Poor DadJovi. By the time we get to his birthday, coming on the heels of mine and E.’s, our whole family is usually birthdayed out (well, except for E., of course, who is already busy planning her 5th birthday. Only 50 weeks to go!).

Although our trip to Duke was basically his birthday extravaganza, too, I thought he should have a little something special just for him.

He’s not a huge dessert person but he does like chocolate. And then one morning I had a flash of inspiration — I wonder if I could find a recipe for a White Russian cake. DadJovi may not love desserts but he triple-heart LOVES “The Big Lebowski” (actually, we both do).

Enter Pinterest. Of course I found a recipe for a White Russian cake, and, even better, it involved a box mix of cake. And I just happened to have some bowling candles. That’s how I roll.

It was a big hit. What can I say? The Dude abides.

After cake, there was one obvious thing to do — go bowling. Sadly, it wasn’t one of our better games. Even E. beat me. How rude!

Bumper bowling is totally cheating, right?

Bowling is just the opening act for E.’s favorite part of the bowling alley — the video games.

DadJovi clearly takes his gaming seriously.

After bowling, we came home and met E’s babysitter. We had her come over later because we knew it was going to be a late night. We knew downtown was going to be a mess because of All-Star weekend, so we grabbed a quick bit at our new favorite spot — Tako Cheeno on Mills Avenue. If you have not been yet, you MUST go! They make all these amazing burritos, tacos and empanadas with ingredients like Thai Chicken, Indian yellow curry, Korean beef and Jerk chicken. Go there, now!

After dinner, we headed downtown for a show at The Social. But first we had to survive the guantlet of Orange Avenue. It was a SCENE. They had it shut down for All-Star and there were just throngs of people everywhere, especially ladies of the night. I’m not sure if they were actual hookers or just dressed like them but there were some of the most interesting outfits that I’ve ever seen outside of a strip club. It was good stuff. I could have sat on Orange Avenue people watching all night long.

But, eventually, we headed into the club for the show. We were there to see Blind Pilot, an Oregon indie band. The beards, flannel shirts and PBRs were plentiful. It was like an antidote to the situation outside.

Finally, at about 11, the band took the stage.

They were quite the eclectic bunch. There were six members, including a banjo player, a stand-up bass player and this guy:

You might think that it’s a xylophone, but you’d be wrong. It’s called a vibraphone and THIS.GUY.WAS.AWESOME. He took his vibraphoning very seriously. Here’s the best analogy I could come up. It’s like the “Friends” where Monica only lets Phoebe do the ice and cups for Rachel’s surprise party and she goes crazy with it, making her minimal duties the star of the show. That was guy. I kept my eyes on him all night long (the multiple double Captain and Gingers may have also had something to do with it).

But it was a great show. I don’t know them that well but I really enjoyed the show. The most hilarious thing of the night was the following conversation I overheard between two hipsters before the show.

Hipster 1: I’m surprised they’re having the show here, rather than a bigger venue.

Hipster 2: Yeah, but Blind Pilot was much bigger two years ago, so they were probably worried they couldn’t fill it.

Yes, apparently a little known indie band (at least outside of indie fan circles) actually peaked two years ago. Good to know I’m on the tail end of a trend, rather than at the beginning.

Great show, though, and I’d definitely go back to see them again and I want to get thier other albums that we don’t already have. Plus, when one the workers at The Social saw me taking a photo of that night’s poster, he pulled it off the wall for me. Score!

After the show, I dragged DadJovi down Church Street for one more lap. Seriously, it was awesome. Sadly I had no celebrity sightings but it was still worth it to see the crowds.

And now, at last, our six-week birthday madness is over!

Where’s your favorite place to people watch? I can’t recommend some sport’s All-Star event highly enough!