on april fool's day, my best friend's husband decided to surprise her by planning a surprise party the weekend before her 32nd birthday. he offered to fly me down to burbank but i couldn't take him up on it and since i was planning to visit her for her birthday anyway, i booked my own flight. i had a voucher so it didn't cost me anything. and surprised she was! seeing her speechless and confused was so wonderful!! i was so happy to be part of the occasion!
we decided to take her out on an all girls' night out to asia de cuba in west hollywood at the mondrian hotel. joanne and karen drove up from san diego to also surprise her. gail, her landlady and friend was also in on it. kelly's husband stayed home with their 5-month old daughter. i was told that everything at the mondrian in white. the staff/waiters are all dressed in white. when we pulled in, it looked like there were a bunch of house painters in spotless uniforms. it was really posh and fun. apparently, there are celebrity sightings at the mondrian.
we didn't actually see anyone but had tons of fun. the food was so good. it was an asian and cuban fusion. i'd had asian fusion before but not with cuban food. we had 3-4 appetizers and 3 main dishes. it was family style and more than enough food for the 5 of us. i had a pineapple mojito which was their specialty (they also had mango mojitos). i'm not a big mojito fan but it was delish!! we started with lobster potstickers, grilled pesto shrimp, fried riceless sushi rolls, butter fish, pan-seared ahi tuna on top of wasabi mashed potatoes, and a cuban chicken dish thai coconut sticky rice steamed in a banana leaf. it was all soooo good.
we all had a lovely time and kelly felt like a regular person again, being out and about. happy 32nd kel!! xoxo!