Lovely surprise

Greetings!

Wednesday night for my birthday was pretty low key.  Grabbed drinks with a few friends and then went for dinner with Don Juan.  Dinner was bad, but that's besides the point.

He had told me that on Thursday we'd go out to this delicious restaurant called Don Coqui in New Rochelle, NY.  Then he said he had a surprise for me after dinner.  OK. :)  First we were supposed to meet two of our friends but then they cancelled so the plan was to meet his brother and his fiance.  Cool.

So I get all dolled up and we head to NY, running late of course since that's how DJ does things (although it might have been party my fault this time too).

We get there and he walks past the maitre d, which I found odd.  He's walking towards the bar but saying he has to go to the bathroom.  So I'm kind of like OK, then why should I follow you to the bathroom.  He keeps saying bathroom.  then looks at me and nods his head over to the bar and who is there but my parents, my sister, and a few friends.  Surprise!!

My parents have been on vacation for the past two weeks so I hadn't seen them in a while.  My sister also just got back from Mexico.  And then friends, well it's always good to see friends.  It was very sweet.

This place is known for awesome food and huge portions.  It's a Puerto Rican restaurant so think paella, arroz con pollo, chimichuri sauce, etc...  Plus on Thursday nights they have a salsa band and dancing.

A personalized menu!
Check out the offerings.

Here's a look at our appetizers, after we ate to our hearts content..

There were also two other smaller plates

I didn't have my camera since I didn't know I'd want it, so I snapped that pic with my phone.

Like I said, the portions are huge.  This is the paella, although I don't think the photo does the dish justice.

Yes, that's a lobster on top
This picture doesn't show the true size of this dish (huge)

Everyone took home leftovers, serious leftovers.

Once we were done eating we moved to the lounge and hung out a bit.  Then my parents and sis left as they had a bit of a drive ahead of them.  So a few of us stayed and did some salsa dancing.

When there's dancing and Jessica there's always a ton of laughter, so it was very entertaining.  I know there are pictures out there so when I find them, I'll do another post.

Overall it was a wonderful and unexpected night and I have to thank DJ for putting it all together.