Life Without Alu?: A Special Day!

There are two types of people in this world, one who love to celebrate their birthdays and always try to mark it as a special day and the other who treat it as any other day. I belong to the first group. I love my birthdays and I love planning birthdays for others. I feel it must have been such a special day for my parents to hold their new born baby into their arms and just forget about everything else in the world. It is that one day when everyone thinks about me and send their wishes. It makes me feel so confident and grateful that I am loved by so many. I read this somewhere, “If you cannot truly love and be good to yourself, you will never be good to anyone else” and I believe in it. I feel that it is very important to do things for yourself because at the end of the day your personal happiness and satisfaction matters. Therefore, I try my best to spend every moment of this special day happily.

Lucky for me, Debarshi loves to celebrate my birthday and he starts planning for it in advance. Personally I don’t expect grand celebrations like a big party or dining at a super pricey restaurant. Rather, I like to spend time with my loved ones and eat delicious food at a decent place. A birthday card or a bouquet of flowers is enough to set the birthday mood.

I have spent my last three birthdays in the States away from my parents and Debarshi has made each of them memorable. The first year after our wedding, Debarshi baked a cake for me using the ready to bake cake mixes and it made me feel really special. Then he made a dinner reservation at the Cypress Inn restaurant (Tuscaloosa) which has a beautiful river view. It was lovely but the real surprise was yet to come. After the dinner he took me to another restaurant where he had planned a surprise party with all our friends. That was a special moment for me, away from home, in a new country and yet I felt so loved.

At the Cypress Inn restaurant in Tuscaloosa (2014)

Last year (2015) for my birthday, Debarshi took me to Atlanta. He booked at room at a 5 start hotel which was a pleasant surprise. We spent a couple of days visiting the Zoo, Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca Cola and Museum of Natural History. We also visited our friends – Angela and Ferosh. Ferosh and Debarshi are very good friends since their PHD days at University of Alabama. It is wonderful that Angela and I have become the best of friends as well. They are the bright and shiny people who always make everyone happy with their sweet nature and smiling faces. So going to Atlanta always means spending some quality time with them. On my birthday eve, they prepared Korean barbeque and it was delicious. At 12 am everyone started singing the birthday song and Debarshi brought in a big ice cream cake. Sometimes a delicious home cooked meal and a movie with your friends is all you need for your special day.

I know now you have started thinking hey! I can plan something like this for my sweetheart on his/her next birthday, so let me tell you what Debarshi planned this year.

Two things I really like are desserts and surprises and that is what this year’s birthday was full of. There was a beautiful and delicious birthday cake. I spent the whole day getting pampered with spa and makeup sessions, flowers, and fabulous gifts one of which I am using to write this article. No points for guessing. In the evening Debarshi took me to a restaurant which is famous for its deserts (hint: Cheesecakes). Can you guess the name? Yes! The Cheesecake Factory!! I have always wanted to eat there but unfortunately it was never available locally. We wanted to try The Cheesecake Factory at the Union Square in San Francisco on our trip and even though we really wanted to eat there we just couldn’t find time. Finally, we decided that since it is a chain and there’s a restaurant in Birmingham (AL), 60 miles away from home, maybe we will go there sometime.

At Angela and Ferosh’s place last year

Now although there are over 250 dishes in the menu the dessert is their main attraction. I took the first photo at the front bakery in the restaurant. You can see the many different varieties of desserts in that display. I ordered a Black-Out Cake which is a deep and rich Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Chips and is finished with Almonds. Debarshi ordered a Chocolate Tuxedo Cream Cheesecake which has layers of Fudge Cake, Chocolate Cheesecake, Vanilla Mascarpone Mousse and Chocolate.

The food including starters, main course and dessert was delicious and the service was quick and attentive. The entrée and dessert portions were big and the restaurant is not that pricey but surely tasty! Maybe next time I will just go there and order a dessert and that will be enough to satisfy both my hunger and sweet tooth.

I had a great time on my birthday and the good food doubled the celebration. If you have a Cheesecake Factory in your city I recommend you to go there and indulge in some serious desserts. I had a Jamaican Rice with Shrimp and Black Beans in my entrée and it was delicious. I am going to write another article on Debarshi’s birthday celebrations but I hope you got some nice birthday ideas for your beloved from this article.

Remember “Birthday Cake Calories Don’t Count”.