29 years = 1 fun week

 It’s hard to believe August is almost over… and it’s even harder to believe I’m 29!  Well, not really because it comes after 28, but whatever.  We celebrated my last 20’s birthday with a romantic dinner at Al di La – a chic little Northern Italian trattoria (I’m still dreaming of the Pecorino cheese with truffle honey!) and then headed downtown to Raval with Mr. and Mrs. Mae.

 Earlier in the week I got to catch up with my sweet little buddy, K.  It’d been 4 years!  We had fun reminiscing about our college memories and bringing each other up to date on our busy lives.  Props to her – she’s a midwife in Spanish Harlem and was very happy to know we are using the Birth Place. 

 Speaking of the Birth Place, we finished our birth class last week!  Here’s a shot of the whole group… they were really fun.  After everylittleone is born we’ll get together for a reunion. 

 Another birthday week treat – I got to see my girl, M, down from Greenville with her beau. 

Although I’ve had some great visits from some beautiful girlies to brighten it up, August has been an unusually rainy month… check this out!  Our front yard almost totally submerged!

 And the back yard…

B misses the outside and chasing her squirrels.  I swear she’s looking at me as if I have the power to make it stop raining so she can go play…

 So since the weather has been quite damp, I’ve been baking to pass some time.  Some super moist banana bread that I spruced up with strawberry jam and orange marmalade…

And D’s new favorite – Hummingbird Cake - I turned into some de-lish cupcakes for our Sunday School picnic.

Yummy baked banana sundaes – before they went into the oven for a few minutes and were topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

 And, as always, right at my feet, my two taste-testers…

 We also tried a new homemade barbeque recipe – Bourbon-Mango Pulled Pork.  Some of the ingredients – honey, whisky, chipotle, and fresh pureed mango…

 An all-day slowcooker adventure, just for my favorite BBQ connoisseur.