thursday things – my birthday and some other things

1486885_10100645385030298_819587728_n

Sunday was my birthday – the big ol’ 2-9. I can’t believe this is going to be my last year that I can say I’m “In my 20’s” (although, it just occurred to me that I can totally keep SAYING I’m in my 20’s… it just won’t be true anymore. A minor difference.)

Anyway, you’re only in your twenties once (for 10 years) so I’ve gotta make sure I spend my last year really “living it up” as they say…

First step of “living it up”? Making myself two cakes for my birthday.

TWO!

DSC_1192

I was torn over whether to do Faygie’s fluffernutter cake or the Baked Sweet & Salty cake when Shannon offered up a novel idea – “Why not make both?”

Genius. Pure genius. Or evil genius. I’m not completely sure which type of genius, but there is some sort of genius involved.

The unforseen consequence of having two cakes was that every time I decided to have a piece of cake, I couldn’t decide what kind I wanted to have, so I ended up having a piece of each cake, thus doubling my cake consumption.

Naturally, I mashed them into a hybrid cake to see how they would taste… and they were amazing together.

photo 1

Salted caramel chocolate fluffernutter cake. Yes….

Birthday Things…

This is the part where i tell you about my gifts, if you don’t want to read about my gifts, scroll down to the next part where I talk about other stuff.

Future Husband hit it out of the park this year with a FitBit, some fancy make-up, and a 90-minute massage.  He even decorated while I was at my massage! (See that birthday banner up there? All him.)

The FitBit, for those of you who don’t know, tracks your activity and sleep. So it tells me things like how many steps I’ve taken (which is dismally low on workdays, btw), and even tracks my sleep.

10009516_10104179391158535_1318531168_n

See all those light blue-green lines? Those are all the times my jerk cat wakes me up to pet her.

Jerk.

Oh, and I almost forgot, FH also got me another owl. He is a cookie jar (which is currently holding candy) and his name is Owlbert.

IMG_2973

I feel like this whole owl thing may be getting out of hand…

Meanwhile my BFF traveled all the way to Paris JUST to ship authentic Laudree and Pierre Herme macarons halfway across the world for my birthday!

Ok, that may not have been the motivation for going, but it was still a by-product of going.

BjD08zECcAAEtaL

And Shannon sent me some of the best chocolate in THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD – from Askinosie Chocolate.

IMG_3074

Seriously, guys, if you haven’t had Askinosie chocolate. It’s life changing.

Life. Changing.

Then, my grandma who is probably the sweetest grandma in the whole world (she totally rocks your grandma, trust me) sent me my own taste of home in the form of our famous Tony Packo’s hot dog chili sauce and pickles. If, for some god-forsaken reason, you ever find yourself in Toledo, Ohio, you must go to Tony Packo’s. Then you can go to Rudy’s and pick a side.

It’s like a war. People have died defending their side.

Ok, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration. I happen to think they are both delicious.

1069422_10104180549257695_1511072597_n

The universe also got me a gift – When I logged into Instagram the morning of March 16th, my instagram account had hit 1,200 followers!

I remember when I was excited about 100 followers and now I’m at 1,200! I love each and every one of you (and them) so much!

Bi3GFArCIAA0BX-

And then, my gift to myself, more cake.

photo 2

So much cake.

Other things…

St. Patrick’s Day came and went, we were super Irish this year with soda bread and corned beef.

Movita Beaucoup announced this year’s “Bake My Cake” competition and the theme, as only Movita could possibly have thought of, is crappy cakes. In her words, “The crappier the better.” Which means I might stand a chance this year!

Adam Roberts wrote a great post about how food blogs aren’t really food blogs anymore…  It’s definitely worth a read.

Writer’s block seems to be a common thing amongst my blog friends and I as of late. Not only is it the topic of Shannon (A Periodic Table)’s next “Just One Question” project, but Ms. Jennifer Farley (of Savory Simple) wrote about it (and how some people think it’s not a thing)  earlier this week.

Someone finally created an app that I can truly appreciate – where was this app back in college when I needed it?

The video below gets off to a slow start but trust me, if you stick with it, you will be handsomely rewarded.

Things I want to eat…

These peanut butter cup stuffed chocolate chip cookies from Love & Olive Oil

These garlicky avocado grilled cheese sandwiches from FoodieCrush.

These sweet potato straws from Edible Perspective.

These almond honey squaresfrom David Lebowitz.

10 thoughts on “thursday things – my birthday and some other things

  1. this was quite the robust TT post: so much going on! happy birthday! i’m so envious of your food gifts: i can’t compete with Paris and your grandma, but i’m happy to be included. 🙂 i’m waiting for your tasting notes on the Askinose, btw…juuuuust saying. 🙂

    i’m so happy to be a bad influence on this, the last year you can say you’re in your twenties while i say i’m in my thirties. next year, THIRTIES ALL AROUND. 🙂 unless we go on the ages we act, which would be 12. so. there’s that.

    i still need lessons on how to get 1200 followers on…er…anything? so we can start with instagram and then go from there. congrats!

    i still need to address the comments regarding how writers’ block isn’t a thing; i’m working on that post right now. because, incorrect. also, i liked that article about when food blogs stopped being food blogs: i’ll admit, i’ve only been in the blog realm since professional photos abounded, so i don’t know what it was like to have one prior to all that, but i can only imagine that it was much more relaxed, which would be nice. i love challenging myself with new ways to improve my photography, but it does sometimes stifle what i make/do. easier not to care, but how can you not care when everyone else *does* care? It’s a shame that when we talk about the “higher standards” now for food blogs, that it largely has to do with the photos and not with the recipes themselves: i would be a fan of this sort of pressure being applied to the food itself versus just how well we all balance a cookie on a glass of milk.

    • Seriously, I felt like I was writing a novel! And Askinosie totally competes with grand-mama and Paris … TOTALLY.

      Haha – OMG. IF I SEE ONE MORE COOKIE BALANCED ON ONE MORE GLASS OF MILK I MIGHT HULK OUT!!! hahahahhaha

  2. Ok, I’m totally late to this, but HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY!!!!! Making two cakes is totally genius. Aw, what awesome presents you got! There’s no such thing as too many owls.

    • You’re allowed to be late to anything you want, Amy! YOU HAVE A BABY GROWING INSIDE OF YOU!!! <3 Thank you for making me feel better about my owl issues...

  3. Packo’s Sweet Hot Pickles = pickle perfection/my serious pickle obsession. I seriously can’t get enough. So it’s fortunate that the grocery stores in Dayton started carrying them, or else I’d turn into a crazy person. Also, a bit late, Happy Birthday! Two cakes sounds pretty awesome to me and I’d certainly have a slice of each. I mean, how is it possible to resist?

Somethin' to say? Share it here!