My birthday was on Sunday, but that didn't stop me from blowing it out for three straight days. The celebration got kicked off early, & by early I mean early. Our 5:30am Pancake Run on Friday ended with crowns, sashes & birthday pancakes with fellow Team Taurus member, Mary Katherine. Our birthdays are a day apart.
Here's me a mere five hours later with my second dessert of the day. Claudia & Lauren treated me to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen, where I was surprised with a birthday hot fudge sundae.
On Saturday, most of my friends got up early to run half marathons &/or triathlons, but me? I got up early-ish & ran a "barely a 4k" beer run sponsored by Yazoo. Jealy? This is me & my Nasty friend Heidi, post run. These runs are the best runs in Nashville & if you're not on Yazoo's email list, you're missing out.
On Saturday night, we had a few friends over for dinner. John made carnitas. They were unbelievable, just like you'd get at a Mexican restaurant. Above is the chef tasting his creation.
This is Katie photo-bombing me & Jessica. It's kind of the best picture ever. Oh yeah, & I'm wearing my birthday crown from Pancake Pantry. You know, like you do.
Katie always makes a cheesecake for my birthday. This year, she really outdid herself. The crust is made out of graham crackers & crushed Oreos. The cake is regular cream cheese & sour cream, but then it's topped with MELTED PEANUT BUTTER & chocolate. Oh, & crumbled Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. It was as amazing as it sounds (& looks).
On Sunday, my mom & Abigail, my oldest niece, came into town to take me to lunch. I knew I wanted Jeni's afterwards, so we went over to East Nashville. We ate lunch at Five Points Pizza & then trekked over to Jeni's. Neither my mom nor Abigail had been before. They both loved it!
To celebrate both of our birthdays, Mary Katherine & Marshall invited us over for Sunday Supper. Marshall told us to pick the menu, so we picked the paella recipe in Gwyneth's book. OMG, it was soooo good!
For dessert, Melissa made Smitten Kitchen's chocolate buckwheat cake. It looked strange, but it tasted amazing. We ate & drank (& drank) & sang & danced. It was so much fun & the perfect ending to our birthday weekend.
Team Taurus!
Full birthday photostream on Flickr.