30 Years, 30 Treats
Well, maybe not that many treats, but it was close! A quick visual recap of the merry-making from last week:
After a lovely, surprise breakfast with my two guys (details to come on a "Motherhood Monday"), I was thrilled to get to share my story of Hope with my Community Bible Study.
That's me with the leader, Dotty Larson--she's 87 years young and fabulous! Sweet side note-- my dear friend, Mia, emailed my CBS core group to sit on the front row and all wear blue in my honor. I felt loved!
Honestly, speaking there was the main thing I wanted to do for my birthday--it was so, so special to me. However, Jay, my family, and friends had a few other plans in mind for celebrating my 30th year...
Straight from CBS, we drove down to the beach, accompanied by friends and kids and fellow CBS'ers for an impromptu beach party. The Annenberg Community Beach House is a beautiful public facility right on the beach. The weather was beautiful, so the kids played in the sand and in the water fountains while we sipped mango tea under the large orange umbrellas.
Of course, no celebration would be complete without Sprinkles, but this time, they were overshadowed by a cake baked by my divinely domestic friend, Cora. As evidenced by expression below, it was obscenely good.
Thoughtful and darling gal that she is, she found a recipe on my "Chocolate-Covered" Pinterest board (are you surprised? see it here) for this "Ultimate S'mores Cake"--layers of brownie, cheesecake, chocolate chip cookie, graham cracker, marshmallow, and chocolate frosting--WOW!!
As if that time of fun in the sun was not enough, later that afternoon, my lovely sisters, Amie and Grace, surprised Jay and I with a night at a beautiful hotel in Santa Monica. We found this little chocolate and raspberry treat waiting for us. James enjoyed a few jumps on the bed before his grandmommy, "Mimi", whisked him away for the night.
"30 YEARS WOOHOO!"
We had every intention of using the hotel's fancy car service to try out some new hot spot in the area for dinner, but since we are now 30 and officially old, we opted for the cozy and easy plan--we headed downstairs to the hotel's restaurant. Good thing it's a phenomenal restaurant! Fig's "Fig at Five" half-off-the-menu special honestly made it all taste even better (you know we love a good early-bird special)!
After a cheese flight, brussel sprouts, spinach, and french onion soup, we were so full, we got the entrees to-go and headed back up to the room. Warm, delicious eats and a good movie in bed, that's my kind of night!
When we got back home the next day, I found a few special deliveries on my door step...a dozen Sprinkles from my dear friend Anna and chocolate and coffee from my wonderful in-laws--they all know me too well!
It was so fun to extend the celebration a bit more that next night at a family dinner with my Mom and sisters. Of course, there was another cake. Jay ordered it from our favorite Culver City bakery, Platine, long before he knew of the multitudes of Sprinkles, homemade S'mores cakes, and hotel treats that would be coming our way. Don't worry, it didn't go to waste, and the ensuing sugar coma that lasted nearly a week was well worth it all!
