Tag Archives: birthday

Closing Out My 30 Before 30 List

Posted in 30 before 30 by

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Originally posted in April of 2014, my 30 Before 30 list laid out a few tasks, large and small, that I hoped to accomplish by this month. I didn’t do so hot…but you know me. I love my lists. And I have no guilt for not rounding this one out.

A few of my favorite things though included my honeymoon (obvi), my trip to San Francisco with the girls, and the Columbus Color Run.

selfies galore.
Obligatory Golden Gate Selfie!!

However the MOST EXCITING THING that I have yet to share on the blog is SO FUN that it deserves its own post…so stay tuned 🙂 Though if you read through my list you can probably make a pretty good guess on what it’s going to be. See you here later this week!

Well I’m 30 Now…

Posted in 30 before 30, Life As I Know It by

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Well, on Monday, Labor Day, I turned 30. And I’m not mad about it. In fact, I’m pretty okay with 30. But the sound of it is a little strange… THIRTY. That used to sound SO OLD and so far away. And…it’s not.

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I got to spend an extended Labor Day Weekend in Nashville with my hubby, my mom, and my in-laws, and got to visit with a lot of our family. We shopped, we ate, we drank. I’m pretty sure I broke one of my small toes. That was about the extent of it!

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I came back to the office to find this on the whiteboard…

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And this in my office…IMG_8515

I’ll have an update on my 30 before 30 list soon. I was able to accomplish a few more things just in the nick of time… SOON SOON!

Door County in March

Posted in Life As I Know It by

Last weekend was my mom’s birthday! As a kid, I always got such a kick out of the fact that her birthday was March 7 and mine was September 7, exactly six months apart, “but different years!” I used to joke. Obvi. Here is my favorite embarrassing photo I’ve posted of her…

Some years we don’t get to celebrate birthdays together, but some years we do! Three years back for a certain special milestone birthday, we made our way to Charleston. We both loved that trip, but due to my mom’s genes, leading to a bad hip, she couldn’t get around as much as she wanted to. Since then, she’s had her hip replaced, I’ve moved to a new state and gotten married, and this was the first trip we’ve had where we could relax, shop, drink wine, and just hang out! The chaos of the last few years seems to have subsided for now.

Me and mama!
Frozen over.
Cute little coffee and lunch spot.
First stop: wine tasting.
First stop: wine tasting.
Next stop: Cheese tasting.
Next stop: Cheese tasting.
Next stop: Cheese tasting.
A serious Wisconsin Fish Fry
A serious Wisconsin Fish Fry
Birthday girl with treat!
Birthday treat!
#selfie
Pretty darn cold and frozen
High Point Inn
High Point Inn
High Point Inn
I found a puzzle…
For being loyal to High Point Inn!
Fish Creek, WI
Ephraim, WI
Ephraim, WI
Happy birthday!
Snacky Dinner
Enjoying the Door County Wine

Super Hero Cake Balls

Posted in Mmm...Food... by

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They always look completely homemade, by hand, but I just love making them. And recently, my friend Annie asked if I could make some cake balls for her son Carter’s Superhero themed 4th birthday party. My response? Of course! Always!

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I had such a fun time making these. Cake and icing from scratch is the key – when you use store-bought, ESPECIALLY canned icing, they are just WAY too sweet. I mean, don’t get me wrong: these little buggers are as sweet and rich as you can get. But when you use canned icing, it’s just over-the-top-not-even-tasty sweet. And really, whipping up some icing is not the most time consuming part of this process, by any means.

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I lucked out finding a few little extra touches, like these cute star candles and those sugar letters to spell out his name. The colors were red, blue, yellow, and green, but I pretty much only added green via the cupcake wrappers, letters, and one of the candles. It was more of an accent anyway!

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Fun, right?? Annie also had someone make a layered super hero cake and both were a great success. My cake balls may look handmade, but they taste AMAZEballs (see what I did there).

Happy Thursday!

Welcome to 27 {On Being Content}

Posted in Life As I Know It by

This card just about sums it up (although, I did give up shopping at Forever 21 a few years ago…). And the rest of it is, simply, fact.

Today, I turn 27. I’m arguably crossing the line from “mid” to “late” 20s, but frankly, I’m more than okay with that.

If you’d asked me a few years back where I’d be at 27, I may not have described who or where I am today. But our plans are rarely God’s plans, and He has placed me exactly where I needed to be. I have worked hard, made mistakes, celebrated accomplishments, and grown into a 27-year-old version of myself that I feel proud of. I’m blessed to be in a great job, in a fabulous city, surrounded by friends and family who love me from near and far away.

I feel like I’m living. I feel like this is life, with its highest highs and lowest lows, and mostly, its fairly constant day-to-day normality. And I am not simply happy with my life – I am content. I appreciate (most of) my days for what they are, and I consider that alone an accomplishment. And I believe you MUST be content before you can really be completely joyful, grateful, and loving.

As you may know, I believe JOY is a choice. But it sure is a lot easier to embody joy when you are content. I encourage you today to be content, no matter where you are in life! If you aren’t, start to ask yourself why, and make some changes. We have the power to do anything we want with our lives, day in and day out, and I wish you all the blessings in the world today!

Birthday Cake Decorating

Posted in Life As I Know It, Mmm...Food... by

I am NOT  a cake decorator. In fact, as you can tell by this quick instagram picture, I sort of suck at it a little. But this week is my 11- (soon to be 12-) year-old little sister’s birthday, so this weekend, we made a cake together.

It was a lot of fun to make a cake from scratch with her. She chose red velvet, so I found this recipe, and then we made a basic cream cheese icing to go with it (yummmm). I taught her how to grease and flour a pan, use the hand mixer, pour into three pans. And then how to layer them with icing, do a crumb coat, and then a final coat. So with everything that went into it, I wasn’t too concerned with my poor decorating skills. Not to mention that she was thrilled with the pink and purple that I had on hand…because those are Hello Kitty colors (who knew that was still a thing??).

And, at the end of the day, I didn’t eat any cake (okay, maybe I licked one spoon) and I had one happy little birthday girl. Do you have some cake decorating skills you’d like to share with me?!