another year wiser!

Last but not least there is

HUBBY TIME

Every year Matty takes me to a special birthday dinner!  Before dinner, we watched the sunset!  I told him, I want less material things and more “experiences”!

Sunset!

Sunset!

After that, we went to Moku’s Kitchen.  It’s part of Merriman’s Restaurant, which we absolutely loved on Kauai.  He opened two restaurants on Oahu called Monkeypod, which we also enjoyed, and Moku’s Kitchen.  It’s a casual restaurant situated in the up and coming hip Kaka’ako area.  The food was good, but I still like his other restaurants better!  I definitely recommend the sweet potato ravioli though, if you go!

Mmmm appetizer and salad... with wine, of course!

Mmmm appetizer and salad… with wine, of course!

After dinner we stopped by DnB’s to meet up with the “Kailua guys.”  It was the sweetest thing – JH, whom I’ve known since Elementary, arranged an outing for all the January babies in the group!  It was a lot of fun playing games and hanging out with everyone!

This was truly a memorable birthday and I got to spend the weekend with almost everyone special in my life!  I’m so appreciative of all my family and friends.  I wouldn’t be where I am or who I am today without them.

May there be many more birthday celebrations to come!  *CHEERS*