A little birdie told me today is the last day to enter the Love Grown Foods prize pack giveaway! But for now, some What I Ate Wednesday fun thanks to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons. This week = The Birthday Edition!

I had such a great day yesterday for my birthday! And it wasn’t even my full blown “celebration day”! That’s coming on Saturday with whatever Peter has planned.

The day rocked regardless! I even got greeted with a special package first thing in the morning. Peter snuck up on me as I was writing a blog post before the kiddies awoke with a little gift for me.

What was inside? None other than some Mama Pea!!!

I have wanted her cookbook since it came out but kept holding off to see if it showed up on my birthday. I can’t wait to make some goodies from her book. Love me some Mama Pea! And apparently so does little M. She keeps looking through the book telling me “I like this food” and “These are my friends” (talking about Gigi and Lulu). Sarah – wouldn’t it be so fun to get the girls together? I think we would have a cuteness explosion!

After that, my day kicked off with that insane full body weights workout I shared with you yesterday afternoon. Followed by a bowl of magic. Chocolate oats for the win!!

And Barney Butter loves me so much they gave me a birthday present too…

Or I just used my sample from my HLS swag bag. I can pretend, though. PS – Barney Butter = as fabulous as people say it is. Y to the U to the M.

The rest of the day went by as any other since I did have two little munchkins to care for and blogging to do. Good thing I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE both of my jobs. You know what they say – work doesn’t feel like work if you love what you do. And that is certainly the case for me.

I managed to get a lot done, which is a gift in itself. Productivity makes me happy. I took a break for a scrumptious lunch – black bean/sweet potato/BBQ sauce wrap and a pineapple Chobani.

With an Adora calcium disc as a sweet ending. Adora had samples in the swag bags loves me and gave me a birthday present too.

I was thrilled to get these samples because I had always wanted to try the Adora chocolate calcium discs and with good reason. They actually taste like really good chocolate! And a calcium boost doesn’t hurt either.

When Peter arrived home, I took some additional time to myself to fit in a quick cardio workout. I did 40 minutes of a Turbo kickboxing workout and loved every sweaty minute. I followed that with a shower and some more time relaxing with my little family before I had some special visitors!

Hello to my mom and my sister!!! They came to hang out for the night and help me eat some sushi. A birthday calls for one of my favorite foods, wouldn’t you agree?

We shared a version of a spicy tuna roll, a salmon and avocado roll, steamed dumplings, and a pile of steamed veggies.

I love how easily you can order healthier dishes from Chinese/Japanese restaurants. And somehow their steamed veggies taste so much better. The perfect crispness!

The good food didn’t end there, though. Oh, not at all. No birthday would be complete without some form of dessert. It’s a law. I foresee a big birthday treat coming my way this weekend, so decided to go the simpler route and opted for some creamy Blue Bell chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream from the freezer.

Blue Bell makes the creamiest ice cream you can get at the store. And their cookie dough bits taste like real dough! Heaven.

So, as you can see, I had a GREAT birthday! And once again I thank you tremendously for adding value to my special day. The plethora of birthday wishes, overwhelming excitement of the Love Grown Foods giveaway (have you entered?!), and just your smiling faces visiting here regularly leaves me speechless. I will forever find myself thankful for God placing me in this stellar community. It blows me away. Muah!

• What cuisine do you find easiest to order healthier options?
• What is your favorite ice-cream to buy from the store?

Sunday night we had a very special night.

A very special night indeed.

Our family certainly has its fair share of eccentricities, but I assure you dressing up in random costumes doesn’t happen every year. Only for certain celebrations.

And celebrating 90 years of extraordinary life warrants some excess eccentricity in this family – complete with costumes and a 40s themed surprise party in honor of our beloved G-Pa. Boy, was he surprised!

My aunt has spent months planning this surprise party to honor G-Pa for his upcoming 90th birthday. She coordinated an entire theme around the 40s, my grandfather’s favorite time period and the “high time of his life”. We had mini gin martinis with olives – his signature drink, “brandy” and card tables, Sinatra, Navy memorabilia, old photos, and a spread of food apparently popular in the 40s.

We started the night with the drinks and some appetizers. Gin martinis aren’t my thing so I stuck with water and tea. I also snagged a small appetizer plate of pickles, a few olives, mini-meatballs, an old style “pig in a blanket”, cheese and crackers, a pimento cheese celery stick, and shrimp cocktail.

Then, we settled in for story time. My aunt had crafted a speech of sorts to go through various memories of my G-Pa’s life. It went all the way from his childhood through moments we have shared in recent years. Everyone had a part.

My sister, cousin, and I got to recreate one of our most hilarious memories with G-Pa – the year of Hank’s Hoes!

Back story: The condos we stay in have footage of the entrance available for people to watch. Some “old bitties”, as my grandfather calls them, will watch this channel religiously to know the ins and outs of condo happenings. A few years ago, they saw my sister, cousin, and I come in from karaoke in jean skirts and tank tops and get off on the floor where our family stays. The following morning they reported to the managers that my grandfather had hired some hookers to come visit him – aka US.

We found it so hilarious that we decided to give the women something to really talk about. Us three girls dressed up with cut-off shirts, red bras, super short jean skirts, high heels, and over the top makeup. G-Pa then took us down right in front of the cameras, gave us each a bunch of cash, kissed us on the cheek, and sent us on our way. He then proceeded to tell everyone about how his three women left with a smile on their face. We stirred up a ruckus with that one, but the manager loves our family so much he just kept quiet and said he couldn’t judge our grandfather when the complaints started coming in. Hehe. I love that man and celebrating the years with him will no doubt remain the highlight of our trip this week.

Having the chance to honor him with a party highlights this trip. The many years and memories we have here at this beach would not be possible without him. He actually pays for our entire family to come here each year. He treats us to dinner every night. He laughs, loves, and inspires us through it all. I can only hope to live as full a life as he has.

• If you had a themed party, what theme would you choose? I would probably go with the 80s…or a FRIENDS theme. I love that show too much.