Family Photos: Birthday Fun and Life Lately…

I went to bed last night with the best of intentions. My long weekend was over and I was determined to hit the ground running come Monday morning.

And then yesterday, I made the mistake of having a bit too much caffeine, which meant I stayed up later than usual, which meant I had trouble falling asleep, which meant I sleep way too late for my liking, which meant…

Well, I could go on, but I think you see the endless circle I’ve been spinning on. I mean, it’s like I’m on some sort of crazy hamster wheel and CAN’T GET OFF.

But I digress. The good news is that I DID have a wonderful birthday weekend! It was full of food and family and lots of fun. And, of course, I’ve got the photos to prove it, starting with the photo above — that’s how I spent my Sunday. It was picture-perfect and glorious…

On my actual birthday, we met some friends for lunch at Portillo’s — have you ever been there? It’s a Midwest staple and the cheese fries are something out of this world. Then, like the mature, classy 35-year-old that I am, I had to open my presents the minute we got home! I got some wonderful throwback gifts, like Minnie Mouse Lip Smackers and Simon. What child of the ’80s doesn’t love Simon? Who wants to challenge me to a tournament?

I binge-watched Angel and was so happy to see Drusilla, my favorite crazy vamp! Fun fact: Juliet Landau, the actress who plays her, follows me on Twitter!

We also watched a birthday episode of Frasier for old time’s sake!

My mom made her famous cookies (here’s the recipe!) and as the official tester, it was my job to taste them and report on my results. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it, right?

And to top things off, my mom won a pretty blanket in the summer reading club at the library. She was quite proud of herself!

Seriously, though, I wanted to thank you all for the sweet messages and tweets on my special day. As I said on Facebook, on my birthday and every day, I couldn’t ask for a more loving family! Feeling very grateful and lucky today…

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!! xoxo