Birthday part one

This weekend, my parents came to town for Easter and to celebrate my birthday. I chose a theme (midcentury dinner party) and my sister and mom came up with a surprise menu.
We started with some retro appetizers and cocktails- mai tais with sweet + sour meatballs and pigs in blankets (which are my favorite in any century).

Then we cracked this open...

My parents had this bottle that they were saving for a special occasion. I was so honored that my 30th birthday turned out to be the occasion.

We dressed for dinner...

The menu was Steak Diane with iceberg wedge salads and old school yeast rolls. No pictures of that but believe me when I say it was delicious. My parents also shared an excellent cabernet from their wine collection.

And then...CAKE. This cake is what my family has for every occasion. We refer to it as "the best f'ing cake ever" because when we first had it at a baby shower, we overhead a woman ask, "Have you  tried the cake? It's the best fucking cake ever." We tried the cake. And it was. But until this weekend there had never been a sophisticake ordered in my honor, and my parents brought it all the way from home. I was thrilled.

And there were presents (IPAD! I'm a somebody now). My sister and brother in law also got me an excellent starter kit for my home bar. I cannot wait to learn to make my own Manhattans so I don't have to depend on my sister's husband to mix them for me.

It was such an awesome day and it made me feel so special. I'm thankful to have been able to celebrate with the people who love me most. 

Today I run/walked 3.5ish miles on the treadmill and then met a couple of girlfriends for lunch. We had paninis at a place in town I've been wanting to try, at a cute window table that looked out on The Cupcake Bar, which I had also been wanting to try, so after lunch the three of us headed across the street. Cupcakes and coffee on a Tuesday afternoon? Yes please.

Amaretto sour and chocolate peanut butter. A perfect sweet little treat. It was such a nice way to spend a sunny afternoon. 

So clearly this has not been an excellent week, diet and lifestyle-wise. I've made some very questionable food choices and slacked a little bit on exercise. But I am in full celebration mode right now and I give myself permission to spend a week just maintaining instead of losing. I will take a tiny gain on the scale if I must. Time with friends and family, celebrating my life with the ones I love- totally worth a pound or two. Especially when there's cake involved.