I’m happy to report that Mal enjoyed a super awesome birthday celebration in Maine this weekend!
I rented a house in Old Orchard Beach for Friday and Saturday nights, invited a bunch of friends to stay over, and we celebrated Mal’s 30th birthday to its fullest. Here are some of the highlights from the weekend!
Buffalo Chicken Pizza from Jimmy the Greeks.
After a nearly three-hour drive from south of Boston to Old Orchard Beach (holy Friday afternoon traffic!!!), Mal and I were starving. Our friends weren’t expected to arrive until after 9:00 PM and they all planned to eat on the road, so we ordered a Buffalo Chicken pizza on whole wheat crust from Jimmy the Greeks for dinner, and it was a-mazing. The toppings, the crust, the whole package was outstanding. I definitely recommend this place for pizza if you’re ever in the Old Orchard Beach area!
Dog friends (and their owners)!
It was so great to see Bella, Grady, and Ping! It was also great to see Dave, Marie, Erin, and Mike! Haha!
Murphy versus the Transformer.
I have no idea why I thought this was so funny, but Murphy lost his sh*t over this Transformer-robot-thing. It moved, lit up, and made noises, so it totally bugged him out, and it was hilarious.
Games! Lots of games!
It rained ALL weekend, so we kept ourselves busy by playing all sorts of games. Thank goodness, Mal LOVES games!
We played Celebrity, “the drawing game,” and Cards Against Humanity, which was absolutely hysterical, but not recommended if you are easily offended.
An epic brunch.
We had 14 people for brunch on Saturday morning, so everyone brought something to contribute, including eggs, bacon, sausage, juice, fruit salad”¦
Homemade bagels.
And MAL-mosas!
Birthday cake.
Mal loves Funfetti cake with Funfetti frosting. It’s actually the only thing he requested for his 30th birthday, so he was psyched to have it this weekend.
Birthday presents.
Our friend Jon gave Mal a couple of Community posters (the Blanketeers vs. The Pillowmen) that he drew, and our friend Erin gave him Ellen boxers, which Mal says are the most comfortable boxes he has ever owned, so I guess what all of those celebrities say on her show is true!
Dinner at the Farmer’s Table in Portland.
Well, technically, dinner at the Farmer’s Table wasn’t really a highlight.
The company and conversation were awesome.
But, the food was just so-so, especially for the price.
I ordered a salad that the menu said came with baby lettuce, a fried egg, pickled shallots, and pancetta. The salad didn’t have any pancetta on it and the fried egg had zero taste. I don’t even know how it’s possible, but the egg had absolutely no flavor, which is surprising considering the restaurant prides itself in fresh, local foods. I also ordered a couple of cheeses””a Vermont cheddar, which was delicious, and a Pecorino, which was soft and flavorless. I’m pretty sure Pecorino is supposed to be a hard cheese with a buttery and nutty flavor, right? This one was not.
I probably should have spoken up and said something to our waitress, but I didn’t want to make a big deal about it. Plus, I was having such a good time with everyone at dinner, it didn’t really matter all that much. I’m not picky when it comes to food, so I just ate what was put in front of me.
At the end of the day, I wouldn’t recommend the Farmer’s Table for dinner””maybe for brunch (Mal and I loved it the first time we visited)”” but definitely not for dinner. Pretty much everyone in our 11-person party agreed that the food was just okay. It was good, but not great and definitely overpriced.
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Besides the sub-par dinner at the Farmer’s Table, it was a fantastic weekend. The birthday boy had an absolute blast (he had a huge smile on his face the entire weekend) and that’s all that really matters.
Happy birthday, Mal!