Great pictures are not taken with a cell phone camera in a room with a chandelier and sparkling candles.  That’s a fact.  But great memories are made when family and best friends come together.  My baby brother turned 27 on Saturday.  How does time go by that fast?!?! So to celebrate Miss V, CoLo and I all headed to the playground of the stars to celebrate with him for the weekend.  Little did he know Chicago would be surprising him by driving down the day after we got there, too, and boy was he surprised!

So with the gang assembled, it was time to celebrate.  After a birthday breakfast, we drove to the big city to play goofy golf (and be hustled by CoLo), break the basketball game in the arcade and grab lunch at PeiWei before a quick stop to pick up the new Neil Casel photobook from his time in The Cardinals with Ryan Adams.  The drive home was filled with dissecting the chances of Ryan Adam’s returning to music, bad 80s music and naptime.  We arrived back at the parentals just in time to help mom finish up birthday dinner, meatloaf and mashed potatoes (and I took my first bite of meat loaf in 23 years! Let’s just say I had a bad experience.)

After dinner Z opened his gifts which included more pearl-snap button shirts, a GPS for those El Paso adventures, a gift card to expand his vinyl album collection and a knife that every guy would want and only a few should be entrusted to carry. Then before the hour got too late, Miss V packed up and headed east for Cruces, and those who remained capped off the evening with “The Hurt Locker” and Bon Iver’s “For Emma, Forever Ago” on vinyl in the manroom.

While this weekend was nothing like last year’s Zacapalooza with the huge bbq and trek to Texas for Ryan Adams and The Cardinals, for me there was something quaint and heart-warming about spending time with the people who mean the most to you.  I’m pretty sure the birthday boy feels the same way.  Happy birthday, brother.  May you have many more and may those you love be there to share each one!