Hey you guys! Thanks again so so much for the kind birthday wishes yesterday. It meant a lot and each one made me smile. I had a pretty great birthday, and I even have one more birthday event tonight. Woo hoo!

Dinner at my mom’s last night was awesome, as usual. I didn’t take a picture of my actual plate but I did snap some shots of the different food components. Mom set up “mood lighting” in the kitchen and dining room so I had to use a flash

We started out with butternut squash soup and a simple salad.

I made that One can not be expected to exert too much efffort on their birthday, haha. I didn’t get a picture of the soup, but I am having it for lunch today so it shall reveal itself soon enough.

There was a meat dish of pork tenderloin, but my main dish was acorn squash stuffed with a wild rice pilaf.

Of course this was right up my alley. Loved it! We also had some steamed broccoli and carrots in a brown butter sauce.

All together it was an incredibly fibrous dinner! When I first announced that I wasn’t really going to eat meat anymore (remember, I’m not a vegetarian I just don’t eat much meat), my Mom had a hard time with it. But now I think she’s starting to embrace it and have fun making meat-free dishes when we get together.

She even bought me The Kind Diet for my birthday. I was shocked because I’ve really wanted to read it but I haven’t said anything to her about it. She just picked it out because she thought it sounded like something I would enjoy.

And last but not least, we had Chocolate Raspberry layer cake for dessert.

That picture definitely does not do the cake justice. Dang darn flash…

Oh, and I got so many fun foodie/fitness gifts! The highlights included: The Kind Diet, a set of bakeware, fitness bands (I asked for them) and a gift card to Academy. My favorite gift though was a recipe card box from my mom with some of her mom’s recipes in it. I’ll have to take a picture of the box because it’s so darn cute!

After the obligatory stories of my birth and everyone commenting on what an adorable and perfect child I was, we had to head home. I never really got a great night’s sleep over the weekend so I was pooped when I got back to my apartment. After a quick shower and some streamlining, I passed right out.

I had to get my workout in this morning, since I have dinner with some friends tonight, so it was up and at ‘em at 5 a.m. I have to say, it was a little bit easier than last time!

I did a Pump Fusion class, which is like Body Pump but with cardio intervals added in. It was an okay class, but I was definitely the youngest participant by at least 20 years. The cardio intervals got my heart rate up and I was definitely sweating like crazy, but I didn’t enjoy the class as much as regular Body Pump. Not sure if I’ll do it again or not.

I rushed home after the class and managed to get ready (shower, dry & straigthen hair, apply makeup, blend Green Monster and get dressed) in 38 minutes, which meant I arrived at work 10 minutes early. Go 24-year-old me

Oh, and before I go, I wanted to introduce you to my cats. I still consider them mine, even though they now live with my Mom. I couldn’t take them with me to college, and now they’re so accustomed to their life with her that it wouldn’t be fair to move them in with me. I miss them though.

First, we have Phoebe.

She is the baby. I think we had her spayed a little too early, because she just never got very big and has a bit of a weight problem. She’s super sweet though.

There’s also Joey.

I found Joey while I was on a bike ride in high school. He was teeny tiny and about to starve to death. It took a long time to nurse him back to health, but now he’s as good as new

There’s also a Chandler cat, but he was camera shy last night. And yes, I named my cats after Friends characters. Best show ever. 

Okay, enough about my cats. I promise I am not a cat lady. But I do miss them!

Have a lovely Tuesday everyone!