Happy Birthday To Me!

I pretty much had the best birthday ever this year. It all started with birthday week. Birthday week, for me, consists of getting as much free stuff as possible because it's my birthday. This year we officially got one free meal at Red Robin, a huge ice cream cone at Baskin Robbins, a free 'like it' sized icecream at Coldstone, and a free meal at Sweet Tomatoes (my favorite restaurant!). It was great- we went out almost every night!

Then for my birthday dinner (because four nights of fun wasn't enough!) Doug came home from work and made me an amazing dinner. Stuffed chicken breasts, hot ciabatta bread, four cheese pasta and salads with homemade poppy sead dressing. YUM.

My favorite part was the presentation. He made everything look so fancy. While he cooked I set the table- I even starched our cloth napkins. Then we got all dressed up (Doug's pretty much the best husband ever) Doug in his tux (when we got married we found one on ebay that was cheaper than renting one so now he has his very own) and me in my dupioni silk dress. I went all out- french tipped my nails, pulled out my nicest jewelry and even figured out how to get my hair in an updo (a major accomplishment considering it's 11 inches shorter than the last time I did that). It was like prom, but way better.

We ate dinner in our kitchen and then headed to the Olive Garden for some delicous dessert (after all, when you're that dressed up you've got to go somewhere!)


The day after my birthday Doug's family came down and we had a joint birthday dinner for Doug's brother Carl and me. It's a lot of fun for me to have family birthday parties. I'd never really thought about it before until this year when my parents were planning what to get me for my birthday. My mom was just going to have me go pick up my gift at the store to save on shipping and my dad was all- No way! It's not a birthday until you get a package in the mail! ha ha- what kind of family did I grow up in!? He was totally right though- I don't remember ever having a birthday without getting a package in the mail from an immediate family member. It really wouldn't feel like a birthday without going out to the mailbox to find a big surprise inside! I guess we're just really talented at living far away from each other.

Anyway, it's a lot of fun to have family close enough now to do things together like birthday dinners. And because it was a joint party, I still got to make the cake (lots of people think it's weird if I want to make my own birthday cake, but those are just the people who don't know how much I love making cakes). Carl got to pick any cake he wanted and he suggested german chocolate- so here it is! yum yum yum. We're still eating left overs!


On Sunday my Aunt Janet invited us over for dinner. To my surprise her whole family knew about my birthday and had even made me a cake! It was so fun to have them remember! I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing people.