Brody's Birthday in Brazil

Brody's birthday celebration in Brazil was a quaint, intimate candlelit dinner for two. I made his favorite meal, Beef Stroganoff, and baked a vanilla cake with chocolate icing drizzled on top. He tried to blow out trick candles three times. They tricked me too! I did not even know I bought the "trick" kind! What a surprise!

I contemplated what to buy him for weeks! Trying to find the perfect gift for Brody is really difficult. He never really 'wants' anything new. In fact, I have to tell him when to donate or trash old clothes. When he loves a shirt or shorts, he will continue wearing it, even with holes! So, for this birthday I decided to create his present.

I made a "Birthday-Love Coupon Book" with 29 coupons for him to choose from for the year. He has a "Get-Out of the Doghouse free" coupon, "Total Control of the Remote for a Night" coupon, "a Weekend Getaway" coupon, a coupon for a massage, "A Perfect Date-Night" coupon, and more. After each coupon, I described why he deserved that coupon, and why I love him.

On the Friday after his birthday, Brody invited all of his colleagues to a restaurant near their office building to meet for Happy Hour. I was imagining a group of ten, but thirty people showed up! Everyone was drinking Chopp (beer on tap) and chatting. I enjoyed meeting everyone that Brody works with and I practiced my Portuguese! (I think I am a bit rusty from not practicing all summer!) We went to a popular outside restaurant for dinner at around 10pm. What a celebration!