Birthday Bash :: Behind the Scenes

You know the part in E! True Hollywood Story when that deep-voiced announcer guy says, "When we come back, {pause, pause} the cast of Saved By the Bell turns from innocent child actors to teen stars filled with angst" or something along those lines?
Well that's NOT how my behind the scenes story went. Aren't you glad?

While I was telling you about stories of my past {this one from middle school was my favorite to tell; I have been holding that picture for 6 months} and having a bloggity blast getting loads of comments and feeling popular, I had a lovely birthday in real life.

My real birthday started out with 7 of my favoritest girlfriends meeting me at the best little Tex- Mex place for breakfast. And if you've never had salsa early in the morning then you need that extra kick! We resolved to do it for everyone's birthday because it was such a fun treat.
Then I went for a pedicure {deluuuuxe, of course} and then to lunch with MIL, SIL and GIL {that's Grandmother in Law} at the girliest place in town.

As you see, eating on one's birthday is of utmost importance. I tried to continue doing it all day with mild interruptions of loafing and accepting well wishes via facebook, blog, real life phone calls, etc. It was tough being me.

The day took a slight detour, though, when I decided to take the boys to Toys R Us to play with trains and redeem some of Ollie's birthday coupons. Except these coupons were VAGUE and I ended up discussing matters with 2 very tired children and 1 inept manager. And we left minus the train.

But I decided to hop back to my happy {birthday} place and had a wonderful rest of the day.

That morning Jason told me he was going to bake me a birthday cake. He was very proud of himself for this idea {as he should be} and I was very proud of him for the thought.
Since he has never baked a thing, much less a cake, I wasn't licking my taste buds before they hatched... or something like that.

He braved Publix, came home with Betty Crocker's finest and got to cooking immediately!
He followed the instructions to a tee and even asked where our toothpicks were to test if the cake was done.

Oh, the man. He is so good. 2 layers of German Chocolate and it was delish!

He even bought the 3 and 1 candle and serenaded me with Happy Birthday along with the kids.

Wait! Don't look at that table. Here is a much prettier picture of the cake with me trying to "frame" my Welcome sign.

All the pedicures in the world couldn't make up for my sweet little family. Not even the deluxe ones.

Then this weekend we ventured to the park in between our Olympic- worthy laying around and had a great time with the ducks, fish

and park people {there is some great people watching to be had at the park, you know}.

Henry never meets a stranger- webbed ones included.

And minus the germs being incurred, this is one of my favorite pictures {SOOC- meaning I haven't even doctored it up, yet}.

So, behind the scenes, my real birthday was fantastic. There would be no need for deep-voiced announcer guy to have followed me around. My, he would been bored: "When we come back... She eats AGAIN".

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I want to be sure to thank the people who made it amazing on the blog, as well! Please consider giving them a call or e-mail for your shopping needs. I guarantee you they have something that would work for a teacher gift, pick me up, birthday present, etc. None of them are paying me to say this; these are truly my favorite people and products and I promise you would love them.

Melanie from Homemade Gourmet {also offering a 15% discount on your order if you tell her you read about it here!} [Day 1]

Lisa from Lisa Leonard Designs [Day 2]

Deanna from Design Chicky [Day 3]

Holley from Heart to Heart with Holley [Day 4]

(in)courage [Day 5]

Lydia from Layne James {also offering a 15% discount with code OTHERMAMA at checkout!} [Day 4]

Kasi from Southern Living at Home [Day 5- click here for all seasonal discount flyers and details]

Sonia from Uppercase Living [Day 5]

Thank you ALL so much. Until next year...

Wait- not the WHOLE blog... just the birthday and the bash parts.

I'll be back here tomorrow. Wait... no... I'll be here instead. You'll see...