The Perfect 33rd

My 33rd birthday was far more exciting, a lot more fun, and way more special than I had been anticipating!

First, I woke up to this:

Actually, DH gave me a camera battery. A second battery to be exact. All of the above loot was from The Mad Hatter so DH wouldn't be in big trouble with me.


Apparently, I've commented on far more than one occasion about how great some people's blog pictures are, and how I wish I could take such great pics, and DH hopped on it!


At first, I was completely in shock and told him I couldn't accept such an extravagant gift.


He told me I've had a really crappy two years, and he just wanted me to have something really special that I would enjoy using. Of course, there were some emotional tears (by me, of course) after that!

Between his comments on how it was a gift the whole family would enjoy, many comments from others about how thrilled I'd be to have it once I got over myself and started using it, and getting further confirmation from my mom that he'd been working on this gift for over a month, researching, shopping for, and finding THE perfect camera for me (he actually has another one he needs to return!), I decided that the only thing I could do was accept this gift graciously and gratefully.


Now I need a photography class AND a Photoshop class!


Then, my mom, MH, and I headed to the beach for some of this:

DH and my dad joined us around 6:00 (my absolute favorite time of day on the beach) for some of this:

and this:

Of course, a family photo to commemorate the day:

And a nice one of the two of us (well, as nice of me as you can get after a full day at the beach):

It was a fabulous "hump day" birthday.

Thanks so much Mom, Dad, DH, and MH for making sure (as always) that my birthday was a day I won't soon forget! The weather was fantastic, and the ending to the day was my idea of perfection. I am one very lucky girl! As DH has already said, 34's going to be tough to match!!!

Wordless Wednesday

It's My Birthday, Now Come out and Play!

Woo-hoo!

Today's the day!

I am 33.

So very exciting.

Today is also my 3 month anniversary of starting my blog.

Lots of 3s . . . maybe I should go play Powerball!

I digress.

So, for the big party, you might want to check out this.

And since I'm so proud of my first Photoshop accomplishment (I don't want any of my readers to ever lose faith in the fact that I will always be the mommy learning to blog), I feel the need to shamelessly repost it:

In the continued spirit of learning, I have even figured out how to use Mr. Linky so you can create a post on your own blog and link back to me here.

Now, for my favorite birthday memory (I've actually got 2 - unless DH has something REALLY amazing up his sleeve for this one!):

My 16th birthday. I was on a 6 week cross-country teen tour (45 fifteen and sixteen year olds, four staff members, and our fabulous bus driver Arlene), and although I was having a ball, I missed my family. We were in New Orleans on July 30th. After touring the French Quarter and doing some other sightseeing, some of my closest friends and I chose to celebrate my birthday by dining at the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. Later that day, when we were back at the hotel, settled in, and then re-assembled in a meeting room, a bell-hop came wheeling in a cart filled with oversized boxes. No one had any clue what they were, but we quickly discovered that the labels had my name on them. Having NO idea what they could possibly be, we opened them, only to discover that my amazing parents refused to let my 16th birthday go by without a major celebration. I wasn't home to have a party, so they sent to party to all 50 of us! The boxes were filled with all of my favorite foods, candies, snacks, and other treats (purchased bulk at BJ's Wholesale Club, of course) with specific instructions for a 16th birthday party I would never forget. Mom and Dad, the tour was one of the best experiences of my life, and the birthday was one of the most special I can remember. I don't know too many other parents who would send a party for 50 on the road via UPS!

Wow, just realized that my 16th birthday was actually 17 years ago!

Anyways, now for a more recent birthday memory - my 30th. The Mad Hatter had been born just shy of 6 months prior, DH and I had just celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary that Spring, and life couldn't get better than where it was. I had everything I could have asked for and would have been happy to celebrate my birthday at home, just the three of us. However, DH outdid himself and made me a beautiful dinner party at one of our favorite restaurants (it was going to be a surprise but DH has difficulty keeping secrets, so the party is to this day referred to as the "UN"surprise birthday party). The drinks were flowing, the food was wonderful, and I could not have asked for better company. Both family and friends alike joined me in celebrating a birthday where for the first time in my life I felt entirely complete. Turning 3o was fabulous - it was not about getting older, it was about having everything I could ever want, and counting my blessings for all of it. And I must add that each birthday since the Mad Hatter has arrived has been equally sweet.

Who knows what this birthday will bring?

Maybe some of the best memories yet!

And now, friends, I am anxious to hear from you!

What is your favorite birthday memory?

Lurkers, now is the time to de-lurk!

There is no better time than a party!

Make sure when you fill out the form below, you include your name and blog title.

And thanks again for helping me celebrate!

MLTB Bloggy Birthday Bash Details

I'm sure you've all been waiting with bated breath since this post.

Ha!

In the true spirit of my blog name, I decided that I was going to work hard at learning something new for my birthday.


It has taken me some time (ok, lots of time - and I'm sure there is some way I could have done this much more easily, BUT there is of course a learning curve), and I have managed to design my first graphic in Photoshop.


Definitely not as easy as some of you make it look.


That said, I present to you:

Start thinking now.

Since this is my boring hump-day birthday (you know, the mid point between 30 and 35 with no real significance), I need you all to help me jazz things up.

Think about your favorite birthday memory EVER, and write a post about it.

Then come back on over here and link up with me.

If you want to use my creative masterpiece, feel free to put it on your blog along with your post. I have NO idea how to create the code for you to link back to me by clicking on it, but if you do, GO FOR IT!

And if you don't know either, but still want to use it, just save it to your computer and upload it as a photo (I think. I'm still learning.)

And regardless of whether you use it or not . . .

I am looking forward to hearing your most fabulous birthday memories (and sharing mine with you!)!

Now, just cross your fingers that this learning mommy can figure out how to work Mr. Linky!

Don't tell anyone, BUT . . .

It's almost my birthday!

Tomorrow, to be exact!

I like to think of it as a hump year (get those minds out of the gutter).

I will be 33.

Just one of those weird numbers, the exact midpoint between 30 and 35.

Like a Wednesday - hump day of the workweek!

I'm celebrating the hump day of my early thirties!

Guess what?

Ironically, tomorrow is my 3 month anniversary of starting my blog!

So, I thought we'd have a little fun.

I will be back with more info later.

This Mommy still needs to learn a couple more things.

But I'll give you a clue - get thinking about your own birthdays.

And check back later for more info.

I hope you'll all help me celebrate my not so big birthday.

Top 5 Tuesday - Pet Peeves

Oh Dana, why does it only have to be five?

This is one I could surely go on about forever!

But alas, I will limit it to 5.

As always, in no particular order.

1) Unpleasant people - I know that's pretty broad. But you know the people I mean. The ones who you smile at and they don't smile back. You just know they're miserable and unhappy because it oozes from every pore of their being. Stay in your house all day if that's how you're going to be!

2) Ignorant people - okay, I just held the door for you and you breezed right past me without so much as a nod. You're quite welcome.

3) Nonstop questions (also known as "the why phase") - currently experiencing this with the Mad Hatter. She can spend a 40 minute ride asking questions. Most of them are the same question after I've given her an answer. It drives me batty. I am hoping there is an end to this phase sometime in the not too far off future. But I'm not hopeful.

4) People riding their motorcycles on the highway and weaving dangerously in and out of traffic like they own the road - dangerous and nerve-wracking. Enough said.

5) People who have no public manners - seriously, do you pee all over the seat and not flush your toilet at home???

I could go on and on . . . maybe you should consider changing this to to Top 10 Tuesday!

Of course, once you do that, you'll give me a topic I don't have a ton to say about!

If you're reading, head on over to Supernanny Where Are You and join in the fun!

Making a Difference

I have only known Heather for a few months.

I was lucky enough to meet her shortly after starting my blog.

Heather is bright, both inside and out.

She's an amazing mom to Kyler and Ella, and wife to Cody.

Heather has recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma cancer.

She has the fight of her life ahead of her, but I KNOW she is going to send that cancer packing.



Please take a moment and head over to my dear friend McMommy's blog.

McMommy is doing something amazing.

It is a heartfelt gesture showing a huge outpouring of love and support for Heather that will only take you a minute to participate in.

The minute you give will help provide Heather with a world of support as she begins her journey of "fighting the fight".

Thank you for helping me

Feel free to take this image and put it on your blog.

Pass it along.

Link to Heather to keep up with her journey.

And give your own children an extra squeeze today - we should never for a moment take our lives for granted.

Heather, I am rooting for you here in RI!

Put on Your Party Shoes and Come Get Your Bling!

Yes, friends, it's the first Mommy Learn to Blog awards ceremony.

A couple of months ago, I was honored and astounded to received a lovely award from the fabulous McMommy.

I won't lie, I was a fairly new blogger (and yes, I am oh so seasoned now that I've been at it for almost 3 months - not! But in Bloggywood, we all know that 3 months is almost a lifetime!), and I felt like a complete Rock Star! Especially since it came from my blog Idol!

At the time, I was just delving into the blogging world, and discovering just how many fabulous blogs there are out there.

So, I didn't feel well prepared to pass on the Bloggity Bling until I got to know some of these blogs and their owners a bit better!

Now that I do have so many faves, it's incredibly hard to choose just 5 blogs to pass this award on to, but I will try my best, and hope that the recipients will feel just as special as I did.

I now present to you the Arte y Pico award:

Would each of you wonderful ladies please step forward to accept your award?

Dana @ Supernanny, Where Are You
Dana and I met over 4 years ago in a BabyCenter discussion board called February Sweethearts. We all found each other by way of the fact that we were to become first time moms sometime in February of 2005. Although we've known each other for a long time, I feel like I've only really just gotten to know her over the past few months through her blog, our emails, and our chats. Her blog is full of funny anecdotes from her job as a mail carrier, life as a mom of 2, and other daily musings. I always look forward to seeing what she'll post about next! More than anything, I love her because when I emailed her to tell her I had started a blog of my own, her response was something like "Finally! I was just thinking to myself, I wonder when that girl is finally going to start a blog!" Thanks for being such a great friend and encouragement, Dana!

Rae @ My Life on the East Coast
I met Rae through the blog of a friend of a friend. She is mom to 3 (let me make that SUPERMOM to 3), has a fabulous sense for interior decorating, and her love for life and her family just comes shining through in everything she posts about. She is one of the sweetest women I've ever met - she, too, encouraged me to start blogging and was thrilled to hear that I finally did. I always enjoy hearing about her latest adventures with the fam, and seeing what new thing she's done to her house! I also aspire to someday own even a quarter of her amazing organizational and housekeeping skills! Rae, you're the best!

Carol @ Siswick Construction Zone
Carol and I also met through February Sweethearts, and I always knew she was funny, but her personality just comes shining through over and over through her blog. Of course I love hearing the trials and tribs of raising Thomas and Eli, but she never fails to make me laugh out loud with her adventures, and honest and frank retelling of her daily mommy moments. I love the fact that she would choose afternoon preschool over morning mainly because she'd rather lounge around in her jammies all morning, and besides, who wants to get up and out in the freezing cold so early in the day? I love the fact that she's not afraid to show her budding Picasso's poop art to the whole blogosphere. And I just love her dry humor, as well as her "gift" for sensing impending doom (i.e. accidents) when there are children involved. Carol, you never fail to make me smile!

Shannon @ Simply Shannon
You guessed it, Shannon is another fellow February Sweetheart buddy. However, she is always so busy with work that I did not get to know her nearly as well through our online group as I have through her blog. She originally started her blog with a different name and purpose, and I couldn't have been more thrilled the day I logged on and saw a new name and design! Her new blog purpose makes me happy - taking some time for herself, and discovering the things that make HER happy - and she deserves happiness, that's for sure! I love hearing all about Ciara's adventures, and can always identify with what she's going through. It's not easy being the mom of an only child, and a 3 1/2 year old girl at that! I've watched Shannon really come out of her shell these past few months and I think she's a great writer. I love to hear stories about when she travels home - her love for her family is so strong and clear, I almost feel like I'm a part of their time together. I even feel like I was there the day where she (at 10 years old) got horribly ill from motion sickness on the luggage of a fellow train rider who did not move out of the way when she so politely asked! Shannon, I'm proud of where you started, and the person you're becoming here in Bloggeritaville!

Wendi @ Because Wendi Said So!
What can I say besides I LOVE WENDI! She found my blog shortly after I started it, and has always taken the time to leave me a comment. These comments led to email exchanges, that has led to some fabulous (and never-ending) online chats. We're convinced we might share a brain. And that's fine with me - her blog always makes me smile and usually laugh out loud. I make her snort and spew Crystal Light at her computer screen. We're a match made in heaven. She writes with a very distinct style, though she refuses to believe that she has her own "style". Her compassion and kindness come through every time I see her interact with someone in Bloggywood, but she's also not afraid to show us her sometimes extremly dry and to the point sense of humor. Wendi, I love you because I said so!

Normally I'm a fan of throwing rules out the window, but this award does come with a few:

1) You must pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award, based upon creativity, design, interesting material, and that also contribute to the blogger community.
2) Each award must have the name of the author with a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Award-winners must show the award and put the name and link to the blog that awarded it.
4) Award-winners and the one who has given the prize must show the link to the Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) These rules must be included in your post.

Before you leave, I've got some celebratory Patron Silver shots (only the best for my gals), as well as some ice cold Bud Light with Lime. If you haven't tried it yet, it's delish!

Now, go forth and spread the bloggy love!

*******************************************************
My girl Lindsey over here tried to tell me how to put the accent mark over a letter while posting, but sadly it doesn't seem to work here! Please envision a lovely accent over the "O" in PatrOn!

You Don't Bring Me Flowers . . .

You don't sing me love songs.

OK, not completely true.

Hubby does surprise me occasionally with flowers.

And quite frankly, I prefer the "just because" of it to getting them for a special occasion.

But The Mad Hatter seems to have come up with a much better way of doing things.

Such a good idea, in fact, that I think if she shared her idea with her Daddy, I'd get flowers all the time.

She's a one stop shopping source - flowers and vase at the ready.

And even some for Daddy!

And why was I so lucky to get these purple flowers on this specific day?

She does mention something about the alarm going off at Uncle Dave's - which did happen that day and made quite an impression on her as she was right there in the thick of all of it, complete with "dat nice lady who sitted wif me on da steps and maked me better" (aka police lady who came because the alarm company automatically calls).

She was completely freaked out by all the loud noise and for the next 2 days everything she said was punctuated by some random comment about the big episode.

I'm just going to assume that her little mind was in overdrive from the day's excitement.

She was all over the place that afternoon, and more full of chatter than usual.

Notice the "strawberries" she's eating? They came from Trader Joe's (on the way home from Uncle Dave's) and right before she gave me those flowers, we had a lovely chat about all the "cool stuff dey have at Trader Joe's - like tuna fish, and cookies, and bananas". I've yet to see a can of tuna fish at TJ's, but maybe I just haven't been looking hard enough.

After the video? She gathered many BLUE! flowers for daddy because he LIKES BLUE! flowers.

She was pretty adamant

Who knew?

Moral of the story: Mommies, if you want to receive flowers more frequently, get your kids to tell Daddy about the MH way. In this economy they're a great deal AND they never die!

Wordless Wednesday

The Mad Hatter took to the sea for the first time ever when we visited a friend's lake house this weekend! Needless to say, she enjoyed every last second of it!

Make New Friends

But keep the old.

It reminds me of the song we used to sing when I was a wee little Brownie.

I didn't make it past Brownie-hood. The day long trip into the wilderness at Girl Scout Camp proved that I was in no way ready to devote my childhood to wooden outhouses (I held it the WHOLE day), mess kits, and bugs galore.

Besides, I was probably persuaded to do the whole Brownie thing in the first place because I was too young to know it was anything more than a bunch of little girls getting together eating brownies.

Even then at age 6, I never could resist the temptation of a yummy treat!

And Girl Scouts everywhere, I do thank you for your cookies. Especially the Samoas (now turned Caramel Delights - I still love you anyways).

I digress.

Last week I had the opportunity to catch up with not one, but two "old" friends.

One of these is a girlfriend I met about 5 years ago, and we became instant friends. We shared some great times before we were both moms. I had the pleasure of watching her date and become engaged to her wonderful husband (who incidentally was in my mom's third grade class in another city - absolute clarification that our friendship was fated). I had the honor of being a part of her wedding party. And I've watched as she and her husband welcomed a beautiful little girl 9 months ago and made their family complete. She is an amazing mom, and all-around wonderful person and friend. She and her husband have the kind of relationship others are envious of. Anyways, she is currently working part time at the salon we both go to (which she turned me on to), and I specifically made an appointment for a manicure and pedicure while she was working so we could catch up, and go out for a drink after. Talk about the ultimate girls' night out for me!

The second friend is one DH and I met before we were married, before we were even dating. It was through the Jewish community, and we'd all met through a young professionals and grad students group. I'd gotten involved since I'd recently returned to RI and was looking to meet girlfriends (I did find them, but also found DH, which is another story for another day). We met A, who had moved to RI not long before. And he shortly started dating E, one of the girlfriends I had met. The four of us were inseparable. We did almost everything together, including being a part of each others' weddings. Sadly for us, they moved to California for A's job about 6 years ago and it doesn't look like they'll be moving back. We look forward to their visits home, which are few and far between. As luck would have it, A had a trade show here for business. We were lucky to have him here for dinner Friday night and had lots of time to catch up (although I wish E, and their little girl could have been here too, that would have been perfect!).

It got me thinking about how many friends I've made throughout my life, especially since becoming a mom.

I've got friends I talk to daily or weekly, and some monthly and even yearly.

But what I really got thinking about last Thursday and Friday is how you know your friendship is true.

True friendship is when sometimes you talk every day for months on end. Then "life" happens, and sometimes it's an email here and there. Then it's phone tag. Then two months goes by and you haven't had any form of contact or communication.

But then you do. And you pick right up where you left off. As though no time has gone by at all.

That, my friends, is true friendship.

The kind of friendship you take comfort in. You know that no matter how much time has passed, you can pick up the phone and they will be there in a heartbeat. You get together and giggle nonstop while your horrible waiter keeps coming by to see if you've paid the bill yet. And you just want him to go away because you're enjoying your friendship at its best. And because you know this time is precious, and it might just be another 2 months before it happens again. BUT, you also know that your friendship will always be just like this.

True friendship is wanting to host a great meal for a friend who is in town and you haven't seen in forever. And not minding doing all the cleanup or putting the kiddo to bed so he and DH can sit on the deck and catch up over one of their favorite hobbies - wine and a cigar. And then joining them through all that cigar smoke so you can hear all about the newest job, new home, life with a 2 1/2 year old, and even a potential new home-based job venture (more on that later). Having conversations about people we all used to be friends with but are not of the variety of which I'm discussing right now - friends who have long since drifted out of our lives. Feeling as though nothing in our friendship has changed besides the matter of approximately 3000 miles.

Yes, we meet friends and acquaintances all the time. But we are lucky if we can count the number of true friends we have on one hand.

I like to think that most of the time, I'm pretty cognizant of this fact.

But once in a while, the in-your-face reminder is nice. Not to mention, lots of fun.

One Tiny Request

I've been meaning to post this forever, but as was clearing out my inbox the other day and replying to comments, I was reminded.

First let me say, thank you thank you thank you for reading my blog and taking the time to comment.

Many comments arrive in my inbox with a name and an email address, which means I can just hit reply and write back to you.

However, some of you have a name but no email address. Instead, it says something like noreply (at sign) blogger

Then, the only way I can reply to you is by going to your blog, and leaving you a reply in comment form, which takes significantly longer.

I'm not lazy - in fact, I'm usually visiting your blog. But I may have already done it that day, or other things take up my time. You see where I'm going with this . . .

So my request is simple. If you've already got an email address associated with your blogger account, go into your profile and check off the show my email address box under edit profile.

If you don't have an email address associated, you should! Create one through gmail or wherever, and add it to your identity under edit profile, then click that same little box.

Easy enough?

I thank you from the bottom of my heart and promise you'll be glad you did! And, I bet you'll get a lot more replies to your comments from everyone else in Bloggywood, too!

Top 5 Tuesday - Movies

My good friend Dana over at Supernanny, Where are You? recently started hosting Top 5 Tuesday - this week is movies!

I will gladly give five choices, although I have to say they will not be in any particular order. Plus, I've got way more than 5 anyways, so I'm going for the top!

1. Down to You - love me ANYTHING with Freddie Prinze, Jr. and this is my fave
2. Stealing Home - laugh, cry, and everything in between
3. Father of the Bride - I can watch over and over and never tire of Frank Egglehoffer
4. Dirty Dancing - ENOUGH SAID!
5. Silence of the Lambs - great acting, great storyline (although completely freakish), love it

So many more, so few options to list . . .

If you're reading, create your own post, then head on over to Dana to link up!

There's NO Time!

There's NEVER ANY TIME!

I will admit that I am a complete dork and love, love, love Saved by the Bell.

I loved it during it's original airings, when I would lounge around on Saturday mornings in my jammies watching Zack and Slater out-prank each other to earn the affections of the lovely Kelly Kapowski.

I loved watching Saved by the Bell the College Years.

Even the cheesy Saved by the Bell made for TV Friday night movies.

And even post college, watching reruns first thing in the morning, as I was getting ready for work.

There are many lines and episodes that I know by heart and actually use rather frequently.

Yes, I live a sad, sad life.

Anyways, I have been stressed out this week because I've got so much to blog about but not a free second to do so.

I guess that's good - we've been so busy enjoying summer that I've had no time to get in front of my computer to blog about it.

Then there's the whole dilemma of how to spend the little time I do have on the computer - worrying about my own blog, responding to comments, or blog hopping so I don't get so behind in my reader.

SUCH dilemmas, I tell you!

So, running through my brain for the last 4 days has been the classic Jessie Spano caffeine pill addiction freakout episode.

All I can hear is Jessie screaming dramatically, in the episode that I believe was her acting breakthrough "There's NO time, there's never any time!" as she frantically reaches for more pills and scatters them all over her bed (much to Zack's chagrin).

For those of you who don't remember (and if you don't, were you living under a rock??), this is the one where Jessie takes on too many things, gets hooked on caffeine pills, finally passes out from exhaustion, and freaks out when Zack comes to pick her up to go to the Max to perform with Lisa and Kelly in Hot Sundae in front of a record agent.

Such a moving episode - one the hubby and I actually created our own little preview ad for - "Get the family together - it's a special Saved by the Bell episode you WON'T want to miss (spoken in very serious tone by voice-over announcer)."

I thought I'd entertain you all with a clip of the actual part where Jessie says those lines about there never being enough time, but sadly, the only clips are of the part that immediately follows. I have to say, I was amazed at just how many clips/spoofs of this actually exist on YouTube!

So, for your viewing pleasure:



I hope you get as much of a chuckle out of this as DH and I just did!

And we're off to yet another summer party, but I promise to come back with some proper posts ASAP this week!

In the meantime, leave me a comment - what is your fave Saved by the Bell episode?

Because Wendi ROCKS!

My dear friend Wendi over at Because Wendi Says So! doesn't know that she "learned" me something, but she did!

And she might be a bit nervous because last night I told her I had a post in mind that would be devoted entirely to her.

And I wouldn't tell her what it was about.

And she's leaving tomorrow for a trip where she will not have computer access for 4 days (the horror of it all!)

So Wendi, I hope you're reading - I didn't want you to be wondering about "the post" the whole time you were hangin' with all the kiddos (for which, of course, we expect full disclosure on upon your return).

You see, about a week ago, I noticed a familiar little symbol at the bottom of one of Wendi's posts.

Look familiar?

It sure did to me!

And as rarely as this does occur, a lightbulb popped on in my little brain.

Were Wendi's photos uploaded directly through Picasa?

Could it be?

MY Picasa?

The trusty friend who finds every photo on my computer, lets me adjust them, play with them, and organize them to my heart's content?

The same trusty friend who just happens, as I suddenly remember, to be powered by Google?

So this learning blogger's mind starts racing.

She does a little test - racing to Picasa, selecting some photos, and clicking on the "Blog This" button.

And voila . . . a blog post, with all my pictures RIGHT THERE.

No uploading one at a time.

No fiddling around with the arrangement in HTML mode.

Just the pure joy of uploading my pics in one fell swoop and adding in my commentary.

Seriously Wendi, you know I love you, but You. Made. My. Day.

And you didn't even know it.

Now, I hope my passing on of Wendi's trick can help all of you other bloggers frustrated with uploading your pictures and getting them arranged with your text just so.

And if you don't already have Picasa on your computer? Well shame on YOU!

And if I am the moron for not figuring out this sooner (and the rest of you are sitting there scratching your heads saying, du-uh!), well shame on ME.

But, let's remember that I am just a mommy learning to blog!

Now, if someone could tell me how to get that accent mark over the "i" in voila, I'd be screaming with happiness from the rooftops.

Wordless Wednesday Part 2 - Beach Bums

Definitely not "bleach" bums!

Wordless Wednesday

Well, ALMOST wordless. Anyone who knows me knows that I have a sweet tooth like no other. If my metabolism and exercise ability would cooperate, I would happily eat dessert for breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and of course a few snacks in between).

Last week I had the opportunity to be a "lady who lunches", as my good friend N was moving out of the country (forever!) the following day AND it was my close friend T's birthday. You could say the gathering was quite bittersweet.

The dessert, on the other hand was not - it was as perfectly sweet as could be!

Yep, I'm that girl who grabs her camera and snaps shots of the beautifully presented goodies because I just know that at some point I will have a use for them.

Like to remind myself why my waistband is feeling a bit snug.

I present to you:


Molten Chocolate Heart with Raspberry Sorbet

Ultimate Banana Split (definitely not mine, as I hate bananas!)

Hot Fudge Brownie Sundae

The desserts were fabulous of course, but our friendship is the sweetest thing of all.

N - I'm missing you!
T - glad we got to celebrate again last night!

Anyone drooling yet???