Weekend Celebrating 39

Since my birthday fell on a Tuesday this year, I decided to celebrate with my family the following weekend. Saturday, Chapin and I had dinner out at one of our favorite restaurants, Better Half. The restaurant isn't too far from where we live, and the food is genuinely unique and delicious, with dishes that combine ingredients you'd never think go together. For example, I had a scallops appetizer with a mango sherbet! The restaurant is also one of the more accommodating restaurants when it comes to gluten sensitivities or Celiac disease. The chefs do everything they can to make any dish gluten-free just for me.

Here is what we tried Saturday night:

For me:

• Appetizer: scallop crudo, marinated cucumber, blood orange, whipped coconut
• Entree: sauteed striped bass, oyster mushroom, split pea falafel mushroom veloute, wild mint

For Chapin:

• Appetizer: grilled lamb mortadella, asher blue, pepper lavosh, pistachio puree, castelvetrano olive
• Entree: silk handkerchief pasta, wild mushrooms, tomato marmalade, porcini cream

Sunday, my mom and I celebrated Mother's Day and my birthday together with homemade Italian food and gluten-free cupcakes. My parents are watching my sister's dog, Jake, so we brought Norman and Wally over to play with him. I think the three of them had a lot of fun together!

Here are a few photos from our Sunday afternoon in Alpharetta:

Dad with Jake (and Norman)

From left to right: Jake, Mom, Norman, me and Wally

I picked out today's dress on a recent shopping excursion at Belk with my parents. (The dress is a birthday gift, one of four dresses I received from my family this year.) You can't buy it at Belk.com anymore, but you can try looking for the dress (on the clearance rack) in select Belk stores. The Phipps store has a great selection of sale items throughout the year.

Outfit Details

Dress: BCBGMaxAzria Chelsey Triangle Print Dress

The dress is made of a thin polyester-spandex hybrid, so it's great for warmer months. (It's going to be in the high 80s today in Atlanta.) I would say the dress looks more expensive in photos, but the print is beautiful in person, with a variety of colors exploding in each triangle shape.

You can still buy the dress at just a few online retailers, including Amazon, Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor.

If you like the print, it also comes in a wrap dress version that you can buy at Amazon.

Shoes: Manolo Blahnik BB 105 Metallic-Striped Leather Pumps