This is why...

I don't know if you noticed in the pics I uploaded yesterday but I have gained some weight recently.  Don't try to be nice and tell me you didn't see it... haha!  Well, I know exactly why I have... I call them 30th birthday treats.  Here are some of them... some are still on my camera and I have to take them off and add them here...

Birthday Cake at the Surprise Party - thanks Jennie!!!

Saturday wasTurtle Mocha Coffee at West Egg 

courtesy of Odessa - yummy!

After West Egg was Gigi's Cupcakes with Odessa & Eric

My IT Team surprised Andrej and me with yummy cookie cake!!

Monday was a Piece of Cake Strawberry Cupcake courtesy Buckhead Church!!

(I forgot to take a picture of it so this came from Piece of Cake's website)

Monday night Jennie and I had Cami Cakes cupcakes!!!

The only picture I don't have is from Erinleigh... she made me a chocolate ice cream cake!!! Of course there was no dairy in hers!!! It was amazing!!!

No wonder I can't fit into my pants any more!! LOL!!! And... no wonder this is how I ended up...

HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I could also have titled this 30 and FABULOUS!! haha!!!  I'm very excited to enter this new decade of my life.  I mean, I don't have a choice, so why not be excited right??!!!?!?

Thought you may want to see some pictures from 30 years ago...

Aren't my parents hot!!! And I'm an just cute as a button! ;) LOL!

Here are some other pics that I found when looking for the above shot:

And I figure we need a few pictures from past birthday parties:

Thank you to my Mom, Dad, Dan, and ALL of my family and friends for making these first 30 years absolutely amazing!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!!

SURPRISE!!!!

I feel so blessed!!! I have the best friends... seriously, the best!!! Jennie & Teesha put together a surprise party for me this weekend and they got me good!! 


They told me they were both too busy to actually plan the day so it was just going to be the 3 of us for dinner.  Jennie spent Thursday asking me all sorts of questions about what I want to do, where I'd want to go.  Then on Friday Teesha had to "work late" so she would just meet us at dinner.  And the weather changed what we had decided to do the day before so they made an executive decision to go to Eclipse De Luna. 

Friday night Jennie was text messaging Teesha who was "at work" to find out when she would be able to get out to meet us so we had a drink at happy hour at the condo. 

Then she got the text that Teesha was ready to meet us so we headed over.  As we walked into Eclipse there was someone at the bar who looked familiar however they were facing the other direction.  Next I hear Jennie say, "there's Teesha"  and then I hear "SURPRISE!!!!!"  It took me a minute to put it all together but I was completely surprised!!!  So many of my friends had gathered to celebrate my birthday.  And as this weekend has progressed I've heard more and more stories of people who were in cahoots with Teesha and Jennie!! 

I haven't quite decided if its a good thing or a bad thing that my friends are so good at lying to me... haha!!!

Jennie had even made cupcakes for me...

 
And we did a bit of dancing...

I had a blast at dinner, the company was amazing, the food was spectacular, and I felt so loved!!! THANK YOU!!!!

Check out the pictures I have now (these are from Jennie's camera).  Mario also took pictures so once I have them from him I'll upload those and let you know!

Chicken Spinach Mango Orzo Salad

I had a GREAT birthday today!! I worked during the day and everyone was wishing me a happy day. I loved it! After work I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up some ICE CREAM (made from coconut milk), which was fabulous! I sat out on the roof for a few minutes before deciding it was just too hot to make it any longer. I got to spend time with Erinleigh at my apartment while she made me an amazing birthday cake. Then Jenny (who lives in my building and I generally hang out with n the roof) came over. A while after that George, Miranda and Joe came over. We hung out and I ate so much sugar I think I am high!! I have pictures I need to up load, but that will happen another night...

I also made the following salad today and it is amazing. The only thing I will add in is some chili powder or something with just a hint of spice. Otherwise its perfect!!

For Chicken:
1 large chicken breast
1/4 cup orange juice
3 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
pinch of salt

For the Salad:
1 ½ cup orzo
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp. sea salt or to taste
Grated zest of 1 orange
1/2 cup edamame
1 mango, diced (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup sweet onion, diced
4 cups fresh spinach , chopped
1 canned sweet red pepper, diced
Freshly ground pepper


Directions:

For Chicken:
Whisk orange juice, vinegars and salt. Dice chicken into chunks and add to marinade. Marinate 30 minutes.

In a large stalk pot, add water and bring to just a boil. Add chicken and marinate and cook until chicken is no longer pink.

For the Salad:
Cook orzo according to package directions ; drain in colander.

While orzo cooks, whisk the orange juice, oil, vinegar, orange zest and salt in a large bowl.

Add edamame, onion, mango, chicken, and orzo to bowl and stir with a rubber spatula to mix well. Stir in spinach and red pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Enjoy!!

Yay for Birthday Parties!!

I had an amazing time with friends for my 29th birthday party! We celebrated at Teela Taqueria and it was a blast. I had so much fun talking with everyone and it was great to have a reason for friends to get together and meet each other. Its crazy that before this, most of the people at the party hadn't met each other. I will have to do a better job of getting friends together more often!! If you want to check out some pictures... here you go!!

The Tabernacle

Before the Lisa Lampanelli comedy show started I took a quick picture of the stage.  I tried to take a picture of her on stage but it didn't turn out!  Oh well!!

We all laughed so hard at the show by the end I had to just stop laughing... my cheeks hurt to much!!  

What I need to do a better job of is taking pictures of the people I go places with!!  

Hanging out at Roy's deck after birthday dinner!!

I had the most fun last night hanging out with Victor, Roy, Bobby, Dallas, and Vic!!  Victor and Roy made dinner... Victor make a shrimp and crab pasta which was amazing with a side salad and Roy made cheesy potatoes... which looked amazing!! Darn lactose intolerance!!  

After dinner we all went to the roof to wait for the cab to take us to the Tabernacle to watch Lisa Lampanelli!  The night was so beautiful I figured I needed to take a quick iPhone picture!!  I do have a few pictures from dinner but haven't uploaded them yet!  They will be up as soon as possible!!

Happy Birthday To Me!!!

So, why am I so excited about this brush?!?!?

Good question... the answer is... I have been missing it for about 2 months!!  I used it one day and then went to use it again the next and it was gone.  I have searched high and low, all over the apartment, and finally decided not to search anymore.  Funny thing, I prayed to God a few times that I would find my missing brush.  For those concerned, this was not on the top of my prayer list, just thrown in from time to time. 

Today I was sweeping the bathroom floor because I was on the phone with my friend Marcus.  Generally I only vacuum, however being on the phone I decided to sweep, that way conversation could continue.  As I was sweeping, I put the broom in this tiny little crevice under the sink and with a whole lotta hair this brush came out.  It scared me at first, and then scared Marcus with my scream of glee.  However, this was a beautiful birthday present to me!  Hahah!!

I AM 28!!!!!

What an exciting day!!