Birthday, Dad!!! I hope you have a wonderful birthday, I love you!
Showing posts with label birthdays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birthdays. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Happy...
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Happy Birthday, Mom!
Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Mom,
Happy Birthday to YOU!!!
Today, on your birthday...
And eat a piece of cake
or two cupcakes, because birthday's only come once a year!
Happy Birthday to the BEST Mom their is, I love you!!!!
See you very soon!Friday, November 19, 2010
A Celebration & An Event to Kick Off to the Holiday Season
Wednesday was Thomas' birthday, I won't disclose his OLD age, but I will say he falls in the age bracket that is closer to 30 than to 20. Yes, I am laughing, but only because I can since I'm not in the same age bracket, yet. For everyone else, don't worry about getting old, I just like giving Thomas a hard time about becoming an "old man!"
Anyways, back to the birthday celebration! We went to dinner for his birthday, his choice of course, and he a good choice he made, The Oyster Bar! Oyster Bar is one of our favorite places, and November is a perfect month for oysters since the month ends in "r." What I love about the Oyster Bar is its laid back atmosphere (a long wooden rectangular high top bar with bar stools lines the restaurant and there is a trough in the middle where the guys shuck your oysters) and the exceptionally friendly staff who sucks your oysters for you. What could be better than enjoying oysters while watching someone else do the work? With our oysters we also ordered a pound of craw fish and Thomas ordered a cup of seafood gumbo and a side order of red potatoes, which I ended up help eating, oh well. And of course we couldn't stop there, we ordered another peck of oysters before calling it quits. The Oyster Bar's homemade cocktail sauce called "Mother Shucker's" is to die for and it's warm when they serve it to you, it's heavenly. The oysters were delicious and we had a great time together!
After dinner we had to have dessert to continue the celebration of course. Every year I've always made Thomas' a birthday cake, but this year I decided that wouldn't be a good idea since I knew we wouldn't be able to eat it all before it went to waste. So Cupcake to the rescue! During lunch on Wednesday I picked up two cupcakes, Red Velvet (one of Thomas' favorites) and Strawberry Cheesecake (one of the flavors of the day). We started with the Strawberry Cheesecake with the intentions of only eating one, but that didn't exactly work! So we ate the Red Velvet cupcake too and they both were excellent.
I don't have any pictures from the night because I couldn't think while trying to overcome my hunger pains, so you are just going to have to picture in your head the best oysters you've ever had and multiply it by 100 and then picture you favorite cupcake and imagine that's what we were enjoying, but better!
Fast forward with me now to last night. Every year part of Columbia's downtown known as the Vista, kicks off the holiday season with an event called, Vista Lights! Vista Lights is one of my favorite events in Columbia to celebrate the holidays. The city closes off several blocks of the main street that runs through the Vista so adults and children can walk freely in the street. Vista Light's is almost like a open house to kick off the holiday season with over 60 galleries, shops, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues open their doors for the evening to showcase holiday treasures. There are fire pits to roast marshmallows in the street, a bridal fashion show, lighting of the Christmas tree, lots of shops to see, and of course good food and drinks.
I am happy it was chilly this year because we been when it's been very, very windy and cold which was miserable and then we have also been when the weather has been so mild it was almost warm and that certainly doesn't make it feel like the holidays are near. So I would say this year was picture perfect! We sampled Blue Marlin's famous shrimp and grits which are unbelievably amazing, I had a glass of barbie wine while Thomas had a beer or two, watched the lighting of the Christmas tree, and we of course went in and out of all the galleries and shops while enjoying the entertainment in the street. We had an absolute blast and I'm sad it's over. Already looking forward to next year!
(Sorry for the poor picture quality, I forgot my camera!)
Anyways, back to the birthday celebration! We went to dinner for his birthday, his choice of course, and he a good choice he made, The Oyster Bar! Oyster Bar is one of our favorite places, and November is a perfect month for oysters since the month ends in "r." What I love about the Oyster Bar is its laid back atmosphere (a long wooden rectangular high top bar with bar stools lines the restaurant and there is a trough in the middle where the guys shuck your oysters) and the exceptionally friendly staff who sucks your oysters for you. What could be better than enjoying oysters while watching someone else do the work? With our oysters we also ordered a pound of craw fish and Thomas ordered a cup of seafood gumbo and a side order of red potatoes, which I ended up help eating, oh well. And of course we couldn't stop there, we ordered another peck of oysters before calling it quits. The Oyster Bar's homemade cocktail sauce called "Mother Shucker's" is to die for and it's warm when they serve it to you, it's heavenly. The oysters were delicious and we had a great time together!
After dinner we had to have dessert to continue the celebration of course. Every year I've always made Thomas' a birthday cake, but this year I decided that wouldn't be a good idea since I knew we wouldn't be able to eat it all before it went to waste. So Cupcake to the rescue! During lunch on Wednesday I picked up two cupcakes, Red Velvet (one of Thomas' favorites) and Strawberry Cheesecake (one of the flavors of the day). We started with the Strawberry Cheesecake with the intentions of only eating one, but that didn't exactly work! So we ate the Red Velvet cupcake too and they both were excellent.
I don't have any pictures from the night because I couldn't think while trying to overcome my hunger pains, so you are just going to have to picture in your head the best oysters you've ever had and multiply it by 100 and then picture you favorite cupcake and imagine that's what we were enjoying, but better!
Fast forward with me now to last night. Every year part of Columbia's downtown known as the Vista, kicks off the holiday season with an event called, Vista Lights! Vista Lights is one of my favorite events in Columbia to celebrate the holidays. The city closes off several blocks of the main street that runs through the Vista so adults and children can walk freely in the street. Vista Light's is almost like a open house to kick off the holiday season with over 60 galleries, shops, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues open their doors for the evening to showcase holiday treasures. There are fire pits to roast marshmallows in the street, a bridal fashion show, lighting of the Christmas tree, lots of shops to see, and of course good food and drinks.
I am happy it was chilly this year because we been when it's been very, very windy and cold which was miserable and then we have also been when the weather has been so mild it was almost warm and that certainly doesn't make it feel like the holidays are near. So I would say this year was picture perfect! We sampled Blue Marlin's famous shrimp and grits which are unbelievably amazing, I had a glass of barbie wine while Thomas had a beer or two, watched the lighting of the Christmas tree, and we of course went in and out of all the galleries and shops while enjoying the entertainment in the street. We had an absolute blast and I'm sad it's over. Already looking forward to next year!
(Sorry for the poor picture quality, I forgot my camera!)I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Last home football game for the season, let's go cocks!!!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Unique Gift Idea for Any Occasion!
I always set out with the best intentions of finding an original yet thoughtful gift for the recipient. Then time sneaks up on me and I never seem to leave myself enough time for ordering, customizing, processing, and receiving the order in time for the when I need the gift.
This is one of things I don't like most about myself. I procrastinate and procrastinate mostly because I keep thinking I am going to find something better or talk myself in to thinking the recipient won't like what I have given them or some other ridiculous reason. How crazy is that? . So, I as of recent I have been paying more attention and trying to overcome this internal process and plan ahead so I have plenty of time to order and receive the gift in time for the occasion.
Last month I wrote about our trip to Atlanta for Hudson's 1st Birthday Party. Whether or not he had a birthday party or not I knew his birthday was fast approaching so I decided I would start searching for the "perfect" gift. Well most kid's birthday gifts are toys and I certainly was not going to deprive Hudson of a toy, but that part was easy, it was going to have to be something Elmo because that's his favorite! However I didn't want to show up with just toys, I of course wanted to be different. I wanted the gift to include something special for the family to remember Hudson's first year. That's when I found Nella Designs Paper Studio.
Nella Designs is a fabulous paper studio of original illustrations, customizable prints, invitations, and stationary. I fell in love with Nella's ability to create a "customized silhouette print from a photo." What a neat idea! I just new this was the perfect family gift.
I purchased the customized silhouette online and once the purchase was complete I sent a follow up e-mail to Elizabeth (the designer behind Nella Designs) this picture of Ashley, Hudson, and Matt to transform in to the custom silhouette! Oh and I forgot to mention, part of the customization is the picking the background color of the print. I wasn't quite sure what color Ashley would say fit best in their house, so I sent her the block of all the colors and asked her to tell me what she would pick, without giving away the surprise!
Elizabeth is just as sweet and wonderful to work with you can't even begin to imagine. She is just as excited as you are about the finished product and makes your entire experience with Nella Designs perfect! Did I mention how quickly she responds to order acknowledgement and e-mails? Oh and not to forget how fast the proof arrived in my inbox and not long after the final product in my mailbox with plenty of time to spare before the birthday party!
How cool is that? And another plus, even though I purchased this online, I still ended up supporting a local business because Elizabeth also lives in SC! I forgot to take a picture of the print framed also framed the print for Matt, Ashley, and Hudson but in dealing with Miss T melt down in the hotel I forgot to take a picture. Everyone at the party gasped when Ashley opened the gift, doesn't that always make you feel good? Not only do you love the gift you gave, but so does everyone else!
I think this is the perfect engagement, wedding, anniversary, birthday or family gift. I can't imagine someone not enjoying this gift! To view the entire collection visit Nella Designs website.
This is one of things I don't like most about myself. I procrastinate and procrastinate mostly because I keep thinking I am going to find something better or talk myself in to thinking the recipient won't like what I have given them or some other ridiculous reason. How crazy is that? . So, I as of recent I have been paying more attention and trying to overcome this internal process and plan ahead so I have plenty of time to order and receive the gift in time for the occasion.
Last month I wrote about our trip to Atlanta for Hudson's 1st Birthday Party. Whether or not he had a birthday party or not I knew his birthday was fast approaching so I decided I would start searching for the "perfect" gift. Well most kid's birthday gifts are toys and I certainly was not going to deprive Hudson of a toy, but that part was easy, it was going to have to be something Elmo because that's his favorite! However I didn't want to show up with just toys, I of course wanted to be different. I wanted the gift to include something special for the family to remember Hudson's first year. That's when I found Nella Designs Paper Studio.
Nella Designs is a fabulous paper studio of original illustrations, customizable prints, invitations, and stationary. I fell in love with Nella's ability to create a "customized silhouette print from a photo." What a neat idea! I just new this was the perfect family gift.
I purchased the customized silhouette online and once the purchase was complete I sent a follow up e-mail to Elizabeth (the designer behind Nella Designs) this picture of Ashley, Hudson, and Matt to transform in to the custom silhouette! Oh and I forgot to mention, part of the customization is the picking the background color of the print. I wasn't quite sure what color Ashley would say fit best in their house, so I sent her the block of all the colors and asked her to tell me what she would pick, without giving away the surprise!
The Photograph
Elizabeth is just as sweet and wonderful to work with you can't even begin to imagine. She is just as excited as you are about the finished product and makes your entire experience with Nella Designs perfect! Did I mention how quickly she responds to order acknowledgement and e-mails? Oh and not to forget how fast the proof arrived in my inbox and not long after the final product in my mailbox with plenty of time to spare before the birthday party!
Proof!
How cool is that? And another plus, even though I purchased this online, I still ended up supporting a local business because Elizabeth also lives in SC! I forgot to take a picture of the print framed also framed the print for Matt, Ashley, and Hudson but in dealing with Miss T melt down in the hotel I forgot to take a picture. Everyone at the party gasped when Ashley opened the gift, doesn't that always make you feel good? Not only do you love the gift you gave, but so does everyone else!
I think this is the perfect engagement, wedding, anniversary, birthday or family gift. I can't imagine someone not enjoying this gift! To view the entire collection visit Nella Designs website.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Queen City Here We Come...
As part of my birthday gift Thomas got us tickets to see Train and John Mayer, two of my favorites, in concert at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre tonight in Charlotte. I CAN'T WAIT!!! I had been talking about getting tickets to this concert months ago when I heard about it on the radio and every time I would forget. Something different, huh? I was so excited when Thomas surprised me with tickets!
After what I know will be a very fun and exciting weekend, we will be heading home around lunch time on Sunday because I need to unpack and repack within just a couple hours to make it to the airport as I am headed off to the windy city for a conference!
I hope you have a great weekend!
After what I know will be a very fun and exciting weekend, we will be heading home around lunch time on Sunday because I need to unpack and repack within just a couple hours to make it to the airport as I am headed off to the windy city for a conference!
I hope you have a great weekend!
Friday, July 9, 2010
My Birthday in Review
So as some of you might know, I work for a fairly small company here in Columbia, SC and wouldn't you know that myself and two other employees share the same birthday? This wouldn't be so unusual if our company was much larger, but considering the small size, I think it's pretty neat! One of the ladies in the office had cookie cakes made for each one of our birthdays. The cookie cake was delicious, so soft and chewy it melts in your mouth!
For dinner, Thomas took me to Baan Sawan, a Thai Bistro on Devine Street to celebrate my birthday! We both have been wanting to try this restaurant for awhile and my birthday was a great excuse!
To start we ordered calamari to share, it was prepared crisp and drizzled with plum-ginger sauce that was out of this world y'all. The calamari was delicious, both Thomas and I were remarking how we had never seen such thick pieces of calamari. Delicious!
After a tough decision, we finally decided on our entrees. I ordered the pad thai, rice noodles tossed with their slightly sweet, tart and salty pad thai sauce with bean sprouts, ground peanuts, onion and scallions. You had the choice of adding chicken, tofu, or shrimp, I chose chicken. Thomas chose one of the curried entrees. Step 1 you pick from chicken, shrimp, vegetables, tofu, sliced sirloin, duck, or fish of the day. Step 2 you choose a curry. I won't go through all the different types of curry, but Thomas settled on the red curry which is described as medium bodied.
The atmosphere at Baan Sawan is very laid back and relaxing. You feel as though you are enjoying dinner in someone's home with no rush. Our entrees arrived a short time later and both did not disappoint. Warning: be extra cautious when ordering the spice level of the curry. Thomas enjoys the hot hot hot flavor of spicy foods, however the hotness from curry is measured on a different scale.
We spent the rest of the evening enjoying one another's company before heading home. My birthday celebration will continue for a few more days, as I am celebrating with my friends tomorrow night and with Thomas' family sometime over the weekend or early next week.
Until next year thank you to my family and friends who made my birthday very special!
Thank you Eagle!
For dinner, Thomas took me to Baan Sawan, a Thai Bistro on Devine Street to celebrate my birthday! We both have been wanting to try this restaurant for awhile and my birthday was a great excuse!
To start we ordered calamari to share, it was prepared crisp and drizzled with plum-ginger sauce that was out of this world y'all. The calamari was delicious, both Thomas and I were remarking how we had never seen such thick pieces of calamari. Delicious!
After a tough decision, we finally decided on our entrees. I ordered the pad thai, rice noodles tossed with their slightly sweet, tart and salty pad thai sauce with bean sprouts, ground peanuts, onion and scallions. You had the choice of adding chicken, tofu, or shrimp, I chose chicken. Thomas chose one of the curried entrees. Step 1 you pick from chicken, shrimp, vegetables, tofu, sliced sirloin, duck, or fish of the day. Step 2 you choose a curry. I won't go through all the different types of curry, but Thomas settled on the red curry which is described as medium bodied.
The atmosphere at Baan Sawan is very laid back and relaxing. You feel as though you are enjoying dinner in someone's home with no rush. Our entrees arrived a short time later and both did not disappoint. Warning: be extra cautious when ordering the spice level of the curry. Thomas enjoys the hot hot hot flavor of spicy foods, however the hotness from curry is measured on a different scale.
We spent the rest of the evening enjoying one another's company before heading home. My birthday celebration will continue for a few more days, as I am celebrating with my friends tomorrow night and with Thomas' family sometime over the weekend or early next week.
Until next year thank you to my family and friends who made my birthday very special!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Happy Birthday!
Who's Birthday you ask? My birthday! I celebrated with my family at the beach last weekend, since we couldn't be together today. My cousin Christina and I are 13 days apart and every summer we celebrate our birthdays together! My Aunt Mary Ellen made us dinner, grilled shrimp and filet mignon with rice and grilled vegetables, she is an excellent cook! And for dessert, Christina wanted homemade Apple Pie and I asked for Carvel Ice Cream Cake, because it's my favorite! (I hope they can make ice cream wedding cakes, what do you think??)
Me and Christina celebrating our birthdays at the beach!
I have been so blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends and I am very thankful to be celebrating another birthday with you all!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Our Littlest Angel
Today would have been our littlest angel's 16th birthday. Not a day goes that I don't think about her and wish she could have lived forever. Patches was such a sweetheart and brought us 15 1/2 years of happiness and memories that we will always remember!
We Love You!!!
Happy Sweet Sixteen Patches, you will always be my Little Sister!
We Love You!!!
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