Happy Birthday Hubby!

October 26th was Matt's 27th birthday. I'm so glad this man was born! He has been nothing short of a giant blessing in my life, and I am so grateful he is mine. I probably don't brag on him enough, and that's a big fault of mine, because he is truly amazing. How many men do you know who have the capacity to jump head-first into a family and make it fully theirs? I've seen it done a couple of times, and this guy rocks it. He does everything for our family. He works long hours, brings home the bacon (literally, he goes to the store to get bacon for breakfast sometimes), loves the girls with all of his heart, and makes his family his biggest priority. He's a genius, seriously, kicked cancer's ass (we all know how important that is in our family), and is absolutely hilarious. He's kind of a jerk, and I kind of like it, and he lets me be me. He's handsome....like 1960's style, looks Uh-may-ZING in a suit and skinny tie, and never forgets to thank me for ironing and starching his shirts for work each week. He puts up with ME and loves me in spite of the fact that I'm pretty capable of making life difficult a good percentage of the time. He is always looking to better himself without being whiny or ungrateful for the blessings in his life. Oh--and he bakes. From scratch. Enough said.

I could go on and on all day about how wonderful I think my husband is. The point is, I love him and I think he's the greatest!


Here's my hubby, just so you ALL know who I'm talking about :)

Matt's birthday was on a Friday this year, and he had to work. He did manage to get off a little bit early, and came home and started on his birthday cake--a layered red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting--woot! He made the entire thing from scratch, and it was delicious! Clearly Sophie thought so too. She watched as he made the cake and the frosting. I think it's a natural human urge to want to lick the beaters or the spoon or bowl or whatever, as this child went RIGHT for them! 

Annnd the finished product. It looked messy and I was afraid it wouldn't hold up, but it did and it has!

Hehehehe! The faces that she was making were hilarious! She couldn't wait to get her hands on that cake!

 I think she liked it. Olivia actually took quite a bit of convincing to try the cake, and of course, after she did she loved it. Silly girls.

The next day, Saturday, Matt and I went out and left the girls home with a sitter. Thanks again, Colleen! I took him to the Sam Adams Brewery in JP for a tour. It was pretty awesome. While the tour was free, they did ask for donations to one of two charities they were sponsoring, and we gladly forked over a measly 10 bucks for the event. They showed us the ingredients that go into beer, encouraged sampling of the grains and walked us through a hops appraisal process. We toured the brewery floor where they have all of their fermentation tanks and what-not. Our tour guide explained the difference between Ales and Lagers, told us about the brewing process, and dived into the brand's numerous awards from competitions world-wide. Of course, the best part was the end of the tour which culminated in the tasting room. We each received a 7 oz tasting glass (ours to keep!) and then did a tasting of 3 different beers. Boston Lager was first, and it was delicious! Our tour guide walked us through a step-by-step process of how to taste beer, and it was really interesting to be so aware of the aromas and flavors and how they all come together to make that golden-colored goodness. We sampled Oktoberfest second, which was my favorite of the day, and finished with an IPA...which I so didn't care for. These were definitely the freshest beers I've had in my life. Yum! 

Haha on a side note, it took us a stupid amount of time to find our way out of the gift shop when we tried to leave. We weren't drunk or tipsy, but wandering around trying all the doors marked "exit" made us feel that way!

Our next stop for the day was the Cambridge Side Mall. Matt had been dropping gift-hints for a month or so, but kept changing his mind! First, he'd like the Amazon Paper-White Kindle for reading. Then, he'd like a new overcoat. Then we came full circle, and in true Matt Sewell-fashion, he wanted an iPad. I took him to the mall, and basically set him loose. His job was to choose his gift, and guess where we ended up at? :) 

We went for dinner at East Coast grill, which came highly recommended for their seafood and bbq. We first heard about this place by watching Man vs. Food. They had a "Hell Night" featuring one night of crazy spicy food and challenges that draw crowds each year. It wasn't Hell Night when we went, but the food was delicious. The service was crazy fast, but not rushed...and yes, there is a difference. We had an appetizer and salads, and they didn't bring them out together, which I loved. Our server waited until we were finished with one course to bring out the next, and checked in on us frequently enough to get us something if we needed it, but not enough to be annoying. It was delicious, and I'm not sure why I didn't get a picture of anything there. Oh well. Google it, if you must. 

I had fun, and I think he had fun too. :)