1 year to life: A Birthday weekend!

This past weekend was my Golden Birthday! Ever since I was a kid, I always hated that my Birthday was so late in the month, because that meant I had to wait forever to have my golden Birthday. Well turns out time goes by pretty fast. I swear, when I was little, 27 sounded so old! I don't think I'm "old", but being only 3 years from 30 kinda weirds me out!

Anyway, Friday I got my first bunch of gifts from Stella. It was so thoughtful of her to go out and get me presents. I didn't know she could drive a car! She knows me well though :) Oh, and that rooster thing is a creamer pitcher. I have always loved the cow creamer things (usually white porcelain), but I kinda love this rooster more. Not sure I will ever use it as it's intended, but who knows, maybe I need to have a coffee/tea party! Also, a 2lb bag of fish, note that is says "Great for Sharing", I don't know who they think I'm going to share with...I thought the bag was 1 serving....no?

Thanks Stella, you're the greatest!

Saturday was nice too, Jake and I decided we were sick of eating what we usually cook up for dinner, so we looked up a recipe in one of my books from culinary school. It turned out really good. Super tasty and good for you too. I will post the recipe soon, so you all can try it :)

Then Jake surprised me with dessert = cake pops! SO good. Note there are only 3 in the picture, there was a 4th one, but I inhaled my half before I realized I should take a picture. It was red velvet, and I'm pretty sure its what dreams are made of.

sorry for the crappy pic, but there is choc. almond (white drizzle), dark choc.(sprinkles), and choc. chip, which we came to the conclusion was just a giant blob of cookie dough :)

Sunday Jake and I took a trip up to St Paul to go to Grand Avenue. Its such a great place, one of my favorites in the cities. Full of cute shops and restaurants. Jake knows the way to my heart and we stopped at some of my favorite places to stock up on some goodies.

new protein powder to try & spices from Golden Fig, olive oil from The Oilerie, fancy cheese from St Paul Cheese Shop, and tasty bread from Breadsmith

We also had lunch at what is becoming one of my fav. places, Salut. Jake ordered the Quiche Lorraine and I had the Quiche Du Jour ( that day it was made with smoked ham, cheddar, and a mix of peppers, onions, celery and garlic). They both came with a mini croissant and I had a side salad and Jake had the creamy hash browns. I also had a mimosa. I can't celebrate my birthday (or any day) without some bubbles!

Of course, the afternoon wouldn't be complete without a fro-yo stop, so we found a place and got our fix :)

When we got back into to town, Jake had invited friends and family over to our place for dinner and cake. My mom made cheesecake and it was SO good! I didn't get a pic of it, but she had put 27 Swedish fish on the top :) I got come more lovely cards and opened gifts from my mom and Paul. Expect to see a lot of this on the blog in the coming months!

I'm going to have to give it away to friends so I don't gain 50lbs! Ice cream and training do NOT go well together. But there are a ton of recipes for sorbet and frozen yogurt, plus, if I just limit myself to a serving size like a normal person I will be just fine I think. But if you have a favorite flavor, let me know, I might just send you some on dry ice!