Monday, April 27, 2009

Her Day + My Day = TOO MUCH CAKE!!!

Birthdays are supposed to be all about friends, family and fun! And shall we not forget...CAKE! I am here to proclaim this birthday was all about the cake! Ice cream sundaes and carrot cake Tuesday. Lemon tart and raspberry scones Thursday morning. Extra slice of carrot cake Thursday night. Molten chocolate cake for lunch on Friday. Red velvet cupcakes Friday afternoon. Cookie cake and traditional birthday cake Friday night. And finally, Cold Stone Cake Batter Ice Cream Saturday night! Do ya think I had enough cake??? As a result, I am now the not-so-proud owner of an extra large addition to my already wide hips. I literally felt them grow! Can you imagine?

Thought I would give you a quick run down of the whirlwind of activity from last week. We had THE best time! Take a look!



Her Day

Keri actually had two days of celebrating. Tuesday was an early celebration with my Mom. Keri had to come to Asheville for a doctor's appointment so we took advantage of her being in town and had a girl's night.



It started with dinner at Outback where Mom had them deliver complimentary ice cream sundaes with their version of the Happy Birthday song. I can never pass on Hot Fudge, so of course I had a few bites. We then headed home to watch American Idol and feast on this scrumptious cake.



The lady I work with, Cathy, is married to a world-class pastry chef. One of his specialties is this carrot cake. It is his own special award-winning recipe. My mouth waters just thinking about it.



This was Keri's only request for her birthday...carrot cake...just MORE proof she is my daughter. lol!



I behaved and only had a super small piece. But what a fantastic treat for the taste buds!!! We had an incredible evening. My mom is a riot and the laughter was constant!



On to her real day...Friday! For her true birthday party, we had a Keri-oke party! Get it? *snort* There is this incredible little sushi restaurant in downtown Athens where you can rent karaoke party rooms. We had a group of approximately 20 college kids and the old folks (Keri's dad, me and Keith). It was an absolute BLAST!



The young folk were so much fun! Lots of eating, singing and dancing! Here is where the cookie cake and traditional birthday cake made their appearance. Again, I was well behaved and only ate a small piece of each. Good thing. By this time I was on sugar overload!

Side Note

I cannot forget to mention another birthday celebration last week. My co-worker, the one with the awesome baker of a husband, also had a birthday...the day before Keri's! We celebrated her big day with lemon tarts and raspberry scones. If I didn't love Cathy so much and my moral compass was more askew, I would have to try to steal her hubby away from her...lol! You cannot imagine how incredible his baked goods are. And he continually spoils her with her favorite treats! Wouldn't you know, she is a tall, skinny thing too! Again, if I didn't love her, I would HATE her!!!

You Say Sushi. I Say "Shoo"-shi.

I mentioned Keri's party was at a sushi restaurant. I must admit, I am not a fan. The taste...the texture...my senses revolt at the mere thought! Raw fish? Really?



But I was feeling adventurous Friday night. I guess that's what happens when you get old! You are no longer afraid to try things. You start realizing your days are numbered so you might as well give it a go as you may not get another chance! So I took my leap of faith on a sushi roll!



Got to admit, this one was VERY good! I'm not sure what was in it and quite honestly, I don't think I want to know. But it was fantastic! It might have helped that is was 10:30 at night and I was ravenous. It took me the better part of the party to decide on what to order. I waited to see what everyone else got before placing my order. I had an ulterior motive for waiting. I assumed if they didn't die from consuming raw meat, then I would probably be OK. When my selection arrived, I scarfed it down at such a rapid rate I don't think the taste registered until the last few bites. And I have evidence to prove this point. It wasn't until I had cleaned my plate that I noticed the unbelievable burning sensation on my lips and tongue! I had no clue it was going to be that spicy! And no, I did not eat wasabi. At least I don't think I did! My tongue has not been the same since!

My Day

A final day to celebrate! Thank goodness!!! My fun time began on Friday at work. My boss took Cathy and me to a wonderful restaurant downtown as a treat for our birthdays. He insisted we order dessert. We tried to resist, but he would not listen. We ordered flour-less molten chocolate cake to share. Delicious, but rich! Then back at the office we had red velvet cupcakes from the local bakery! By this point, my resolve was gone and I ate my entire cupcake. YUM!

On to Saturday...my actual birthday! I had asked Keith to share a day on the lake with me. He was all too eager to grant that wish. Lots of sunshine, gentle breezes, great music and speedy rides across the water! A bit of heaven on earth. We had a combo lunch/dinner at the marina. Dining alfresco while listening to a one-man-band playing Bob Marley and James Taylor. Perfection! Rather than gorge myself on more cake, I took the unconventional route and requested cake batter ice cream from Cold Stone as a late night treat. My FAVE!!!

I'm sure most of you are sitting there wondering how in the world one person could consume so much sugar in just a few days. Well, guess what? I'm wondering the exact same thing! If I hadn't lived it, I wouldn't believe it!

Now, I must go and find a crash diet to help shed the extra poundage! Why is it you can gain 5 pounds in 3 days, but it takes 3 months to lose those same 5 pounds??????? Geez!!!!!!

41 comments:

  1. Whoa..that is a lot of CAKE..but sounds so good..my absolute favorite cake is carrot cake, so ummmm, drooling here...

    Happy late birthday...hope it was a blast!

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  2. Heheha, totally cracking up about your last comment about the 5 pounds - SO true!! Wow, yours and keri's b-day celebrations sound like a blast! And I was seriously drooling at all the mention of cake, hehea. I'm proud of you for giving sushi a go (this is coming from a BIG sushi lover, of course ;-), and your day on saturday with keith sounds perfect. Glad you got so much QT with keri, your mom and keith these last few days - you deserve it, girl! SO glad you had a great b-day!!

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  3. This post makes me kind of hungry, Lisa - my two favorite things, cake and sushi!

    Happy Birthday to you and your daughter!! You both look so beautiful in the photo of the two of you! Sounds like a wonderful birthday!

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  4. Looks like you had a blast!!! Happy Birthday to you and your daughter!! It's hard to tell which one is old enough to be the mom!!!!

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  5. Looks like you guys had a great Happy Birthday to you Both! and OMG That cake looks delicious!!!!

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  6. So glad you had a fab birthday weekend! WOW...that was a lot of sugar, my kind of celebration!!! You are gonna be crashing soon from that sugar-high girl!
    Your Mother is absolutely gorgeous also...I can't get over the beauty all 3 of you have! Well...now it's back to the daily grind! Have a relaxing, sugar-free week!

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  7. Yum Cake, So this is a little embarrassing, but I have never tried Carrot Cake bc of its name. And to add the icing, yes I like carrots.

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  8. Sounds like you both had such an awesome Birthday!!! All that yummy cake.. mmm!!
    Jen

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  9. You girls are so beautiful!!!!! Wow, good genes in your family!!! I too wonder about those pounds and how easily they can be put on and how darn stubborn they are to leave!!!! The carrot cake looked YUMMY!!!!! I am so glad that you had such a wonderful Birthday weekend!!!! I want to come and visit, today!!!!

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  10. Sounds like a FUN week-long celebration! All the cakes sound delish (as does the sushi.... ♥ sushi!!)

    Cute photos, too! :-)

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  11. I have no problems understanding HOW one person could put away so much cake!!!!! I'd be right there with you!!! And as for the weight loss/gain ratio? You take the words right out of my mouth ( maybe you could do the same with the cake?!!)

    So glad you had a fabulous celebratory few days for both of you - and three generations of gorgeous women together - I bet you blew everyone away!!

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  12. That first pic of the 2 of you is just BEAUTIFUL! Sounds like a lot of fun...Yuck to sushi, but Yum-o to lots of cake! I've been craving cake lately!

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  13. Re: Yes, there was another flower too and that one I did actually make :) Thanks for noticing b/c I was really excited about it, even though it was super simple.

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  14. mmmm carrot cake! delish! So glad that both you and your daughter had such a great time celebrating the birthdays! Always love your rundowns!

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  15. You were so busy! I ate 7 Red Velvet cupcakes over 2 days. Today is my daughter's 13th birthday and guess what she wants, more cupcakes!
    I love carot cake too, and your's looked delicious! Love the carrots spelling out the greeting.
    I have tried sashimi and can't stomach it, I think about getting sick and how sushi wouldn't be as good on the way up as it was on the way down and that just ruins my meal.

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  16. wow! That is one long party! Good for you. BEAUTIFUL pics too! Hope you have a good week.

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  17. I am also singing the "I ate too much birthday cake but it looked so good" blues.
    It does not look as good on my hips and thighs as it did on that cake plate.
    Sad.
    but true.

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  18. Wow! You did have lots of cake But its sounds like you all had a blast.
    By the way your Daughter is Beautiful!

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  19. Wow!! What an awesome birthday celebration for both of you!! Wish mine could have been so eventful!! Too quiet for me. And no cake. :(( Not yet anyway. We still need to celebrate with Steve's family and my 2 scrappy friends are trying to figure out a night to take me to dinner! Glad you had such a wonderful birthday and many many more!! PS. your daughter is beautiful!! Looks just like her mom!!

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  20. You can see some of my creations on my flickr account here http://www.flickr.com/photos/callista1172/sets/72157606912689250/

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  21. To Many sweets!! But looks like a whole lotta fun!!!! Sushi? I'd half to say NO WAY!!!! Great pics~!~~

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  22. Ok...so I just wrote a really long comment and the computer messed up!! BOO!! Any way...looks like a great time...I love your recaps! Beautiful pics of three beautiful women too! Sushi isnt too bad...I havent gone to any restaurants but Ive had California rolls before...I think they just have rice and shrimp in them. But my best friend's Korean husband makes some pretty good Korean food. My fiance loves spicey food...he puts hot sauce on almost everything! :) Yeah Im pretty busy with other things too other than the wedding! I took my girls out to get dresses for their graduation and confirmation this weekend...we were out for 5 hours going to different stores...just the three of us...it was great! And then our car broke down...so we are getting it fixed but in the mean time we bought a used minivan...but its a really sweet 2007 gold one...I love driving it! :) It was our first big purchase together! Can we say aww!! HEHE!!

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  23. Are you sure you didn't eat the green wasabi girl??? lol
    i love sushi- once you get past the "No way am I eating seaweed or raw fish" it's actually addicting! Just not the wasabi- or eel! OR really weird stuff- stick to the crab, tuna and salmon- you can't go wrong! SO glad you guys had fun! My tongue is hanging out at the pastry too..........xOxO

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  24. I'm so glad you had a great birthday week ( and your daughter too). I think I gained 5 pounds just looking at the yummy carrot cake!!

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  25. What a fun filled yummy sweet week you had! Your daughter and mom are beautiful! The cakes and goodies sound so wonderful, especially the carrot cake - YUMMO! I am a big fan of sushi, as long as it is cooked - give me a california roll any day (minus the smelt eggs on top - yuk!)Your birthday only comes around once a year and you celebrated with style! Now you have all summer and fall to lose the 5 lbs so you can gain it back at Christmas! Hee Hee! Have a great day!

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  27. Lisa, love your writings!!! You look like Sarah Palin in that photo with Keri and your mom looks like Nancy Pelosi in that photo where she is alone. Too funny and oh what a conflict in interests is that!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE carrot cake - you must try the Cheesecake Factory Carrot Cake Cheesecake. That's where they make a carrot cake and crumble it up in a cheesecake - OMGOSH!!!! Make a small dog breaks its chain!! Keep up the posts cause I love reading them!!

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  28. There's something for you on my blog, Lisa. :-)

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  29. Happy Birthday(belated) Sounds like you all had a wonderful time! Love the photo of you and Keri you both are just gorgeous!!!!Hvae a fab week!XOXO

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  30. Well, with a weekend THAT full, you needed all that sugar to keep going! And don't you just love the way Sushi photographes?? It should be it's own art form.

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  31. I got the card today, I cried, I love you!!! Thank you for being there for me. Off to the doctor's in a short time!!!! I will call you!!!

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  32. thanks so much for stopping by! love your blog as well! :)

    hope you have a great day!

    hugs,
    sarah.

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  33. My teeth hurt just thinking about it and I think I gained 5 pounds just reading it - LOL. You're a couple of hot mama's, that's for sure.

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  34. I had to come back and thank you for your sweet words about our new blog, Lisa!! Thank you!! Of course I would love for you to link us!! I hope you will play along and learn some new mixed media techniques.

    btw-I made a blinkie on the site. ;)

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  35. Happy birthday to you and your daughter!!!
    What a pleasure to watch pictures of such BEAUTIFUL people!!!!

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  36. Beautiful Photos of you two. My daughter says we have birthday weeks and there are no calories.

    Wanted to invite you to visit us at The Next Step Challenge blog.

    Thanks for the update and inspiration!!

    Gayle
    jgwm.blogspot.com

    Thenextstepchallenge.blogspot.com

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  37. Oh I hear you on the mysterious ways of an extra three pounds, so easy to gain, so hard to lose :-( That plate of sushi has my mouth watering - and I suspect you may have had what I like to call landmine wasabi - those look like california rolls, which often have a smidge of very very finely spread wasabi inside them. It just all goes horribly wrong if even a tiny bit isn't spread thinly enough! Hence the landmine. Also refers to chillis hidden in Indian, Chinese and Mexican food :-) Personally, I adore all things sushi, raw and all, and with wasabi in extreme moderation!! Hope you'll still go back and try it again... Hugs, Moira

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  38. Soooooooooooooooo HAPPY U both had AWESOME CELEBRATIONS!!!! LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE the photos....and seriously...U had me at RED VELVET CUPCAKES!!!! YAY! :):):):):):):):):):):):)

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  39. i loooooooooooove sushi. i could eat it everyday for the rest of my life.

    and if i had that carrot cake, too...YUm!
    looks like a super fun day

    may your family has some seriously good genes!

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  40. that cake looks sooooooo delish!! Yummy!! I've been dying for carrot cake!! LOL

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