The Adventures of Mrs. Muller: My Birthday Week!

My birthday celebration began 9 days shy of my birthday (Sept. 20th) with a getaway to my girlfriend Melinda's shore house. Melinda and I click quite well together and I look forward to one day taking a cruise with Scott Babe and joining Melinda for one of her yearly off shore adventures!

Melinda's cottage makes you feel right at home.

I wasn't expecting an early birthday gift! But I welcomed it! Look at this wrapping!

Can you believe this????? Melinda had custom art done of our babies by an Italian artist!

SO THOUGHTFUL! LOVE!

The back of the print!

One more pic of the art because I cannot get enough of it!

Time to get our drink on on Long Beach Island but first let's pull over to check out this boat for sale!

The time finally came for us to see Elvis! We've had this on the calendar for awhile!

Melinda's wonderful snaps of Elvis at the bar!

Saturday:

Ship Bottom Irish Festival:

Hmmm....not sure why this is out of focus! LOL.

We saw that Johnny Cash would be playing at our favorite bar in the evening!

Lighthouse Tavern:

"I Walk The Line" co-starring Melinda!

Fireball shots

"Ring of Fire" with Melinda!

"Ring of Fire" with the staff!

Melinda requested Boy Named Sue! Johnny Cash referred me as "NBC video taping" in the beginning. hehe

With "Johnny Cash" :)

Selfie with Melinda :)

Wednesday, Sept. 16th

Scott Babe and I tried Rosie's in the East Village for the first time. This is a sister restaurant to Cookshop. We scored with a table outside.

Pretty darn good.

Capirotada: Mexican Style Bread Pudding, Dried Pineapple, Almonds, Sultanas, Burnt Sugar Custard, Berries

East Village

After dinner, we took the subway up to midtown and had drinks at Feile Bar which is a block from Madison Square Garden. I loved that they were playing various Madonna concert footage on the all of the screens!

Amy Schumer opened up for Madonna. She was hilariously funny.

"Iconic" started Madonna's show

"Burning Up"

"Vogue"

"Dress You Up"

Pic from Madonna's Instagram of her Chicago show. This stilts act was like a Cirque du Soleil show. Just amazing. Video below of the stilts! TOO COOL.

"Illuminati"

Video from her Philly show taken by Jessica Rossi. Permission pending,

Encore was "Holiday"
Amazing show as usual!

Saturday, Sept. 19th:

Brunch at Raymond's -- Chocolate Egg Cream! :)

The night before my birthday, Scott Babe and I dined at one of our favorite restaurants in Montclair, Osteria Giotto. This is my favorite dessert there. It's not on their menu and not always on their specials but always available when requested. ♥
(Stracciatella with fresh berries and candied walnuts)

Sunday, September 20th - my actual birthday:

Chrissy and Sean's baby, Koda, wishing me a happy birthday via Snapchat!

I organized a family lunch at the Black Forest Inn. Scott Babe couldn't join, he was off to Scottsdale for a business trip.

A few of us got to the restaurant early:

Tarissa and baby Caleb on board!

Shirley Temple for Tarissa and Caleb and a bier for me :)

My Dad's beer

Seated at our table:

I already had a bier in front of me and heard my cousin from the other end of the table order the "Black Forest Punch". I said, "Make that two!"

Strong and delish!

My girlfriend Lisa, in Cincinnati, refers to my Mom, as "the lady in red". No red this time, Lisa! ♥

House-made Wild Boar Prosciutto with fresh melon
My father RAVED about the freshness of this melon. I think you had to be there.

Excellent.
Jägerschnitzel in Wine and Mushroom Cream Sauce

Tarissa squeezing lemon on her traditional Wienerschnitzel

Yes, another wish for me.

I called in my custom cake ahead of time. I spoke with the restaurant's baker, Heinrich. My biggest concern was moistness. That's when he suggested a chocolate mousse cake with cookie crust with thin layer of raspberry on it. Reader, this was one of my favorite cakes ever. ♥