There was some serious birthday love going around for my big day this year!
Mr B spent hours in the kitchen every night this week creating my birthday cake - I'm so proud of him and the morning of my birthday, when he just couldn't wait any longer, he brought it in to show me at 8am! I think he might be pretty proud too - and so he should be! I just love everything about it, from the little bow with purple glitter on the front to the lolly jewel heel - and not only did he dye the frosting but the actual cakes are pink and blue as well!!
And you might think that ok on your birthday it's cool to be woken up at 8am with a glorious shoe cake and presents, but then you like go back to sleep right? Uh no.
We had a breakfast date with Mum and Dad! This was just incase my old-age dementia had already kicked in and I couldn't find my spot at the breakfast table.....
And this is me with a hot cup of tea and my freshly toasted english muffins, smothered in avocado, tomato, cheese...oh and don't forget the birthday candles!
Now I think I have mentioned before, the way we do birthdays in our family basically means that if it's your birthday, you have next to no say in it. Everyone else gets together and plans the day out and you just go along for the ride. I love the way we do birthdays, I couldn't imagine doing it any other way!
Once we left Mum and Dads, our first stop was North Hobart. Dad and Mr B dropped Mum and I off at the top end of the street and the general idea was we would work / shop our way down to the bottom end of the street where they would be happily browsing at a Harley shop. This was very exciting as there are lots of lovely shops in North Hobart that Mum and I both love, but never get a chance to look in. I think you could tell we were slightly out of practise with the shopping because we barely got a quarter of the way down the block and the boys were back! It didn't matter though, we had shopped up some gorgeous bargains and found a hidden gem of a florist / gift shop on the way!
Our next stop was further down the road in town and after a nasty incident where Dad squashed Mr B behind a door, Mum and I decided to investigat The Stocking Shop, which is full of all things scarf, stocking, socks, jewellery, hat and glove related....it's one of those shops where you just love so much that you get scared and run out without buying anything....which is exactly what we did!
All that shopping makes you hungry so we headed down to waterfront and I was super excited when we pulled up outside Jam Packed. It's a lovely little cafe set that opens up into a beautiful huge stone atrium. And the best thing is it's so peaceful in there, you wouldn't know you were right next to a busy road or right on the waterfront.
The menu was packed full of so many delicious things that we didn't know what to have.....well OK the boys did, it was mainly just Mum and I who had some serious deciding to do, but EVERYTHING looked so good!
This is what we ended up with clockwise from the top....Dad had fried eggs on toast with chips (which he used to dip into the runny eggs much to Mum's horror!), Mum had mushroom bruschetta, I had a mushroom and gruyere cheese omelette with sourdough and Mr B had fish and chips! And yes the lime milkshake is mine....but it was my birthday! All the meals were delicious and we were all extremely impressed - I think it will become a regular haunt of ours! Plus Mr B surprised me at lunch with a gorgeous charm for my pandora bracelet of a high heel boot with the Harley emblem on it - it's so cute!
After lunch we headed back to Mum and Dad's where they absolutely spoilt me with gifts. Not only did they buy Mr B and I a new coffee table, but they also brought me some gorgeous scarves (the scarf addiction is nearly as bad as the shoe addiction!!), some beautiful brooches and PURPLE GUMBOOTS - complete with fleecy gumboot socks!
When we left Mum and Dad's, Mr B took me bowling! We used to go bowling all the time and I'm so glad we went today, it was so much fun! Although I definitely peaked somewhere in the middle of the first game, it was all downhill from there!
Then we stopped and picked up some Praties for dinner (I have been hanging out for Praties for AGES!) and some Southern Comfort and Lime (I have been hanging out to try this for AGES too!) and headed home to put our pj's on, our feet up and watch a DVD!
And look at what Mr B brought me to play with!!
I read about this family sized pie maker in a magazine a few weeks ago and was so excited to try one out!
And I spotted these cheese making kits at our local home brew shop awhile ago and told anyone who would listen about them. The Specialty Cheese Kit makes Brie, Camembert and Blue Cheese and the Hard Cheese Kit makes cheeses like Cheddar, Coldby and Gouda, plus it tells you how to turn the whey into Ricotta so nothing goes to waste! I can't wait to give them a go and see what the results are like.
Oh um...yeah....we tried the birthday cake too....it was delicious!!
See....birthday love!
And we can't forget the Happy Day After Your Birthday breakfast....bacons and heart shaped eggs on toast!
So that's it for another year! I had such a great day - Mum, Dad and Mr B put in a massive amount of planning and effort to bring the day together and to keep it all a surprise and I think that's what makes it so special - not what you do or what you get, but the fact that the people who mean the most to you all get together and plan a day that they think you will love and then you get to experience it with them. I can't thank them all enough.
Mrs B xox