Happy Birhtday to me... :)

Well... it's official... I'M 30!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have to say, it's not so bad up here! ;-)

My mom came in town the other day, so for once in a long, long, long time, I got to celebrate my birthday with my mommy, and that made me happy! :)

On my actual birthday, me, baby girl, and my mom drove to the mall after breakfast for a little Birthday retail therapy... Nothing too crazy... I was just looking for some bracelets to go with a dress I'm wearing on Saturday night for a MUCH-NEEDED child-free night out on the town with my hubby & favorite girls, but my bracelet hunt was a BIG FAT FAIL! :( Seriously, how hard is it to find a pretty sparkly thing that doesn't cost a fortune... well apparently, very hard... However, I did stumble upon these beauties at Macy's while on the way out...

Seriously!... I don't know what it is about me & this color, but I AM A LITTLE OBSESSED!... to say the least! I think it is G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S & these bad boys HAD to come home with me! PERIOD! I was SUPER STOKED!... I had been wanting a pair of blue flats forever & I LOVE the studs on the back & patent leather toe! And to make it even sweeter, I had a Macy's gift card that has been living in my wallet for a year for about THE EXACT amount, so I know it was completely meant to be... PS. they were only $35!!! Really! (Sarah Jacobi- you need a pair of these too!)

Later that evening, my sweet hubby came home from work early & we had a nice, quite dinner at home. He grilled yummy steaks & I made roasted asparagus & white truffle mashed potatoes to go with it...

(PS. I LOVE asparagus! They have been on sale the last couple weeks at Publix so we have been making tons of it!... This is THE BEST way to roast them, in my humble opinion...)

Roasted Asparagus...
Preheat oven 350. Spread trimmed asparagus on baking sheet & drizzle with olive oil, coarse salt, cracked black pepper, lemon zest & lemon juice. Toss. Bake for about 10-15min depending on thickness...

For the white truffle mashed potatoes...
Peel and dice Yukon Gold potatoes. Put in pot, fill with water, add lots of coarse salt & big dollop of olive oil. Stir. Cook until tender. Drain. Add butter, sour cream, half & half, salt, & white pepper to taste. Whip with electric hand mixer. Then stir in white truffle oil to taste. Top with chopped, fresh chives and...

Viola! YUM-O!

This little one was ALL ABOUT some truffle mashed potatoes!... :)



And finally, yummy lemon bars for dessert... :)

Happy Birthday to me!... ;-)


It was the perfect night at home with my wonderful family! :)

If I could go on a Birthday shopping spree...

And while we're at it... maybe my Fairy God Mother could throw in a stomach that looks like this... :)

LOL... that was fun! BOY, do I sure know how to spend an imaginary forture or what! Ha :)

Weekend Wrap-up...

Hi bloggie friends! I hope you all had a good weekend! I know mine zoomed by but it was a great one!

On Friday afternoon, I packed up the SUV and my hubby and sweet baby girl took a daughter/daddy road trip & went to our family lake house in Kentucky for the weekend... (Here she is with her little Olivia doll on the way to pick up "dada" at the office... Isn't she precious?! ;-)

My hubby was playing in a golf tournament with my brother-in-law & my daughter got to spend time with her cousins & her Aunt E, while THIS momma got a WHOLE WEEKEND ALL TO HERSELF!!!!!! *ahhhh*

It was wonderful!... I didn't do one load of laundry the ENTIRE WEEKEND, nor did I do the dishes or clean the house for that matter!!!... I was COMPLETELY USELESS in the housewife department and it was FABULOUS!!!! :-)

I did, however; watch A LOT of trashy TV, got a pedicure with my bestie, did a little shopping, and had a dinner out with my girlfriends! It was the perfect weekend in my book!... I even slept til 10:30am today!! I didn't think my body did that sort of thing anymore!... Anyhoo...

On Saturday morning, I met my best friend Jana for a pedi... I don't usually get pedicures (they make me slightly uncomfortable- yes I know that's weird but I just like to do my own nails) but I was WAAAAYYYYY over due for a good foot scrub!... So my question is, since I don't usually get pedis, the lady asked me if I wanted to do "the razor" or just a scrub on the bottom of my feet... I opted for the scrub because "the razor" sounded slightly terrifying! But I have to ask you "pedi pros", what's the deal with the razor?? Does it hurt?... (To be quite honest, I think she should have taken a sandblaster to the bottom of my heels so maybe opting out was the wrong choice!...)

Anyhoo... after my pedi, I went to the mall because I had some errands to run & things to exchange... I picked up these two nail polishes for fall at Sephora...

Sephora by OPI "Caught with my Khakis Down"

& Already Famous



*I can't wait for fall nails!!! Really, I can't wait for fall period!*

Then I saw these beauties while strolling through the shoes section as Macy's....

Aren't the fabulous!!!! They're Rachel Roy (who I adore!... I actually saw her in NYC while hubs & I were there last fall)... but I took this pic with my iPhone so it doesn't do this beauty justice but they are a beautiful sparkly dark purple (they're aubergine if you wanna get color technical) and I ADORE THEM! They are only $99! I was very surprised!... What a fun going out shoe that would be!

I also saw this pretty sparkly bracelet at Ann Taylor LOFT...

I really wanted to take her home with me (& her rose gold counterpart) but I behaved myself... I'm hoping when my mom comes in town in a couple weeks we can go back & get these as my bday gift from her! :-)...

Then, I headed over to the "Promiseland" aka Tiffany & Co. for this little number... :-)

*You can see what's inside that beautiful blue box later... ;-)

Then, to finish off my wonderful child & husband free weekend, I met some of my favorite ladies out to dinner to celebrate my good friend, Beth's Birthday...

We thought it was going to be a nice, quiet dinner... But Lordy, we should have known better!... nothing about us ladies is quiet- especially when we all get together & there is watermelon martinis & wine flowing! LOL :-)

Our "quiet" Sunday night dinner, turned into a 3 hour affair and by the end of it, we were on a 1st name basis with several of the wait staff... We had a blast!... We laughed (A LOT), cried a little, and even managed to get a few disconcerting looks from the lady at the table next to us! LOL... I'd say it was a night for the memory books!... :)

So what was in that little blue box you ask???...

A beautiful "LOVE" pendant necklace for the birthday girl!... Happy Birthday Miss Beth! We love you more than you realize & we hope you always feel that when you wear your necklace! :)