After building some walls to get the HFH house ready for trusses (which didn't happen Saturday due to rain) and an info session from Cummins that went way longer than it was supposed to or needed to, Jenelle and I met outside the Union and headed downtown to Prickly Pear, a southwestern cafe of some reknown, for a pre-birthday celebratory dinner. I had buffalo enchiladas, which were good, and we each had a margarita, which started the weekend off quite nicely and reminded us that summer is just a tropical beverage away. Then to Borders and home!

Saturday was Jenelle's 24th birthday. We celebrated with one of our trademark days out. First stop was IKEA, where she bought a great coffee table and we battled monster traffic. Next was downtown Plymouth, a place we'd been wanting to check out but found to be a little sleepy, adding somewhat to our ongoing dialogue re: why is Ann Arbor better? We found the answer in Birmingham. Places with people on the street and shops open late are better. Birmingham is a happenin' place, even by A2 standards. Two downtown movie theaters, three all-hours coffee shops, several accessible ethnic restaurants, and plenty of nice window-shopping guarantee something for people to be excited about regardless of their time of visit. We celebrated the birthday of the day with a great Thai meal and then, at home, a Cold Stone cake. A cookie dough one.

Today we unexpectedly saw Kyle in Ann Arbor. He was driving from Detroit to Chicago and stopped by; this was a pleasant addition to what might otherwise have been a boring Sunday full of normalcy. We walked in the arb and had a nice outside lunch at Arbor Brewing Company before everyone had to head their own way.