A Vermont and Wisconsin Bithday

My birthday took place neither in Wisconsin nor Vermont, and although I have friends in the former and a teddy bear from the latter, WI and VT are meant a little more metaphorically in this case. Wisconsin as all midwesterners know is famous for cheese and no pancake lover will deny the association between Vermont and maple syrup. So in saying that I had a very Vermont and Wisconsin birthday I mean that it was sappy and cheesy - in all the best ways possible. I mentioned before that I had a really fun family party on Sunday. Unfortunately the Bears couldn't gift a birthday win for me but it was all in all a fun time hanging out. Monday was a really awesome time too. My coworkers surprised me with a candle laden coffee cake instead of our traditional Monday morning lab meeting bagels. Then around 1 Tony came to pick me up and not only did I have the joy of a half day off work, we got to walk around the U of C campus and visit Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House. Then we skipped over to the Science and Industry Museum and saw a really cool Omnimax show about Mummies, Pharaohs and Ancient Egypt. Yes, this is further evidence of what a supreme nerd I am because it was 110% educational and I loved it! (Hey, I warned you it was cheesy!)The really awesome part of the day too was that Tony took me out for a surprise dinner at Catch 35, a really fancy seafood restaurant. We'd both been wanting to go there for a long time and it was excellent! The food was supreme, the service was great and the fact that it was Monday night made for a very non-crowded romantic dinner. And as if that wasn't amazing enough, Tony had flowers for me delivered to the restaurant so that when we were seated at the table I noticed a card from him in the middle of the gorgeous centerpiece. What a guy, right? (Hey, I warned you it was sappy, too!) Hard to believe the years are flying by but if the birthday sets the tone for the year, I'm in for a wonderful time as a 27-year old!