Happy birthday to me!

Today is my 32nd birthday. I can hardly believe it! This year I didn't do anything special or really even celebrate. There is just too much going on right now. I had to drop Jason off at the airport this afternoon so he could fly to Detroit for job training. Poor baby was feeling sick so it was hard for me to see him go. I will fly out there on Friday, though, so we can spend the weekend together. We're going to go skiing for all of a day and a half. I know it's no Colorado, but it will still be fun!

So, here's my little indulgence of the day:

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Yep, I finished an entire pint of Blue Bell Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream myself. It's my favorite! So here I sit watching the end of Pretty In Pink on my birthday and I have no regrets. Having a quiet birthday has been a nice change this year.

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Why hello blog world!

Oh, where to begin? So much has happened since I last blogged. Let's start with the July 4th holiday, shall we?

July 4th happens to be my cousin's birthday. When her sisters were in elementary, she convinced them that the entire nation celebrated her birthday, therefore making her the most special girl in the United States. She denies it to this day, but her sisters uphold the story! Here is my cousin, Tiffany, with her birthday apple pie:

Seated next to Tiffany, to her right, is her son Zachary. His birthday is July 7th, so he got to blow out candles on homemade peach ice cream!

A family friend showed up unexpectedly and his birthday happened to also fall on July 4th. My family wasn't going to let him hang out without singing happy birthday, so he got the most ingenious "cake" ever! I can't remember his name (what? It was like 21 days ago!), but here he is blowing out the candles:

Isn't that the coolest summer birthday "cake" ever? It was perfect! We ended the night on top of the roof watching fireworks from all around the city. I forgot to take the camera up there.....oops!

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Birthday and Putt Putt

I'm late on posting this, but on Good Friday, a group of friends and I celebrated Shana's birthday. It was her 29th (*gasp!* I'm posting the truth on the Interwebz for all to see!!!)  birthday! We met at La Hacienda de los Barrios to scarf down some Mexican food and margaritas. Here's me and the birthday girl:

 Shana's favorite dessert is brownies and ice cream. Let me interject here to tell a (relatively) short story. A few months ago, Jason, my brother-in-law Brandon and me visited Shana for a weekend. I thought I'd be a good friend and bring homemade brownies. Now, let's just say that these brownies were kinda sorta awesome. I melted chocolate for these brownies. I melted Guiridelli chocolate for these brownies. And you know what? Those brownies were gobbled up by the four of us. So fast forward to now. I ask Shana what kind of cake she wanted me to make for her birthday. She said she really just wanted brownies and ice cream. "Okay", I think, "I can do that". Then she says, "just make the box brownies. They taste the same anyway".

What? WHAT? Did my friend just insult my baking? "They're just easier", she explains.

 I enjoy baking and I like the process, so I don't mind making things from scratch. But I complied with my friend's birthday request. I bought a box of brownies that specifically called for a 13in x 9in pan. Now here's where the story gets interesting:

I got home after a long shopping trip and got the mix out. It called for vegetable oil. Oh crap. I didn't have any vegetable oil. I only had olive oil. Wait......olives are a vegetable, right? Olive oil should work. It will taste fine. I think.

So I made the brownies with olive oil. The batter tasted a little off, but I wasn't sure if it was just me. I baked those suckers and set them out to cool. Then I notice that they look flat. At this point, I have to be at La Hacienda in a few hours. I don't want to leave. I don't want to do anything. So I don't. I took those sprinkle-laden, olive oil filled brownies to the birthday girl along with some Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream. My mistake was informing Shana of my mishap before she actually ate any. Oh well! That's what she gets for making me make BOX BROWNIES! So here we are lighting the flat brownie:

Do you see how much glass there is over the brownie? Seriously, I was embarrassed to even admit I made it. I made up for it by making her blow out all 29 friggin' candles. Ha!

Dinner was great and no one even complained or turned away the olive oil brownies smothered in vanilla ice cream. Jason and I stopped to take an obligatory photo:

We got a shot of the entire group before embarking to putt putt. We lost a few people on the way. Something about being tired and crabby and working was said, but I chose not to listen to such conversation.

After losing a few people, we were down to eight, making two teams. Here's team RASH (or Robbie, Adam, Shana and Jason. Nope, I have no idea how that spells rash.):

If it helps, the dude being sensual with the putter made it up. Here's team JSBD: Jason, Stephanie, Brandon and Devona. So we may not make up a word, but at least we know what we stand for!

Here's what a 6'8" husband looks like holding the longest putter possible:

Surprisingly, it fit him better than expected. My camera's wide angle lens, however, did not fit him as well as expected.

After 18 holes, I lost by some ridiculous amount. I kinda suck at putt putt, but at least I didn't lose my ball in the water. That would have been worse. Here's Shana with her boyfriend, Adam. Aren't they cute?

And here is my evidence of spousal abuse. I do believe that a putter counts as a weapon!

After smacking him into his place, Jason and I took a lovely picture together:

Happy birthday Shana!

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Birthday Celebration

My birthday was a few weeks ago. January 30th, to be exact. I turned 31. And I'm writing incredibly short sentences for no apparent reason. The weeks leading up to my birthday (and those following it) have been rough. I haven't been in any mood to do anything but wallow in self-pity. I've avoided outings just so I don't have to hear about anyone else's happy life. My life is happy except that Jason & I are living off of savings.

Did you read that? We've been living off of savings for 6 entire months now and we can possibly go 8 or 9 more. That is plain depressing. That's 6 months of Jason not being able to find a job and makes over a year and half for me. Our prospects are not looking good right now so we've buckled down and tried to be very frugal.....and patient. With both of us in the house all the time, we are constantly reminded of our situation and it's downright depressing. I feel guilty even thinking about spending money on non-essentials, so it was hard for me to get excited about my birthday. I'm not trying to make this a depressing post, but these are the things that are constantly in my mind and it really brings me down.

Anyway, I wasn't in the mood to go out. I was actually just going to stay at home. But my friend Shana told me that she was going to break down my door and make me celebrate if I didn't make up my mind. My friend Stacy actually had the entire weekend off and I don't get to see her enough. I decided that we could make it a small celebration....just us and our significant others. Stacy's sister, brother-in-law and nephew came in town that weekend so they ended up coming, too.

The plan was to go to PF Chang's for dinner. I hadn't been there in FOREVER. Like, well over a year and possibly closer to 2 years. I called early in the day to see if they took reservations, knowing that no place in town took reservations on a Saturday. I was in luck! They took reservations. Hooray! But they couldn't seat us until 10. Boo! I didn't want to wait that long, so the girl said we could just come and get on the list. I asked if they had call-ahead seating at least. After all, I was bringing 9 people! You'd think they would want to know that.

No, they don't. They don't take call ahead seating. So, we showed up there about 7 and the wait time was 1 1/2 to 2 hours. REALLY? We left and drove around the corner to Paloma Blanca. The wait time was about 45 minutes, which was much more reasonable. I had a beer (on top of the 1/2 bottle of wine I consumed earlier) before we got seated.

Finally, a table! We ordered and waited. Someone ordered guacamole and it was the best I've ever had in a restaurant. Honestly. I could've eaten that stuff for dinner. The server brought out the ingredients (including an orange slice for the juice!) and ground it up at the table in a huge molcajete. (Yeah, I linked the Wiki definition for anyone that doesn't live in Texas.) I had enchiladas verde and was not disappointed. After the dinner, we had cake! Shana made me a German Chocolate Cake and it was delish! Here's the pic of me and Jason before we dug in:

 

After all was said and done, I had a good time. I was glad it was just a small celebration, though. It's about all I can take these days. I truly hope that this time of my life ends soon because I have plans!

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Happy Birthday To Me!

Yes, today is my birthday. I've officially stepped into the 30s now that I'm 31. You see, 30 is like standing on the edge of the diving board just looking into the water. 31 is actually jumping in. And I'm so there!

 

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The last 6 months have been a real downer for Jason & I so I decided to keep it quiet this year. Just a couple of my friends and I will go to dinner tonight. I think it will be a nice change for once! I'll give the lowdown on tonight's dinner later on!

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Sylvia's 30th birthday

I'm way behind on posts, I know. Sue me.

A couple weekends ago, I went to celebrate my friend Sylvia's 30th birthday. The party was held at her in-law's house in Canyon Lake. At my party in January, Sylvia was nice enough to give me a sash that said "30 and Thrilling!" However, her sister gave me a picture frame that everyone could sign and Sylvia made a misprint. Instead of writing "30 & Thrilling", she wrote "30 and Thriving." I mean, it's not like I'm almost dead. Sheesh.

So, I had to return the favor:

And yes, I made her wear it! I could do a post on how I made the t-shirt, but I think we all know how iron-ons work.

The most fun part of the party was the adult pinata. Here's Syl taking a whack at it (and totally cheating!):


Here's me taking a shot!

The pinata had mini wine and liquor bottles, air fresheners, liquor-filled candy and scratch off tickets! Miles loved picking up the contents!

We then got a group shot with almost everyone. It was impossible to get people to face the same camera! Can you find Jason & I? Jason blends in REALLY well here. Ha ha!

Then we went inside for cake! Look at that adorable cake!!



Afterward, Syl opened presents and we all gabbed til late at night. It was so good to just kick back and relax with friends and just catch up! Here's Syl & I...her with her "30 & Thriving" t-shirt and her "30 & Flirty" sash:

I came home with an air freshener, $20 in winning scratch off tickets and booze. Now that's what I call a successful night! Happy birthday Sylvia!!

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ATX

Last weekend, Jason & I headed up to Austin to celebrate my friend Shana's birthday. Oh, and to help her move her big, heavy dresser upstairs. And to take away her old bedroom set. Yeah, that's what happens when your husband owns a truck.

Saturday night started out in Driftwood, TX out at the Saltlick BBQ. This place is in the middle of nowhere. Literally. All we saw were trees and pastures on the way out there. Finally, we saw a HUGE parking lot with possibly hundreds of cars in a clearing. A police officer directed us to the line of parked cars.

Now, you know this place must be jumpin' if they hire city police to direct their parking lot.

When we arrived, Shana, who's always the planner, had already made reservations for all 20 of us. Thank goodness. We walked past the 50 or so people that were sitting outside drinking and waiting for a table.

Oh, did I mention that this place was BYOB? AWESOME!

As we walked inside, poor Jason had to duck in many places because of the low ceiling. Luckily, the part that we were in was sufficiently tall. We take our places and immediately started to pour the booze while we waited to order. Jason & I partook in some classic Crown and Coke. (My favorite!)

Since we had such a large group, the food took a long time to come to us. But, one of Shana's clever friend brought her a surprise to pass the time. Jello shots!

And here's the birthday girl attempting to throw the shots at the various party goers. She missed a lot and I don't even think that booze was to blame!

The table behind us was pretty rowdy and I noticed that it was all men. 20-something-year-old men to be exact. This is never good. They were at a bachelor party and were taking hits straight from the bottle of Jack Daniels. Somehow, they talked our fellow party goer, Rich, into joining in. You can see the bachelor table to the right screaming "Chug, chug, chug!"

I was even able to get a shot of Jason downing a jello shot. It's at a really obnoxious angle, but hey, it's my blog, isn't it?


Finally, the food arrived. And not a moment too soon. I was so hungry - as was everyone else - that I downed most of this pretty quickly. Oh, how I love brisket/turkey/potato salad/beans/pickles. But not cole slaw. That's just gross.

After we stuffed our faces, we finally made it to the bars. This is the only picture I had because there just wasn't enough room for cameras and the birthday girl had 10 too many birthday shots. The angle makes me look 3 times more wide than I am, but that's okay. Cropping is still cool.

The end.

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More birthday happenings

On Saturday, a group of my friends met to celebrate my life here on this little old planet we call Earth. We celebrated my 30th anniversary of existence. To commemorate this special occasion, my dear friend Sylvia gave me a banner that said "30 & Thrilling" to sport all night.


We had dinner over at La Hacienda which was excellent, of course. Jason collaborated with Shana (read: convinced) to make me a yummy Red Velvet Cake. It was to-freaking-die-for. Thanks for the extra 5lbs I gained trying to finish that sucker off, Shana! Here's Jason trying to cut the cake like the good husband he is:

My brother was able to come into town to celebrate with me (or make fun of me). This was his reaction to my birthday:

But, no worries, because Shana & I were able to bring out the princessy-softer side of him:


I forgot to get a group photo before several of my friends left, so here's who I had left:

After dinner, we went out to Silo North. Upon entering, we headed straight to the bar where a friend bought my first drink. Then, a couple behind us heard it was my birthday (I guess the banner gave it away) and bought me a shot.

And me, who is not good at the shot game, actually had 3 before I'd had enough.

And at the end of the night (which was about midnight since I'm now a little old), my wonderful husband drove me home while my brother made fun of me some more. Here's Jason & I, the "old" 30-something married couple:

A big thanks goes out to all my wonderful friends that came out to celebrate:

• Jason of course!
• My brother Houston who drove the longest to see me!
  
• Shana, who made a yummy cake that I've been trying to avoid ever since.
  
• Sylvia, who thinks I'm not only thrilling, but thriving!!
  
• Jessica, who gave me an awesome signature mat to commemorate the night.
• Stacy & her husband Javier who came even though poor Stace was sick. She's a trooper, I tell you.
• My cousin Becca & her fiance TJ who are both just plain awesome!
• My other awesome cousin Kathy, who brought the princess gear my brother sported for all of 30 seconds.
• Allison, my smartie-pants friend that I miss because she's busy working and writing her dissertation for her phD. (I'm tired just writing that.)
• Jayme, her husband Jacin and their too adorable son, Shawn! I need to hang out with y'all a lot more! :)
  
• Deseere & her husband Dre....so sorry about the cilantro!
• Shawna, who also got to feeling bad, but thanks for coming!

Thank you all for coming on my day! I couldn't have asked for better buddies!!!

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Birthday happenings

So yesterday I turned 30. It didn't hurt a bit, much to my surprise. In fact, I had a pretty good day. On Thursday, I got my hair done and even got a free mani! How could I say no to that? Then, on Friday, I was shopping and redeemed my coupon for free birthday lip glosses from Sephora. They were actually colors that I can wear, too! That night, Jason came home with red roses and we went to my favorite sushi place to eat dinner together. Afterward, we went to The Cheesecake Factory and stuffed ourselves silly with cheesecake. Jason had a carrot cake cheesecake (which was more cake, actually) and I had a nice fluffy vanilla bean cheesecake. Yum! To end the night, we went to see Taken at the movies. It was a great night! There will be more festivities tonight! :)

Oh, and Taken was good. It was kind of "formula", but I still enjoyed it. It's worth seeing in the theater. I guess just about any movie I see now just won't hold up to Gran Torino. I had to remember this as I was watching it!

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Husbands & Calendars Don't Mix

Last night, Jason & I were about to go to bed and I said something about my birthday being Friday. This results in the following discussion:

J: "No, your birthday is Saturday. That's why we're doing dinner that day."
Me: "No, my birthday is Friday. Today is the 28th. You know my birthday is the 30th."
J: "I know when your birthday is! Today is the 27th!"
Me: "No it's not. It's the 28th."
J: "But you said your birthday fell on a weekend this year!"
Me: "It does. It's on a Friday."
J: "Friday's not a weekend! Saturday is the weekend!"
Me: "Friday is a weekend. Work ends at 5."
J: "Well, I'm glad you said something. Otherwise, I would've felt really bad if I let the whole day go by and not have said anything to you."
Me: "You'd have felt bad! What about me?!?"

So I now know that not only does my husband never look at a calendar, but that I also must be specific on my weekend days. For crying out loud!

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