Birthday Dinners

My brother Andrew and me

Saturday night, myself and a group of friends went out with my brother Andrew to celebrate his 31st birthday. We went to The Pier, a new restaurant conveniently located just steps away from Jacksonville Beach. A couple of guys played live acoustic covers of oldie-but-goodie songs, such as Paula Abdul's "Straight Up" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." Somehow they made bad songs sound amazing. Dinner was pretty good. Funnily enough, almost the entire table ordered fish tacos, while a couple friends and I ordered something different - I ordered grilled scallops, Joey ordered lobster ravioli, and Jason ordered the red snapper, which was described on the menu as a "whole" red snapper, and they literally meant the WHOLE thing:

It was hilarious looking at the expression on Jason's face as the waiter set down this huge fish in front of him. We were all expecting this nice, delicate display of carefully sliced pieces of red snapper, but nope. The whole thing was there - tail, head, fish eyes and all.

Jason and the red snapper

At this point, I started to wonder what my scallops would come out looking like.

But to my pleasant surprise, my food came out looking great - and it was delicious. I love the simple taste of scallops, and when grilled with a few seasonings and some butter, they are divine. However, they can be so expensive (my meal came with three scallops for $25 and Publix is currently selling them for $18.99/pound) so I rarely get a chance to eat scallops. Mine were served with some veggies and a lemon risotto, which was just ok - it was a bit too lemony for my taste. Overall, my meal was delicious.

What I love about birthday dinners is that they give everyone the opportunity to catch up. Richelle, Jason, and I talked about our latest theories on "How I Met Your Mother," while Katherine and I critiqued Kim Kardashian's wedding dress. We always find things to reminisce or laugh about, which is one of the things that make my friends so great. 

(From left) Richelle, Katherine, and me