Turning 39

So it's the last year that I can say that I'm in my 30s.  Sounds weird, but feels the same.  You know that feeling.

My birthday weekend was pretty fun this year.  We had a big family dinner at Whiskey Cake.  An actual restaurant that my parents have never been to before.  Since my parents are in the restaurant business, they tend to be super critical about other dining establishments.  "Super critical" is actually an understatement.  They'll pick apart any restaurant...the decor, the service, the wait time, the chairs.  It's no wonder it's hard to introduce them to a new restaurant, right?  Luckily, everyone enjoyed their food and had a great time!

Then my friends and I went to paint some pottery together.  It was such a lovely time with friends!  We chatted, ate snacks, painted our pieces...and most importantly, we just relaxed.  AM's mom even brought a birthday cake for us to eat!  I finally got a chance to paint this hedgehog on a plate and it turned out so cute.  Totally worth 3 hours of work!

The rest of my birthday was filled with breakfast in bed with MOM pancakes,

a scavenger hunt to find my birthday cards and cake-related gifts--a cake lifter and a certificate to take a second cake decorating course (I took the first one last year).  I'm so excited to get to work on one of my New Years' resolutions--making cake flowers!

Another awesome thing was getting a homemade cake from B and the kids.  B needed some pointers from me, but he really did an amazing job with the cake!

It was my favorite cake--the Miami Beach Cake--and then Elina also made sugared flowers to go on top.  She saw the recipe in one of her favorite books, Bake Shop, and wanted to make them.

It looked amazing!  What a great hubby and kids!

Then to top everything off, B and I even managed a date while my family was visiting.  We actually tried a new, trendy restaurant close to downtown.  It wasn't as good as our usual standbys but we were proud of ourselves for stepping outside of our box!

So this was definitely a great birthday spent with family, friends, and my awesome husband!  I'm so thankful for all of it!  What a fun way to turn 39!