The Best Birthday

Katie and I in Memphis, TN, the BBQ Capitol

One of the signs of passing youth is the birth of a sense of fellowship with other human beings as we take our place among them. Virginia Woolf

I don't like birthdays. Not everyone's birthdays, just mine. I haven't much cared about my birthday after the big number 21. Ever since, I pretty much quit celebrating and counting. This year would be no exception; since it was a Wednesday night, I would spend a very low key evening and probably eat dinner with my parents (my dad's birthday is the day before mine so we celebrate together every year), and go out with some friends on the weekend. Then, I learned that my parents were leaving town on the morning of my 27th birthday. So a new plan had to be concocted. Almost immediately after hearing the news from my parents, I got a phone call from my sweet, sweet sister, Katie, saying she was coming to town from Memphis to help me celebrate my birthday. What a wonderful sister I'm lucky to have.

Originally, Katie and I planned to go to dinner with my work friends Nicole; Janna, her husband, Hank; and my great friend Todd, and his partner, Jeff. I thought somewhere nice like Bistro 491 was in order for the night. It's the kind of place you go for something big like a 50th birthday or a 20th wedding anniversary, but it's also the kind of place where you feel comfortable in jeans celebrating a new promotion or picking yourself up after a crappy work week.

But, the invite list stared growing. Finally, we found ourselves invitng my wonderful boyfriend Adam, his roommate Justin, my friends Thomas and Lindsey, and Charlsie (who as Janna says livens up any party) because I couldn't imagine celebrating my birthday without any of these people. With the new additions, a party at my parents house was obviously the way to go so we could all talk together and be loud. To get my Bistro dinner fix, my parents took Katie and me for the family celebration of mine and dad's birthdays the night before they left for Chicago. My oh my, it was good.

Katie took over all plans for the party, and all I had to do was sit back, relax and wait for the big day. She wrote and printed the perfect invitation, ordered and picked up the food, and cleaned and set up the house for a flawless party. It was surreal arriving at a party that I hadn't planned, and even better, was in honor of me.

She drove around town with my baby dog, Sissie, all day picking up pulled pork, three sauces, cole slaw, potato salad, hash and rice, and sweet tea from our favorite barbecue restaurant, BBQ Barn, in North Augusta, SC. She also stocked up on as much beer and wine as the car could hold. Janna volunteered to make her mom's famous baked beans and my birthday cake, a Mississippi mud cake. Adam was in charge of the ice and everyone else was in charge of bringing their appetites. We all ate, drank and mixed and mingled until the wee hours of the night. All in all, it was a fabulous night. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday than one being with my best friends, eating great food and spending time with the greatest sister in the world. Thank you, Katie, for my favorite birthday in many, many years.

There won't be recipe at the end of this post because I couldn't possibly recreate the fabulous barbecue from BBQ Barn so this is all you get today. When I master barbecue and the fixin's, you'll be first to know.

Pulled pork, sauces, and sides

BBQ Barn
605 Atomic Rd
North Augusta, SC 29841
(803) 278-7202

P.S. BBQ Barn also has some of the best ribs this side of Memphis, TN. Be sure to try them out; you'll thank me for the rest of your life.