Family Birthday Dinner

I am so ready for April Showers to turn into May flowers. 

Yesterday, it rained and rained all day. 

Due to this, I woke up craving hot oatmeal. 

Steel Cut Oats with Cottage Cheese (stirred in at end), topped with strawberries, Love Grown Foods Coco Granola, Dark Chocolate Almond Butter

I never used to like adding cottage cheese into my oats, but I think I've found the secret.  Add a touch of sugar.  The cottage cheese is too tangy on its own, but when you sweeten it up just a tad, it takes on the creamy ricotta feel which makes the oats more dessert like.  Mystery solved!

I had 5 back-to-back presentations all morning and wasn't going to be able to get back to the office until 2pm to eat lunch, so I snuck in a quick snack in between.

When I did finally make it back, I remembered I had a can of Amy's Veggie Lentil Soup in my desk drawer.  It was a perfect compliment to such a cold rainy afternoon.

Right after work, I came home and got ready to meet my family for a birthday dinner.  My nanny's birthday was yesterday and mine in on Sunday, so we usually find a day in the middle to celebrate both. The restaurant was PACKED so while we waited, Toly and I grabbed a much needed drink at the bar.

 (If you're wondering why I seem to always be wearing the hat, it's because it's been raining for days and the hat comes in handy to keep my hair dry.  The day you see me without it is the day it stopped raining. :)

For dinner, I ordered the Spinach and Berry Salad.  Lots of spinach with strawberries, blueberries, kiwis and toasted hazelnuts.

 And for my main, I went off the small plates menu and got the Grilled Salmon with steamed broccoli and maple glazed carrots.

It was good, but you could definitely tell it was up to chain restaurant quality on a busy Friday night.  A little overdone, cold and just not an unforgettable dining experience.  That's okay, the company was much better!

We all came back to our house after dinner so dig into the cake my sister made.  Every year, she makes me FAVORITE birthday cake and I'm not even a cake person but this one, I love and it's tradition.

Vanilla Pudding Cake with Coolwhip Frosting and Strawberries

It was a LONG day yesterday and I crashed hard.  Today is going to be another long day.  I'm going to a Body Attack class this morning, painting all day, and then Toly is taking me out tonight for my birthday. 

Hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend!