September 12th - George's Birthday

George's favorite Asian restaurant is "Big Bowl" up in Chicago. It has become a standard stop when we are in Chicago or close to Chicago. Yes, he will drive out of his way for his favorite 'Kung Pow Chicken." This year we discussed what he might like to do for his birthday, and he wanted to drive up to Chicago to eat at Big Bowl and then drive home. However, I wasn't ready to leave Ava for an all day adventure yet, and our sitter was only available after 6:00pm. Sooo... I thought instead of going to Big Bowl, that I would have Big Bowl delivered down here. Yes, it was quite the undertaking and after many brainstorming conversations with Adam Bryant (Big Bowl GM), we finally had to give the idea up. Adam enjoyed helping out with a fun project like this and he made many calls and inquiries on his own, to no avail. The great part was that he sent George a letter for us to have a free dinner and overnight stay in Chicago, compliments of Big Bowl. My second idea for George's birthday which included fishing, golfing, and kayaking didn't work either due to schedule conflicts and also the monsune rain that we had. The third idea worked out great and was planned at the last moment. I called some friends and we all went out to eat at Noma in South Bend. They gave us a round table in a separate room so that we could all talk and they printed special menu's that said "Happy Birthday George" on them. The meal and the service was excellent and George ended up with a Very Happy Birthday afterall.