We have been celebrating my better half's birthday all weekend, so I have been lucky enough to have combined the partying with a little blog post research:

We started off having dinner with friends Saturday night at one of my favorite restaurants, L Wine Lounge and Urban Kitchen. The owners, Marcus and Kolea Marquez have put together a place that is stylish and serves fabulous food. Top that with superb service and I am one happy camper. Their wine list is nothing short of fantastic as well. Above is a photo of the front lounge area where we started off with wine and cocktails. Sofas are by Cassina designed by Jean Marie Massaud and available through Limn.

Here is the owner Marcus with L.A. based architect, and childhood friend, Kristi Lamay Daggett.

The interiors were finished with the help of furniture designer William Earle. This was his first foray into Interior Design. Utilizing his furniture design expertise, he created custom furniture pieces for the space as well as architectural features such as the back bar and wine vault. William has worked in the past with clients such as Courtney Cox, Macy Gray, Kevin Spacey, Bergdorf Goodman and SF MOMA.

We had a fabulous meal out on the patio. Small plates shared by all consisted of Onion Tartine with local greens, Pommes Anna, Gnudi with fresh English peas....I could go on...there were many and all delicious!

For more information and photos of the restaurant please visit their website!

Sunday, we had a Birthday Dinner at our house with the kids and my Mom. We are under construction in the backyard, but the weather was calling us to sit outside, so we set up a table on our front porch: