Monday, November 23, 2009

They Say It’s Your Birthday

Hey everyone!  Hope you all had a great weekend :)  I had a really nice birthday and relaxing weekend with the family!

My birthday started off with a 3 mile run in glorious weather, then a cup of fall – Pumpkin Spice coffee…

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in my “meanie” mom cup :)

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When it’s your birthday, you have to have cake for breakfast!  No?  Oh, it’s just my rule I guess!  I made a Chocolate Brownie Cake Yogurt bowl using plain yogurt, crumbled Lucky Chocolate Cake (tastes like a brownie!) and chopped walnuts.  Yum in a bowl…

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Part of my birthday wishes for the day included a visit to our church to help organize and pack up Thanksgiving food baskets for needy families.  I asked the husband and daughters to participate with me and we got the job done in no time!  Along with other helpers, we packed up close to 60 boxes filled with canned goods, pasta, cornbread mixes, stuffing , juices and desserts…

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I was pretty hungry when we got back, but didn’t want to eat a huge lunch knowing that much more “birthday food” was to come later.  I opted for turkey and cheese on a Pepperidge Farm Deli Flat and some carrots…

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Later in the afternoon, we headed to my parents’ house for my birthday dinner.  Mom started us off with proscuitto wrapped breadsticks…

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Shrimp cocktail…

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I had both…

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Then, the hot appetizers came out :  mini crabcakes, raspberry and brie in phyllo, lobster tarts and scallops wrapped in bacon.  I tried not to go too crazy and plated a few…

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But, ended up digging in to those x2!

After that settled, we sat down at the beautifully set table…

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and began with a first course of Rigatoni with Bolognese Sauce

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I don’t drink often, but decided to indulge in a little vino…

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Are you full, yet?  I was, but wait, there’s more!!!

The main course was served family-style and included all my favorite dishes :  Veal Valdostana, broccoli with garlic, marinated portabella mushrooms, salad and crusty rolls.  I filled my plate with tastes of it all…

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The veal was delicious…

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I ate my piece, but left almost half of everything else because I was stuffed!  That and I needed to save room for CAKE!!!!

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And my MIL’s famous Pumpkin Squares…

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I had a half piece of both!

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I opened gifts (Mom got me a fun new exercise gadget – I’ll display that tomorrow!) and we called it a night.  The husband rolled me out to the car like Violet from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory…

I need juicing immediately!

Have a great day, everyone :)

ONE GOOD THING:  I was able to get in a good run before the eating marathon!

25 comments:

Weight Watcher Wannabe said...

Happy Birthday... Mine was on the weekend as well... Your blog is wonderfull. ")

Di said...

Happy Birthday ! The food looked delish and the table beautiful !You are looking very fit and healthy as well- many happy returns of the day !

Nicci said...

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YOU LOOK PRETTY IN THAT PICTURE!Hope you have a wonderful day!

Yum Yucky said...

Ahhh. What a wonderful picture show.

Hey! I finally bought some Lavish Bread. That, too, is a wonderful thing.

Amanda said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful birthday! Those veal things looked delicious!

Thinspired said...

I didn't know it was your birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And yes, wine on your birthday is practically mandatory ;)

Graze With Me said...

Well happy birthday to you! I'm going to have that song from your title stuck in my head all day. :)

What a noble thing to do on your birthday, helping others, wow. Dinner looked phenom and I love the idea of wrapped breadsticks.

Amanda said...

Marisa - did you get that running article I emailed you? I took the email from this site. :)

Andrea@WellnessNotes said...

All the food for your birthday celebration looks amazing. I love breadsticks, and I love proscuitto. I'll have to recreate the breadsticks! :)

Melissa said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
All of the food looks amazing!!

Diane Fit to the Finish said...

Happy Birthday Marisa! As incredible as the food looks you look even more amazing!!!

lynn said...

happy bday! love your meanie mom cup...

BEE said...

happy birthday
that all looked really delicious and it was your birthday so its ok
so your going to make all that for me for my b day right???
jk
lol
sounds like you had a wonderful day and you deserved it

Girl in Carolina said...

Happy Birthday!!! That food looks DEVINE!!!

Lex said...

Happy Birthday!

I absolutely love that meanie mom cup! hehe

Jamie Mendell said...

Happy Birthday! It looks like you did a great job eating in moderation on your birthday. Usually I splurge wayyy too much but I think you definitely handled all the birthday treats well! :)

OldGoogleAccount said...

Happy Birthday Marisa. What a special way to spend time with your family on your day. When I saw that picture of you I thought "a beautiful lady doing a beautiful thing".

LOL at Violet Beauregard!

Trying To Heal said...

happy birthday!!! all the food looks delish!!

Unknown said...

looks like a great birthday celebration! :) Happy Birthday! :)

Annabel said...

A belated happy birthday to you!!! you look gorgeous in your picture!

Miz said...

you are so flipping cute.
CAN NOT WAIT to meet you in person in March.

happy happy a little late :)

Reen said...

Oh, I missed your birthday! Well, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, MARISA!!!!! LOOKS LIKE YOU HAD A GREAT DAY...and an amazing year. Look at you, running 3 miles on your birthday! You go, girl!

Jen, a priorfatgirl said...

ah, I hope you had a beautiful birthday! The whole meal looks so amazing, what a wonderful mom you have!

Wendy said...

Happy Birthday! Wow, i have to say that dinner was fancy! and that video was hilarious! you crack me up!

MB said...

Happy Belated Birthday! The food looks amazing. I think I'm going to start having cake for breakfast on my birthday ;)