Before I say anything else, I need to say THANK YOU for all the congratulations on my first race! I am still a little in shock at how well it went over. Definitely did not see that time (or award) coming my way. I couldn’t have done it without all of your support. I truly mean that. Love my blog friends!

So after starting my weekend off on such a high note, I still had more good times to come. After the race I rushed home with the family to quickly shower so we could all head back out for Makenzie’s best friend’s birthday party. I think it is so adorable she already has a “best friend”.

The party was adorable with a “Farm Friends” type theme. Even the food matched! I munched on some pigs in a blanket, “chicken eggs”, animal crackers, and veggies.

To hold me over until the main attraction. You all know how much I love birthday cake!

Despite arriving a little late after the race, we got in a couple hours of quality time with our friends. It has been so nice getting to spend time all together so often recently. I already can’t wait for our next get together. Having such fulfilling friendships is such a blessing!

Speaking of friendships, we ended the night with a visit with my old friend, Nikki, and her husband, Bobby.

We hung out at their new house for a bit and then headed out to dinner. We visited a trendy little taqueria close to them called Verde.

Lee had recommended it to me and so I shared the idea with my friend. We decided it would be a good place to eat with the kids and try out something new. Their menu really intrigued me as it had a variety of creative tacos, much like my beloved Cheeky.

We ordered some margaritas…

…which made me quite the happy camper. Margaritas are my all-time favorite adult beverage and these excelled. Not too sweet and definitely had a bite. Perfection.

For my dinner, I ordered three of the tacos – a buffalo tofu with celery, grilled fish with cilantro cream slaw, and BBQ pork with a jalapeno slaw.

The buffalo tofu was pretty good, but needed a little more flavor besides the buffalo sauce. The grilled fish was a little too fishy tasting for my liking, so I only ate about 1/3 of it. I loved the BBQ pork one, though. Go figure.

After dinner, we all had a hankering for a little sweet, so we walked a few doors down to Yoforia for some self-serve frozen yogurt.

Dinner might not have been the best, but you can’t go wrong with frozen yogurt. I almost went the fruity route with a mango/pineapple mix, but in the end the Ferrero Rocher flavor caught my eye.

I had a mix of that flavor (which was a little bland to be honest) and the peanut butter with some white chocolate chips and Butterfinger. For some reason, I always have to have Butterfinger when I have non-fruity frozen yogurt. It’s too good to pass up! Probably because it is only my second favorite candy in the world.

By this point, the longevity of the day had hit me and I just wanted bed. I apparently needed it too. Now, it’s time to take on another week. Here’s to a hopefully good one for all of us. 🙂

• What is your favorite candy? Favorite alcoholic beverage? Favorite part of your weekend?

While Monday’s arrival is typically a bummer, I had such a great weekend I find myself still riding the high from such a great one. Likely a sugar high, but still. Saturday started off amazing with that accidental 6.3 mile run and a great lunch with blog friend, Laura. I continued a good time Saturday afternoon with lots of kitchen time. I whipped up a few goodies to bring to a pot luck afternoon we had planned with friends.

Jess’ Triple Layer Cookies & Cream Bars

My Favorite Cheesy Mexican Cornbread (recipe below)

Our afternoon and evening contained the simple joy of spending time with many of our best friends. I do not find anything nicer than an evening spent laughing and chatting with friends, watching our children enjoy the excitement of youth, nibbling some good eats, and celebrating the wonderful fellowship we have thanks to God bringing us all together.

I love these people!  I also loved the food.

I had taste-tested a couple pieces of each of my recipes before leaving, so I didn’t have the hugest appetite for our early dinner. I kept it simple with a serving of spinach salad, two deviled eggs (with bacon & blue cheese!), a spoonful of mac & cheese, and some fruit. Saving room for one more of Jess’ bars clearly mattered most. I think everyone else had the same thing in mind. Those suckers were G-O-N-E! Well done, Jess. Well done.

Our busy weekend extended into Sunday with church and a 3rd birthday celebration for one of Makenzie’s friends. The party was held at an indoor soccer sports center. Little M started off a bit unsure about everything but quickly got more excited about the festivities.

I spent a large part of the party hanging out with my special date. What a handsome guy!

Since the party started directly after church, I had quite the hunger beast setting in. I had no problem downing some mediocre pizza.

It’s funny because this brand of pizza used to be my favorite. Then, my Italian hubby turned me into a pizza snob. I never thought that day would come. I know for a fact you will never find me snobby over cake. As long as it has icing, of course.

This cake rocked! Normally I can take or leave the cake portion and only desire the icing. This cake was perfect and not dry in the least.

We ended the weekend with some Love and Other Drugs action.

Finally, here is that recipe I promised!

Easy Cheesy Mexican Cornbread

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese (I used a mix of the two)
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
• 4 oz can diced green chilies
• 1 can creamed corn
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375. Combine the first 6 ingredients (cornmeal through chilies). Add the wet ingredients (creamed corn through milk) and stir to mix well. Pour into a lightly greased 8x8 square or 9” round baking dish. Bake for 40-45 minutes until top golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

• Do you like pot luck dinners? What do you like to bring?
• Check out ! Great prizes!