My Danish Birthday

I had the honor of having the first birthday of anyone in our family since we moved to Denmark!

I didn't really know what to expect, and of course we don't know many places or customs yet, so we hadn't planned much ahead of time.  It did fall on a Saturday though, so we didn't want to squander it.

On Friday, the last work day before my birthday, my colleagues decorated my office in Danish flags (sadly, the flags taped to the door and walls fell down before I came in to work). Apparently, this is customary for all birthdays:

My colleagues decorated everywhere with Danish flags for my birthday.

On Saturday, Zac made me coffee and I sat in bed drinking it and chatting with Matt and Vanessa for a bit. I decided I wanted to go to Sticks n Sushi in Rungsted for dinner for a couple of reasons: 1) Kaden and Khloe have wanted to go get sushi since we got here - Kaden apparently ate a California roll at some point in the U.S. and can't stop talking about it, and Khloe has never had sushi but really wanted to try it, and 2) My colleagues took me to this place last time I was in Denmark, so it wasn't totally unfamiliar, I knew it had outdoor seating on the harbor looking across at Sweden, and I thought it would make a nice setting for a birthday dinner. I made reservations online and we invited Vibe and her youngest son, Arthur, to join us.

Zac and I decided to go into Hørsholm and visit some furniture stores (we still really need a couch and would like a bed frame), so we took the bus up there without the kids (Kaden was still sleeping and Khloe had just woken up). My grandma called via WhatsApp to wish me happy birthday, so she's learning some new things! We chatted while Zac and I walked through the shops in the Hørsholm city center and then she wanted to go back to sleep so we said goodbye.

Zac and I visited a beautiful furniture store. We found a few couches that are incredibly well-made, are pretty comfortable, and might even fit in our house. We noted dimensions and took pictures and left happy. We also found a bed frame we liked at a different store, so we ordered that and will hopefully be elevated off the spider-infested ground soon!

The guy who sold us the bed frame was very friendly and spoke excellent English, so Zac asked him for a lunch spot recommendation. He showed us a tapas place not far from the store. I've only eaten tapas once (and it was in Denmark, oddly enough), but they were all delicious. We walked through town past a little park with a lake (Dronningedam) and there were huge, beautiful swans swimming around in the water. I failed to take a picture.

[pretend this is a picture of two elegant swans on a lake]

When we got to the tapas place (TaTapas), we went in and I instantly had a moment of panic. I just stared at a case filled with little containers and signs I couldn't read, and my brain was like, "Leave! You can't do this! You're going to annoy people and bother them with our ineptitude! You don't even know how to order tapas! Go get pizza next door!"

Fortunately, Zac calmed me down and just asked the person behind the counter how to order. Everyone spoke English really well. We ordered a meal that came with four shareable containers and a little bread loaf. We selected some kind of salmon cake with wasabi(?) butter and dill, carpaccio (with pine nuts?), tuna, and some kind of pasta/grain salad with tiny diced vegetables in it. The meat and fish are all uncooked but prepared in a way that's safe to eat, and we were very adventurous. We sat outside and enjoyed a quiet and most excellent birthday lunch. Everything was delicious and I'll add it to my list of favorite places.

Our lunch from TaTapas.

Zac and I made a quick detour to pick up cat and dog food (so expensive here) and then took the bus home. Vibe came to pick me up so we could go grocery shopping and she dropped of a slightly modified traditional Danish birthday treat ("tree trunks") but we decided to save them for Sunday since we were going out to dinner.

Tree trunks - my Danish birthday dessert from Vibe!

At the grocery store, I finally learned how to return the cans and bottles for money (which is something I've been needing to figure out for a long time - our cans have been piling up for two weeks and we've got an impressive collection).

Why was this so fun? It was like a game. I won.

At home, we got fixed up a bit for dinner and I talked to my dad (who also figured out how to call via WhatsApp!) and Dorothy for a bit.

It's always fun to see the faces of our friends and family!

Vibe decided to drive everyone to dinner in two shifts because it was still quicker than the bus (point: vehicle), and we made it to our reservation just in time, and everyone found things to order fairly quickly. Zac and I each tried a cocktail, the kids had mocktails, and we had a really nice dinner. Not everything we tried was a winner, but we did learn a lot about what we like and don't like, and we ate all of the food.

Khloe trying sushi for the first time.

Kaden mastering his use of chopsticks.

After dinner, we got ice cream cones and walked around the harbor for a little bit. The weather was good and you could see Sweden across the water. The kids looked at the boats and Vibe told us about her time spent around members of the sailing club, and then she drove us home (in two shifts).

Kaden picking out his favorite boats.

When we got home, I talked to my mom for a little while and responded to some more birthday messages across like five platforms - I think I got them all! We were pretty tired, so we just said goodnight to the kids and laid in bed watching The Office. It doesn't sound like much, but it was a pretty enjoyable ending to a great day.

Thanks, everyone, for the birthday wishes, and I can't wait to do it again next year!