Three Two

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned thirty-two. This means that there is no denying that whole "I'm-a-grown-up-now" thing. I will admit that I was not looking forward to this birthday. It wasn't so much the number, as it was the whole life situation. A month ago, I was looking at having it be just another day of sitting at home and worrying about our financial situation, like every other day pretty much so far this year. Thankfully, due to a very generous gift, things are finally starting to look up for us. That dark cloud of debt is lifting from over our heads and for the last two weeks, we've been able to things like normal people (such as going for groceries and buying the BIG packs of toilet paper and paper towels - what a thrill!) without having to worry about where the money was going to come from.

This is a very good thing. It means that I'm starting to sleep again like a normal person. THAT right there is the best gift of all, if you ask me. The next best gift?

Ha ha!

Folks, let me introduce you to the All-Clad 12 qt. multi-cooker with steamer basket. Oh yes. I've been eyeing this baby for literally YEARS but was unable to justify the purchase. My awesome mother in law sent it to me for my birthday. I'm having fantasies of making copious amounts of pasta and steaming tamales in here come Christmas. Mmm. LOVE.

Who wants to come over for dinner? HA HA HA!!!

All my pots and pans are All-Clad. I've had them for over ten years and the only one I've had to replace was the Teflon coated skillet, because it got all scratched up. They are an investment that's so totally worth it. Having good pots and pans really does make a difference in the kitchen, and I'm excited to have another piece for my collection.

Last night, we went out to dinner at Benihana with my friends. Yes, I know it's cheesy, but it's seriously my favorite place to go eat. I had not been there in almost two years though! So sad. But that's over now! Even more fun was getting to see how entranced the baby was by the whole show. He LOVED it!

Here is the photo they took of us:

Yeah, I made him wear the stupid hat. Until he's old enough to express his own opinions, I have the right to dress him funny if I want to dress him funny! It was a little big, but luckily the manager had some scotch tape. I was surprised at how long he left it on his head, to tell you the truth.

We took about ten different photos, and his expression was pretty much the same in every one. Silly baby.

I sat him in a chair for a minute to take this one. Then I got to open my gifts from my friends. A's gifts are always fun, because she'll give you a bag full of a bunch of fun things. There were some glitter eyeliners, a new tube of Diorshow (YAY!!!), some MAC brush cleaner, an eyeshadow palette (we're going to de-pot my eyeshadows!), Hello Kitty temporary tattoos, and one of those Hello Kitty plush dolls from when MAC came out with the Hello Kitty makeup collection. The biggest surprise though was this:

LOVE. It's the cupcake charm from Tiffany & Co. So cute!

My husband is going to clean the carpets and I DON'T HAVE TO HELP!!! That's a pretty dang awesome gift too! If you've ever seen how nasty apartment carpet can get (this stuff is cheap and holds EVERYTHING, yo) you'll understand how big this is. Hopefully we can get it done next weekend after his Peter Pan football draft so they'll look decent for my sister-in-law's visit in a few weeks.

I am so thankful to be blessed with friends and family who are here for me. I'm not used to having people around that I can rely on for support in my life, but I'm glad that things have changed for me in that direction. It sure is nice. :)