They Say It's Your Birthday...

Well, hey, it's MY birthday too! What do you know?! And what a nice, pleasant birthday it was. I got one lovely surprise after another from this sweet little family of mine. Alani made me these healthy, wheat-y, oat-y, blueberry filled pancakes that I LOVE, God bless her!

But I couldn't eat them all so I shared them. So yummy! (Yes, that is peanut butter and yes, I eat it with my pancakes. It's a quirky thing my dad's always done and it rubbed off. Don't knock it till you try it.)

My sweeties also did a little decorating.

Luke got me some of my favorite lip glosses!

Alani got this great set of bracelets!

She also got me a cute grey cardigan sweater that I didn't get a photo of. I think it's called a fly-away cardigan. It's the kind that stays open, no closures. It's kind of like this.

Then my sweet husband got me some workout gear, which I'm super happy about because I use mine so much, they get kind of raggedy after awhile.

Super comfortable and they fit great!

I also got a CAKE!! (Yes, that's right, I'm talking about workout wear and cake straight after. I'm kinda crazy like that.) The reason this whole cake thing is so exciting is because I haven't had cake since the summer. That's a long time! Oh just look at the lusciousness.

And it has coconut on it! *squeeck

Of course it had to have the proper number of candles.

So if you want to know how old I am, you're going to have to count. Mwahahaha!

As I get older, I think we're going to have to get a bigger cake...to hold all those candles...not because I want more cake. Nope, not that.

Even though there was so many, I got them all out in one breath.

And just when I thought I may not get a balloon this year...

Alani's friend, Nick surprised me with one! And also a Starbucks card. (Thanks Nick!)

Which is really funny because it says "Thank you". They gave it to him through the drive-thru and he didn't look at it until he pulled away. But I think it's better than a birthday one!

Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, and everyone I got to see and hear from! I feel so blessed and am thankful for each of you!! My oldest is sick so didn't get to come, but I will see you soon, Q!

If you had a birthday yesterday too, or today, or this month, I hope your day has been beautiful and full of love! Until next time, Taniya

My New Year's Eve

This New Year's Eve I didn't do anything spectacular. Usually on New Year's Eve I get a carrot cake

and Martinelli's Sparkling Cider

and we let all the kidlets stay up late to ring in the New Year and hear all the fireworks, horns, shouting, and gunfire that goes on around here at midnight. But this year was very different for us because it's the first year our oldest wasn't here. Because she's living on her own and going to college. Also our 15-year-old was invited to spend the night with a friend. So this year it was just my husband and I with our 12-year-old son. So we bundled up on the couch, I made some tea (we had Martinelli's, but it was pretty chilly out), and we watched some movies. Not exciting but it felt very nice and cozy and happy! On the stroke of midnight there was such a commotion outside I just had to go out to listen. I think I have a pretty lively neighborhood! Ha ha ha! So that's how New Year's Eve went around here. I hope you stayed safe and that you made some fabulous resolutions you can stick to! Goodbye 2012. Helloooo 2013!! Taniya   P.S. Want to know what nail polish I'm wearing? Click on this !

Junk Food 911!

Yes this is a junk food emergency. If you have not yet heard, the Hostess company, creators of that insanely popular fat and sugar laden superstar the Twinkie, are indeed going out of business. Even though I wasn't allowed to eat such things very often as I was growing up, I did have my favorites. Those raspberry iced Zingers with coconut...Holy Cow!

Fortunately, I only eat one about every 3 or 4 months. Ha ha ha! I also have a weakness every now and then for Suzy Q's. They remind me of being a kid because on the rare occasion when we got this sort of treat I picked Suzy Q's.

My girls love Snoballs so we went out tonight to FIVE stores before we found any! And we just found these single serve packs. But it's better than nothing!

We found one lone box of Luke's favorite...the Orange Cupcake!

And Clark Kent's favorite were found only because a very sweet cashier thought they had a couple more "in the back."

I must admit it was a fun adventure dashing around town from store to store mostly finding this.

But we completed our mission! Now...if we can just make them last a year or two. Hee hee! Happy hunting out there all you junk food maniacs/adventurers. I hope you find your favorites!! Taniya