Thirty, Flirty & Thriving

Whew! October is over and I feel I can breathe a sigh of relief. It has been a birthday bonanza, but I think I can officially hang up my party planning hat...at least for now.

As you read in a previous post, we celebrated my sister's birthday this past week which involved multiple celebrations. Obviously, this is 100% necessary for any birthday, but it was especially important given the monumental age she was reaching: the big 3-0.

We headed to Gloria's for our standard family gathering. The birthday girl was in need of a margarita fix and Glorias was just the ticket. The poor thing hadn't had a margarita since September of 2008, so needless to say, she enjoyed every sip!


Food was also consumed and I had my requisite 8 bowls of black beans. I think they might be under new management because my food was especially tasty that evening. Of course, the waiters were forced to sing the obligatory birthday song and you can bet Haylee was all over that free dessert.
Haylee: the chocolate monster
the birthday momma with her 2 girls
a lovely shot of the ladies (minus meredith)

Once we were sufficiently stuffed, it was time for cake and birthday presents. Well, we first had to have a dance party in the car. This was most definitely a necessity. jammin' in the car

I had spent the better part of 3 weeks putting together a photo book to commemorate 30 years in Michelle's life. While it certainly didn't do her life justice, I think she appreciated the effort and liked looking at the old pictures...the spiral perm was not a good choice. You live and you learn.



Pearl, I mean Haylee took the opportunity to put on every piece of her dress up paraphernalia. She was a diva/chef/princess/fairy. I LOVE that she's such a girly girl and wouldn't have it any other way.

haylee playing dress up with her papa


Back to the birthday girl. She had requested my mom's infamous chocolate-chocolate cake. It's a chocolate cake with chocolate chips and homemade chocolate butter cream icing. It is so rich you can hardly have a sliver without going into a sugar coma. She's been making it for our birthdays for as long as I can remember and that frosting is too die for. I should note that I learned from my mom to NEVER use canned icing. Thanks for teaching me that valuable lesson!



It was a nice low-key night to celebrate Michelle's life, but the real celebration was taking place the following night. Stay tuned for the party post!