'Fessing Up on Friday

Friiiiiiiiiidaayyyy!!!  Oh how I love theeeeeee!!!

Time for some Friday Confessions.  Here we go:

I confess... that I'm a little hyper and giddy this morning and really have no reason to be.  I don't have big weekend plans, I have nothing really to be excited about in this moment... and yet, here I am, hyper and giddy.  Must be Friday.

I confess... somehow between last night and this morning, I did something to tweak my lower back.  Thankfully, doesn't seem to be the kind of lower back pain that used to immobilize me completely (knock on wood).  I did a really light workout very cautiously when I got up, and it's already feeling better as I move around this morning.  I really don't want one of those awful sore backs that I used to get... I haven't had one in years, and I don't want one now!

I confess... that I was sad when I heard of Prince's sudden passing last week.  But I also confess that my knowledge of Prince's song catalog is embarrassingly limited.  "Kiss" and "Purple Rain" are really the only songs of his I knew well.  However, after seeing the video of his surprise performance at the SNL 40 After Party last February, I can now say "Let's Go Crazy" is my one of my absolute faves.  It was such a fun video to watch!

I confess... that it's a shame it takes a legendary singer/musician's passing to inspire me to get an education in their music, but that has happened to me twice now this year - first with Bowie, now with Prince.  I am grateful for "discovering" them, but sad that I didn't do so sooner.

I confess... I'm contemplating a new 'do.  I have a hair appointment coming up next week, and I feel like I might need a change.  But I'm nervous.  I've worked hard to grow my hair longer for the past few years, and I know how long it takes to get it this long (and it's not that frigging long).  If I chop it all off again, I'll be stuck with it for a while.  Oh, decisions, decisions...

I confess... that last night when I was at my friend Sharon's, she, her husband, and I were trying to come up with our "Top 5" - you know... the 5 celebrities you'd be given a "pass" on and be allowed to sleep with if the opportunity presented itself.  And Lord love a duck, it was harder to choose than I thought!!  After making my list wishy-washily, I realized I'd forgotten Jimmy (HOW COULD I FORGET JIMMY?!?!) so I had to start over again.  I even thought more about it as I tried to fall asleep last night, and again this morning, and I think I have my list finalized:  Jimmy Fallon, James Marsden, Adam Levine, Gabriel Macht, and Ryan Reynolds.  (and I did not include Wade Redden, because I don't think he counts as a celebrity anymore, but he remains my Supreme #1.)

I confess... that I'm making a lot of plans in my head these days.  Doing a lot of day-dreaming and wishful thinking... and I don't know if it will ever be thoughts and plans that become reality, but man, it's fun to have those kinds of things going on in my head again.  It's been a long time.

Happy Friday, dudes! :)

10 Shows I Can't Wait to Watch on Netflix

As I mentioned earlier this week, I'm now into the Season 4 of Suits, which is all that Netflix has of that show currently.  If I get in some quality Harvey time this coming weekend (and that's the plan), I should be ready to move on to something else very soon.  And I'm kind of excited about that.

But the problem with Netflix is it provides me with almost TOO much choice.  What to watch next?  I am having such a hard time deciding!

My List on Netflix has a ka-billion different shows saved to it, but I have narrowed it down to 10 shows that I absolutely can't wait to watch.

(please keep in mind that I already own, or have already watched, the following:  Friends, Grey's Anatomy, Friday Night Lights, Prison Break, Sex & The City, The Big Bang Theory, Dexter, Lost, Fuller House, The Mindy Project, and soon-to-be Suits, and I also currently watch How To Get Away With Murder on TV... and that is why none of those are on the "10 Shows I Can't Wait to Watch on Netflix" list.)

Here are the Top 10, in no particular order:

1. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

I have heard good things about this Netflix original from several friends.  I so enjoyed The Mindy Project, and because of that, I think I will enjoy Kimmy too.  They tell me it's pretty funny - and with Tina Fey as the creator, how could it NOT be funny?  This one is definitely on my short list to watch.

2. Scandal

Scandal was one of the main reasons I wanted to get Netflix in the first place.  At the time that I was sorting out the "how to get Internet in my home" fiasco, both my friends Stacy and Lindsay were watching Scandal and telling me how much they loved it.  I ended up going with Suits first, but I definitely need to find out what all the hype is about Olivia Pope soon!

3. Orange is the New Black

This is another Netflix original that has had people buzzing for a long time and always made me wish I had Netflix so I could watch it too.  I read the book with our book club several years ago, and have been intrigued to watch the show ever since.

4. The Office

This one is actually new on my radar.  Truthfully, never had any interest in it before, but I'm reading Mindy Kaling's first book right now, and I didn't even realize that The Office was the launching pad for her career.  She was hired on as a writer, then ended up with a role on the show, and she talks about a lot of funny stories from the set in her book.  I want to see what it's all about now! (remember - Mindy Kaling is my girl crush these days...)

5. Downton Abbey

This is a show that comes highly recommended by my Aunt Marion, my neighbour Shannon, and my friend Lindsay - three women whose opinions I value greatly, and I trust them not to lead me astray. LOL!  It really doesn't look like my cup of tea, but if Aunt Marion, Shannon & Lindsay  tell me to give it a shot, I will.

6. Breaking Bad

A couple of years ago, when Breaking Bad was all the rage, I was so jealous that I wasn't in the loop.  People would post statuses on Facebook like "OH MY GOD BREAKING BAD LAST NIGHT SOOOO CRAZY!!!!" And I'd be like "God dammit, I wish I knew what they were talking about."  And now I finally can.

7. The Walking Dead

I'm a little bit nervous about watching scary zombies, but this is another show that has been much-talked-about, much-hyped... all the cool kids watch it, y'know?  And also, I'm interested to find out if I'll end up in love with Norman Reedus.  People seem to go ga-ga over him (like the girls in Jimmy's audience shriek more loudly than they do for Justin Bieber) but I have yet to feel the attraction.  Time will tell.

8. Bates Motel

I have a love-hate relationship with scary things.  Bates Motel is one that I think I'd like to try, but I'm afraid I'll get too creeped out.  It's kind of a prequel to the Alfred Hitchcock movie "Psycho", and that movie has always given me the heebie-jeebies, so I don't know if I can handle it.  But I want to check it out at least.

9. Homeland

People who have watched this show highly recommend it... it's not normally the kind of show I'm drawn to, though. It reminds me of 24.  Government conspiracies, terrorist plots, that kinda thing... meh.  But because so many have told me to watch it, I'm going to eventually give it a go. Plus, I'm a Claire Danes fan going back to her Romeo + Juliet and Little Women days.

10. Bloodline

Seriously, just bumped Brooklyn-Nine-Nine from this list to add Bloodline.  I know nothing about it.  But as I was scrolling through my recommendations on Netflix, it came up, and I saw Kyle Chandler is in it.  I LOVE Kyle Chandler.  (He's Coach Taylor on Friday Night Lights, and the bomb guy on Grey's from a million years ago.) So Brooklyn-Nine-Nine is out, and Bloodline is in.

I know, I'm a missing a million good ones.  House of Cards, Cuckoo, Grace and Fankie, Once Upon A Time, Nashville, Wentworth, Mad Men, Flaked, Call The Midwife, Schitts Creek, The Killing... they are all on My List too, trust me!  I could watch Netflix every day, all day, for a year, and probably still not get to everything I want to watch.  I have hardly even watched any movies just because there is SO MUCH TV TO WATCH!!!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love having Netflix? ;)

Random Tuesday Things

A smattering of the random running through my mind this morning...

• I weighed myself this morning, exactly one week to the day of my last weigh-in, and guess what?  I lost... wait for it... 0.3 ozs.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ..... fml.
• Honestly, it wasn't a big surprise.  I had way too many treats and big meals last week to see any real results.  The positive I'll take from it is at least the number didn't go up.  I haven't been weighing myself for months, but it's quite obvious that number had been creeping up and up and up for a long time.  So for one week, it stayed the same. A small victory.
• Yesterday, I was struggling to come up with "new goals" for my healthy lifestyle focus, and I think the reason is it basically comes down to this:  STOP EATING LIKE A 300 LB. MAN.  Basically.
• You know who I love?  Mindy Kaling.  I have a girl crush on Mindy Kaling right now.  She made me laugh out loud when I was watching The Mindy Project, and now that I'm reading her first book "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?", I've discovered that I think we're more alike than I could have ever imagined.  Except for the fact that I'm not a famous comedian working and living in NYC, of course.  In the chapter I read last night, she talked about how she used to baby-sit, and after the kids went to bed, she raided the cupboards for the good snacks, and ate so much it was noticeable to the parents of the kids she was baby-sitting (they were trying to figure out where all their food was going.)  I soooo used to do that.  It's just one small example of how I find myself relating to her and her stories from her growing up years.  I feel like Mindy and I could be BFF's.
  
• The clock in the office isn't working this morning and it's throwing me WAY off. 
• It is flipping cold out there today.  Like, I wore my spring fleece coat this morning and I was wishing I'd worn my winter coat, toque and mitts.  Even a winter-lover like me is getting a little sick of the cold right now.
• Truth be told, though?  The mention of possible flurries still sets my heart a-flutter...
• This past weekend, I played in the Canada Day Committee's annual poker tournament.  I have played in this tournament every year (it's been going on for quite a while - 8 or 10 years, something like that?), and even though I'm probably the least-experienced/intelligent/strategic poker player in the world, I always have fun and usually make it further than I expected.  This year wasn't one of those years.  For one thing, I started out very nervous.  There were a lot of new faces at this year's tourney, and I felt very intimidated right off the bat.  Like, my hands were shaking and I had knots in my stomach I was so nervous. I ended up at a table with only one other guy that I knew, and I never really felt comfortable.  The hands I won were small, and the few times I thought I had a really good hand, I was beaten by someone who had better. And there was one guy at my table who I felt was purposely trying to intimidate me. It was one of the worst poker days of my life.  I was actually so relieved to be out and sitting back with friends just chatting and joking around and watching the kids play.
• Our neighbour here at work just brought over a bag of amazing looking homemade cookies, that look so much like kinds my Grandma used to make... and I'm sitting here eating an Activia yogurt with bran cereal. *sigh*
• I finally got some pictures uploaded last night and here are a few of my favourites:
  
   I was amazed by this beautiful sky one night last week driving home from Aylmer... first time I've ever stopped on the side of the highway to snap a pic... and so glad I did!!
  
   The Ragged Chute is roaring again
  
   A sure sign of spring... the geese are flying!
  
   This pic cracks me up... Danica hates the flash on my camera, it makes her blink, so I told her to shut her eyes and on the count of 3, open them and I'd snap the picture.  I think she got mixed up. lol
  
   Rylie and Maddy at the poker tournament on Saturday
  
   A few weeks ago on the shoreline in my hometown
  
• Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out candles for Mom :)
• I'm in Season 4 of Suits, and I'm not really enjoying it as much as the first three... I don't like this business of Mike and Harvey working against each other, there's no development in my hopes for Harvey and Donna getting together...and even though Harvey is a hottie, I'm almost looking forward to being done so I can move on to something else.  I'm still in the early stages of Season 4, though, so I'm hopeful I'll get back in my Suits groove again.
  
• I've been thinking a lot about my options in life these days... my desire to have children, the fact that I'm not getting any younger, the worry that I'm not cut out to be in a relationship, the hope that there might still be a guy out there who will fit into my weird and whacky world... I've been weighing a lot of pros and cons, and wondering about re-opening doors that I thought were pretty much closed... cryptic enough for you?

OK... I think that's enough for my Tuesday randoms!  Hope you're all having a good week.

Checking In...

Well, it would appear that the crazy busy days of spring have officially hit... evidenced by my lack of posting last week!  Whoops!  I had actually made a vow to do my blogging in the evenings and schedule posts ahead of time to avoid a big lapse like that, but I just couldn't motivate myself to do so last week... After busy days at the office, coming home to do some exercising and eat supper, after that all I wanted to do was veg on the couch and watch Netflix.  I haven't even uploaded pics for my 366 Photo Challenge in over 2 weeks! eep!!  Busy spring takes a while to adjust to!

I did want to check in quickly though, since today marks one week since I vowed to focus more on returning to a healthy lifestyle.  Let's look back on my goals last week and see how I did:

• Continue exercising for 30 mins every morning (Walk at Home, 21 Day Fix, Jillian Michaels, etc. DVDs) + 10 min walk at lunch, but ADD IN at least 20 mins of exercise at night (walk, or 20 min Ab DVD) = 1 hour exercise per day, 6 days a week. - Accomplished!  For the most part, anyways.  I did my 30 mins every morning, and 10 minute walk every work day at lunch.  The only night I didn't get in an extra 20 mins was the night I had shopping and dinner plans after work.  I also didn't get in any extra exercise on the weekend, just my half-hour workout on Saturday and Sunday is my rest day. But overall, I give this one a big CHECK!
• Set a healthy meal plan for the week and stick to it - don't allow my arm to be twisted with unplanned treats!  I'm still struggling with this one.  I did set a meal plan for last week, but I forgot that we had our company Team Meeting on Tuesday, which meant pizza for lunch, so that was one unscheduled treat that I "gave in to" (and over-indulged in...3 pieces of pizza and 3 cookies...ugh Jillian!!!).  Also Friday was a bit of a bust... my meal plan that day went right out the window, breakfast, lunch, and supper.
• Plan the treats ahead of time and enjoy them:  this week, it will be dinner out Wednesday night, 1 ice cream treat this weekend, and lunch at the Poker tourney on Saturday.  Otherwise, stick to the meal plan, or have small portions/healthy options (ie, Friday lunch, if they decide to order out at work, brunch at the restaurant after church Sunday, etc.).  Well, this kind of ties in to the above goal, so I can't say I did very well at accomplishing it.  I did enjoy my dinner out on Wednesday night as a full-on planned treat, and I did have lunch at the poker tourney on Saturday (but didn't over-do it, so that was good).  I wasn't tempted by ice cream on the weekend because it was so chilly out, but my mom's homemade banana cake more than made up for that!  And then of course I didn't do well with small portions or healthy options in the cases of work lunches - Pizza & cookies on Tuesday, Club Sandwich platter on Friday... I guess I'm a work in progress in this department for sure!
• Continue drinking tons of water.  2 glasses of water first thing in the AM, 1 glass of water per hour at work, plus extra in the evening = 12 glasses of water/day.  Easy-peasey.  I drink water like it's going outta style, one of the few "healthy habits" I have stuck with.
• No alcohol at Poker tourney on Saturday.  Check!  I drank water for the most part, along with a few Diet Pepsi's.  Didn't drink enough water though, because I came home with parched, dry lips.  I spent the rest of the night re-hydrating lol.
• Cut out sugar and sweets as much as possible.  Start using fruit and Yonanas again as a "sweet treat".  Semi-accomplished... I did re-introduce fruit as my dessert after supper, I quit having a mid-afternoon chocolate break in the office, and I didn't get into any of the other chocolate and sweets I have stashed away at my house.  But as I mentioned, there were cookies on Tuesday... dessert after dinner on Wednesday... and Mom's homemade banana cake that I just couldn't resist!  Oh, and also, I bought two boxes of Girl Guide Cookies from Maddy on the weekend.  I haven't opened them yet, though, so that's good, right? ;)
• No more evening snacking.  Make a cup of herbal tea if the snack cravings hit.  If I did one thing right last week, this was it!  I was successful in avoiding in the evening snack cravings.  Didn't even have to make the herbal tea to help curb them!  This was a big one for me, because evening snacks had become the norm again.  It was tough but I hung in there.
• Try to cut the habit of falling asleep on the couch watching TV in the evening.  Keep moving to avoid falling asleep, and go to bed earlier if I discover I am falling asleep on the couch.  I was OK with this one...at least during the week.  If I noticed I was starting to feel sleepy on the couch, I'd move to my bed... even if it was only 9 pm.  I did end up falling asleep on the couch Friday, Saturday, AND Sunday evening, but I'm not too concerned about weekends.  It's week nights that I want to keep busy and avoid becoming an evening sloth!!
• Read 10 pages a day of a book (I know, this has nothing to do with losing weight and getting healthy, but I'm disappointed in myself for not reading more lately.  We'll consider this a "personal development goal".)  Yay!  I did this one!  Well, actually, no... I missed two days...but on the following days, I read 20 pages.  This allowed me to FINALLY finish "Everything Must Go" by Elizabeth Flock, a book that I had been reading for over a month and should have finished long ago.  So glad I'm done it!  And now I'm flying through Mindy Kaling's first book "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" ...loving it! Hopefully my desire to read has been re-discovered. :)
• Only weigh myself once per week.  Check!  I weighed myself last Tuesday morning.  I hated the number on the scales, and resisted the temptation to weigh again several times.  I'll check it again tomorrow and I doubt I'll see much difference (see, all the above mis-steps with eating healthy...) But at least I didn't weigh myself obsessively each day.

The goals for this week are much the same.  Here they are:

• Exercise 30 minutes each morning, 10 minute walk at lunch, 20 minutes in the evening. Try to also fit in a walk on both Saturday and Sunday.
• Make a healthy meal plan for the week and stick to it.  Remember...no arm twisting!!
• The planned treats this week should be Soup & Sandwich lunch on Wednesday, lunch on Friday, and a brunch shower I'm going to on Saturday.  Continue to be mindful of portion sizes and make healthy choices whenever possible.
• Continue using fruit and Yonanas as a "sweet treat".
• Hang tough on not having snacks in the evening.  
• Keep it up with reading at least 10 pages a day, and also keeping busy in the evenings to avoid falling asleep on the couch.
• Boil eggs ahead of time to have for healthy lunches (veggies and dip, boiled egg, crackers and cheese) - also make some healthy homemade carrot muffins for afternoon snacks.
• Only weigh myself once per week.

So yeah...they are pretty much the same goals as last week, but I really need to continue to focus on these ones and try to be better.  Here's hoping I can improve upon last week!

Happy Monday!!

Time to Re-focus...

Well, folks... it's been a long time since I've talked about this seriously, and that's because I wasn't ready to be serious about it again.

But it's time.

I need to get back on track with a healthy lifestyle.  I need to get my eating habits back under control.

Same old song & dance.  I know you've all heard this before.  But I've been on a slippery slope heading the wrong direction since last fall, and it is alarming how quickly I've slid back into my old ways.  Eating junk food all the time, chips and treats on a regular basis, eating out several times a week... clothes getting tighter, sizes going up, and it's starting to scare me.

During these recent months of stress-and-comfort-eating, I have said many times that I knew the day would come when I would decide to smarten up.  I would have a "moment".  That moment came last week when a clothing order had placed on line arrived in the mail, and I was very disappointed in how the items fit.  Pants that I thought were a slam-dunk were too tight.  A sweater that was too snug.  A tank top that showed off flabby arms and made me want to cry.

It opened my eyes in alarming fashion to the fact that none of my summer clothes are going to fit.  I have jumped two sizes since last summer, and this past winter I packed up and gave away bags of clothing in the size I will probably need, because I swore I wouldn't ever go back to them again.

You guys, I don't need to be stick thin.  In fact, I don't want to be obsessed with working out and calorie counting the way I was two years ago.  I want to find a healthy balance.  I have maintained working out for the most part (albeit less intense exercising), but it's time to bring the healthy eating back into the program and get things leveled out again.  I am a living, breathing example of how all the exercising in the world won't do a lick of good if you aren't combining it with healthy eating habits.

I decided to set a few small-ish goals to stick to this week. My plan is to re-visit this list and hopefully be able to check most - if not all - of my goals off as a success, and then come up with a new set of goals, or expand upon this list, next week.

My goals this week:

• Continue exercising for 30 mins every morning (Walk at Home, 21 Day Fix, Jillian Michaels, etc. DVDs) + 10 min walk at lunch, but ADD IN at least 20 mins of exercise at night (walk, or 20 min Ab DVD) = 1 hour exercise per day, 6 days a week.
• Set a healthy meal plan for the week and stick to it - don't allow my arm to be twisted with unplanned treats!
• Plan the treats ahead of time and enjoy them:  this week, it will be dinner out Wednesday night, 1 ice cream treat this weekend, and lunch at the Poker tourney on Saturday.  Otherwise, stick to the meal plan, or have small portions/healthy options (ie, Friday lunch, if they decide to order out at work, brunch at the restaurant after church Sunday, etc.).
• Continue drinking tons of water.  2 glasses of water first thing in the AM, 1 glass of water per hour at work, plus extra in the evening = 12 glasses of water/day.
• No alcohol at Poker tourney on Saturday.
• Cut out sugar and sweets as much as possible.  Start using fruit and Yonanas again as a "sweet treat".
• No more evening snacking.  Make a cup of herbal tea if the snack cravings hit.
• Try to cut the habit of falling asleep on the couch watching TV in the evening.  Keep moving to avoid falling asleep, and go to bed earlier if I discover I am falling asleep on the couch.
• Read 10 pages a day of a book (I know, this has nothing to do with losing weight and getting healthy, but I'm disappointed in myself for not reading more lately.  We'll consider this a "personal development goal".)
• Only weigh myself once per week.

Like I said, the MAIN goal is to find a healthy balance and avoid obsessing on every minute detail... a lot of healthy habits are still common practice for me - I have a good base to work with - but the main falter in my course was losing control of eating healthy foods and portions.  I think if I can get that back in check, I'll be OK.

It's time to take charge of my own personal well-being again.  It's too easy to fall into the trap of making excuses, letting things I have no control over affect me, losing focus.

If all goes well, I should be feeling much better in a few weeks.  I hate feeling discouraged, sluggish, out of shape, tired, and all-around blue.  I can change that with a few simple actions and a little self-control and willpower.

Here we go again...!!

Some Thursday Rambling

• I'm feeling tired and a little on the crusty side today.  I have realized now that I'm back to full work weeks that waking up at 5:35 every morning to exercise really sucks after a few days.  Monday and Tuesday I'm usually pretty gung-ho, Wednesday I'm OK with it, but by Thursday, I'm cranky.  I miss waking up at a slightly later hour on Mondays and Fridays...
• Also adding to my lacklustre effort this morning is the fact that I have very sore inner thighs.  I added a new Leslie Sansone walking DVD to my collection this week, and this one contains two 30 minute workouts - one is a walking workout, the other a firming workout.  I did the firming one on Tuesday morning, and I didn't find it too hard at all, but all the squats and lunges apparently took a toll.  It hurts to walk, climb stairs, sit, stand, and of course, exercise... ugh.  It really opened my eyes to how far out of shape I have let myself go apparently.  yikes!
  
• I think the exercising I'm doing, though less intense than the programs I used to do, would be sufficient, if I could just get my eating habits back under control.  I keep saying this, but I'm all talk, no action.  I swore this week I'd be better behaved, but Monday night I had a big plate of nachos, Tuesday night was dinner at my aunt's and I definitely over-indulged, and last night Mom and I had Chinese to celebrate her birthday... I should be trying to think of something healthy and light for tonight, but I'm craving pancakes.  I'll try again next week I guess... *sigh*
  
• Despite my cranky disgruntled mood, it is nice to see a bright sunny day out there, and the good news is that warmer temperatures are finally upon us.  It's going up to +10 today, and should be creeping close to +20 over the weekend.  Woo hoo!
• The problem with +20 sunny weather, if there is one at all, is that I don't fit in any of my summer clothes anymore.  I have no idea what I'm going to wear this weekend.  I miss my fleece-lined leggings and over-sized sweaters already...
• Something I am loving about this time of year is the return of Blue Jays baseball.  We're a week into the new season, and I know there's a lot of ball to play over the coming months, but it's exciting to watch Jays games again.  I'm a smidge jealous of my friends Lindsay and Ryan who have been in TO this week and got to catch last night's game live!  I'm hoping I can talk my mom and/or sister's family into getting tickets to a game this summer at some point.  I would love to take a little weekend trip with them and catch a ball game.
  
• Lately, I've been mentally spending a lot of time at "my happy place" - my aunt & uncle's camp on the Ottawa  River.  We go for a few days every summer, and it's always so nice to get there and just "switch off" - turn off the cell phone, no electricity, and the only thing to do is just play in the water, sit in the sand, read, relax, and enjoy.  I'm craving that little get-away right now.
  
• I'm looking forward to a low-key weekend coming up... my plans include some Netflix bingeing, reading, shopping with my ma on Saturday, dinner at my sister's place on Saturday night, and the usual Sunday routine of church and brunch and resting.  Sounds like the weather might even be nice enough to allow me to read outside, which is one of my favourite things to do. C'moooon weekend...

Hope you're all having a good week!  Have a great Thursday :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Cheers to the one I'm lucky enough to call "Mom"!!

Today is my mom's birthday, and so, I am celebrating her!!

Last night, we had a wonderful kick-off to her birthday celebrations, as we were invited to my Aunt Marion & Uncle Eric's for dinner.  It was my cousin David's birthday yesterday, and there have been many times over the years that Mom and Dave have shared birthday cake.  Here are a few of the pictures from a fabulous evening of delicious food, cake (of many makes, shapes & sizes!), and visiting with family and friends. :)

 Sweet little Grace :)

 The question of the evening:  "Do you like my tights?!"

 David getting some help from Dillon and Lane blowing out his candles

 Anxious for cupcakes!!!

 Singing happy birthday again... I think this was Round 3 ;)

 Miss Lila and her daddy

 The Birthday Boy & Girl

 Say "Cheese" Dillon!

 Aunt Marion slicing into the homemade ice cream cake

 My little buddy Lila - she snuggled up on my shoulder later in the evening and it totally made my day!

Dave heading out into the night with his new lantern "to find the car"

Like I said... a wonderful evening of celebrating, and I'm looking forward to the party continuing on for the next few days. ;)  

Happy Birthday Mom! LOVE YA!! xoxox