Apologies & Birthday Week, continued

I apologize for being MIA for the past week or so in "blogworld". Things have been super busy around here...not to mention I was on vaction for a few days -- woohoo!! I will blog about that very soon. For now, please enjoy a few pictures of my "Birthday Week, continued". :)

Yes, I know. I only have one real birthday. How much fun it is to have your birthday extended for an entire week, though! Or even two weeks! My sister came to visit me this past Sunday and brought me one of her special cakes for my birthday. I had requested a "wedding cake" birthday cake -- white cake with buttercream frosting and strawberry filling. It was DeLiCiOuS!!! Here is a picture of it:

Isn't it beautiful?? I still have a little piece left of it. It was soooo good!! The people I shared it with thought so as well. :) While my sister and bro-in-law were up, we took them to Lynn's Paradise Cafe, played miniature golf at Putt Putt Fun Center, and had ice cream at Graeter's. We had so much fun!! Plus, she got me a beautiful silver business card holder engraved with my initials. :)

My mom and dad sent me gifts as well. Here is a peek at them (minus my turtle necklace and two purses):

Now, let's go back in time about a week or so. I never had a chance to show you my other gifts from my wonderful friends! Here is a short breakdown of what "birthday week" entailed:

Birthday Week = 3 cakes (only one for me) + 1 special dessert + lunch with 3 friends + dinner with my wonderful husband + a "pizza party" with more friends + gifts + a partridge in a pear tree

Needless to say, I am BLESSED!!! I had lunch with Kim at Fazolis, lunch with Melissa at KT's, and lunch with Donna at The Cheesecake Factory. I had dinner with my amazing husband, Jason, at Texas Roadhouse. We had "Pizza Mia" pizzas from Pizza Hut (I do not recommend them) and an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. The other two cakes were a dark chocolate cake w/cherry sauce that I made for my boss's birthday (July 28) and a Paula Deen chocolate chip gooey butter cake I made for Beth for her birthday (July 29). Here are two of the cakes:

The Monkey Cake (ice cream cake)

Beth's Birthday Cake (Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Cake)

Since I cannot put all of my "gift pictures" on here, I picked out a couple of my favorites to share with you. Beth got me some Ultra Fine tip sharpie markers (because I love making little cards --even though they are definitely not as creative as hers) and she decorated my desk!! My boss got me one of those Rocket blenders, and my sweet friend Laura made me an apron and chip clips and gave me a box of soup mix - yum! How awesome is that!?? :) Take a look:

Me sporting my homemade apron (check out the detail)!!

Homemade chip clips (how cute!) and soup mix

I could not have asked for anything more. However, on top of all of that, I received an awesome recipe book (that matched a recipe box I received for my wedding...6 years ago!) from my friends Chris & Ellen, some beautiful sconces and awesome-smelling candles from my friends Zach & Missy, and 2 cartons of Ale-8 from my friends Ryan & Melanie. My little sis also gave me a carton of Ale-8, vintage candies, and balloons. And.....my husband got me a ..... Nintendo DS!!! With two COOKING games!!! :) Yes, cooking games: Cooking Mama and Cake Mania 2. They are so much fun!! Again...blessed.

Anyway, that was the story of "birthday week". I hope you enjoyed reading this post, and I apologize if I left someone out! I am very grateful for all of the gifts, lunches, cakes, and everything else that made my birthday so wonderful. Thank you!! :)