My 41st Birthday: Part Two!

And I'm back with the rest of my 41st birthday recap! Yesterday, I blogged about my family birthday with my parents on Friday night and Saturday morning. They just moved to Cherokee Village, Arkansas, so I spent the night at their new place. And then after breakfast on Saturday, I headed back to Memphis for my celebration with friends! 

I got back just a bit before my BFF Sheridan and her partner Drew arrived! They live in Little Rock, Arkansas, and came up to spend the night and hang for my birthday. We had dinner plans, but we had some time to kill. So we headed to Crosstown Concourse for a big, free Day of the Dead celebration! It's an event that Concourse puts on every year with dancing, live music, and altars to commemorate those who have passed.

We stayed there for about 45 minutes, and then we caught an Uber to head downtown to Good Fortune Co. for dinner. Good Fortune is a new vegan-friendly ramen shop, and we were excited to try it! When we arrived, a bunch of my friends were already there. We got a nice spot on the patio. 

It was a cool night (sweater weather!), so I started with a Hot Sake.

And then the owner came out and asked me if I was the birthday girl. When I said yes, he handed me this beautiful (and tasty) Lemongrass Mojito!

For starters, I had the Impossible Wontons — delicate handmade wontons stuffed with Impossible burger and served in a savory broth with scallions. THESE WERE AMAZING. I can't stop thinking about them.

For my main dish, I had the Tan Tan Ramen. This vegan ramen dish features soft wheat noodles, umami broth, bok choy, and more of that tasty Impossible beef. I've had a lot of ramen in my day, and that was by far the best ramen bowl of my life. 

What a perfect dinner! Paul had to work for most of my birthday (the day before and the day of), but he got off work just in time to meet us for drinks at Loflin Yard! Most of my friends from dinner met us there, and a bunch more friends showed up. After a year of very little social interaction, it was so amazing to have so many friends in one place. 

Loflin is an outdoor bar, so it was nice that everyone could feel safe and hang out, and since it was chilly, we were able to build a fire. They typically have someone who works there tend the fires, but they weren't doing fires that night. So we foraged for wood and lit our own fire (and somehow managed to not get kicked out). I'm so grateful for my amazing friends and my awesome family! What a perfect birthday!