Hi Friends! I’m Natalie Mason. I live in Charleston, SC and I am mom to Sterling 12 , Frances Moon 8 and our mini golden doodle Dolly.

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Birthday Recap

Mar 28, 2011

My Birthday weekend was wonderful! We did alot of shopping, eating and drinking. I swear I gained 5 lbs, I am most definitely avoiding the scale until later this week!

Our first meal out was at Husk.

Matt was supposed to babysit Sterling but decided he was dying to eat at Husk, so my sweet sister-in-law came over to babysit so Matt could join us.

I have been to the bar at Husk several times and enjoyed it. I must say though I was a bit disappointed in the restaurant. Our service was horrible, we had a female waitress and she was not attentive at all. We had to ask her to bring us bread after we saw all the other tables had some. Our food was completely mediocre. We started off with pork belly sliders, that in my opinion did not have enough meat and were lack luster. My mom and I spilt the trigger fish and it was bland with no sides.

My sister, however, ordered the duck and it was fabulous. It came served with this amazing farro and roasted sweet potatoes. The duck was seasoned and cooked perfectly.

If you decide to eat at Husk definitely try the duck it was the star of the evening. I think I had such high expectations for Husk because everyone had hyped it up so much. Don’t get me wrong our meal was not horrible at all (although the service def was) but it was not as excellent as I thought it would be.
Update- My husband asked for me to add that he thought the service was fine.

The next day we all went shopping in Mount Pleasant. My grandfather gave me a gift card that I used at Gwynns to get these cute TB Sandals. Gwynns is one of my favorite stores in Charleston, they have such a great selection of shoes and home accessories.

My mom treated me to this DVF Top (although mine is purple, not yellow)

Sterling was totally exhausted after our day of shopping!

After all our shopping we needed some refreshments, so we made our favorite drink, Skinny Ritas (tequila, fresh lime juice and agave nectar). It tastes like a Margarita minus all the sugar and calories.


Later that night, Matt took me out to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Zia for my actual birthday dinner. There is nothing I love more than Mexican food. I ordered the carne asada nachos and tequila flights = pure heaven.

Friday night we dined at Wild Olive.


My mom’s friend Anita, came down from Charlotte to enjoy the girl’s weekend with us!

Everything we had here was delicious. The Callia Malbec wine was off the hook as were the Risotto balls.

If you live in Charleston you must eat here! It was our favorite meal of the weekend. The pasta is made fresh daily and the atmosphere is lovely.

Saturday night my two girlfriends, Jill and Alissa, joined us for a ladies night out.


We all drank 3 bottles of wine before we even went to dinner, so I knew it would be a good night. We had planned to go to the rooftop bar but sadly it started raining and got chilly so we decided on JPaulz.

They have half price bottles of wine on Saturdays which was a pleasant surprise. We all shared some truffled mac and cheese and sushi. The perfect combo in my book!

Our waiter was hillarious and kept bringing our entire table free shots since it was my birthday.



Late night my mom and sister surprised me with Carmel Cupcakes from my favorite local bakery, Sugar. They literally melted in my mouth, they were that good.

Today I am in recovery mode for shizzle. Big hugs and kisses to Matt, my Mom and Taylor for making my Birthday so fun, fabulous and special.
Btw if you read this whole post I am flattered, I realize it was SUPER long!

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Leave a Reply

  1. Looks like an incredibly fun birthday weekend!! With lots of yummy food and an amazing gifts and company! xoxox

  2. Cheryl E. says:

    Looks like you had a great time. Happy Birthday 🙂

  3. Jill says:

    sounds like the perfect birthday weekend!! (and all your outfits were fabulous)

  4. megan says:

    Sounds like the perfect birthday weekend! J.Paulz truffle mac & cheese is sooo good. You ate at a lot of yummy places this weekend!

  5. Oh my goodness, dream bday weekend!! Of course I love food and drinks so of course it looks awesome to me 🙂 Josh wasn't impressed with Husk, I thought okay. But since the menu changes daily I'm willing to go for dinner again.

  6. The Hawkins says:

    The talk of all those yummy restaurants is making me dying to get to Charleston ASAP. June can not come fast enough! Happy Birthday!

  7. You went to all my favorites!!! Hooray for fab birthdays, mama's deserve them 🙂

  8. What fun – all the food looked/sounded amazing and your outfits were off the hook! Plus, I love the bday purchaes, very exciting!!

  9. Sounds like fun, I would be so tired! Cute shoes you got!

  10. Lili says:

    happy birthday girl!

  11. Christina says:

    I love everything about your weekend. Especially the tequila! Glad you had such a great birthday!

  12. tickled. says:

    what a perfect birthday weekend! I'm going to have to try those skinny ritas!

    Happy Monday! Lauren @ tickled.

  13. Kerr says:

    what a delicious weekend! I love all of the places you ate. Bummer that Husk wasnt better. I am going to need to remember JPaulz has half price wine on Saturday!

  14. Sounds like a fabulous Birthday weekend! Love the new DVF top you got, it's gorgeous!

  15. Alicia xoxxo says:

    Sounds like a fabulous birthday weekend!!!I am glad you had such a wonderful time!!

  16. Totally read the whole post, I'm living vicariously through your *awesome* birthday! It looks like way too much fun…and that pic of Sterling is too cute to handle! Happy Monday and here's to a quick recovery from the festivities! (c: And that DVF top is the shiz.

  17. Melissa says:

    Thank you!!!! Thank you for this post! I am so sorry you had a bad experience at Husk. Hmmm. Maybe I should stick with our usual (my mom and I eat at The Sanctuary every mother's day). I have not been to Zia, but will def. try it! LOVE the shoes! They are next on my 'to buy' list! have a great day (rainy)!

  18. What a fabulous birthay weekend! Looks like you had a lot of fun. You have to share where you found that adorable blue top! I love it! I also love the TB sandals and the DVF top. Okay…I love it all! LOL 🙂

  19. What a fun B-day weekend! Love your new profile picture. >BEAUTIFUL! 🙂

  20. Looks like such a blast!!! How fun. And the sleeping photo of Sterling in his smocked outfit is precious.

  21. so glad you had such a great birthday weekend!! could you have a better looking family or group of friends? that truffled mac and cheese looked SO SO good…and love your gifts. the top of sandals are adorable!

    xo,
    joAnn

  22. Kori says:

    Sounds like you had an amazing time honey!!!! Loving those sandals. Kori xoxo

    blondeepisodes.com

  23. caycee says:

    So glad you had an amazing birthday my Love!!! We def. have to have a little lunch date and celebrate too! Love the new pic. BEAUTIFUL!!!

  24. Megan says:

    Yay! What a fun birthday… looks like a great weekend! Love your birthday goodies!!

  25. So glad you had a fantastic birthday weekend! Love the new sandals and the DVF top…. oh, and that truffle mac and cheese looks AMAZING! YUM!

  26. Happy Birthday, looks like a great one! PS- Love those sandals!

  27. Lisa Fergus says:

    Okay, so sorry about the bad service, but that food looks amazing! I LOVE what you got for your B-day! Your mom is beautiful and you guys look so much alike. And…..You look amazing and like you had a really fun B-day!

    http://stilettosanddiaperbags.blogspot.com/

  28. Good friends, adorable baby, fun family time, CUTE top and shoes, amazing wine, lots of laughs, and husband time…sounds like a great Birthday weekend. Happy Birthday!

  29. i like your blog so much i added it to the "Blogs I LOVE" sidebar on mine! the top you wore on your girls night was fabulous and that picture of sterling asleep is absolutely precious! oooh, and i must try those risotto balls at wild olive sometime!

  30. Michaela says:

    So fun girlfriend! So glad you had such a wonderful time!!! You look beautiful as always. I love all of your clothes. Let's share (:
    I also really want to try those carmel cupcakes!
    YUM.
    xoxox

  31. Natalie says:

    Looks like you guys had a great time. Birthdays are so much fun! I'm loving your new DVF top. Perfection!

  32. Happy belated birthday! BTW I love ALL of your tops in this post! You should do a post on where you find your cute clothes!! 🙂

  33. Giordana says:

    Happy Birthday Nat!! What a fun weekend!! Loved reading about all of the restaurants!! You are such a great blogger!! xo

  34. Love the skinny ritas! And Matt's comment about the service cracked me up! p.s. random, but I think we have the same car seat! 🙂

  35. What a wonderful birthday weekend! Glad you had such a great time & got in some great meals! I know you enjoyed having your Mom in town.

    Have a great day! XO

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