birthday dinner

My husband took me to The Inn at Little Washington for my birthday this year.  I've been wanting to eat there for more than a decade, and even more so since my cousin's husband Raf (who was a chef there for ten years) gave us a tour of the restaurant and guest house last October.  What better way to ring in your 35th year than in my beloved Virginia, at one of the best restaurants in the country!?

The dinner was fantastic - 7 courses of pure heaven, and pure perfection.  The best champagne, wine, food, service, atmosphere, presentation, and of course - desserts.  Even the coffee was the most delicious I'd ever had - served with chilled cream and real lumps of raw sugar.  Mmmm.  The holiday decorations were tasteful and gorgeous, there were candles and fireplaces in every room, and classical music was playing at the perfect volume. No detail was overlooked - even our menus were personalized and we got to take them home, along with a goodie box in the shape of the Inn, filled with delicious candies, cookies and fruits.

The funny thing is, a lot of people have asked me not what we ate, but what I wore.  I guess my friends and family know me pretty well!  I did buy a dress for the occasion, of course, and shopped around until I found the most unusual and most "me".   The one I fell in love with was Emma Cook's "fox" dress, which I wore with black opaque tights and Jeffrey Campbell's 99 wedges.