Birthday mania

I am rather over-due on this post, but we had a great birthday party for Frankie last weekend! To celebrate her 2nd birthday we invited our current small group, the Ashes and the Whites over for brunch and cupcakes Saturday morning. I asked guests to bring recycled or hand-made gifts, and most delivered!

I made this baked french toast recipe for the first time, and it was delicious:

CHALLAH FRENCH TOAST

Yield: 6 servings

* 1 large fresh challah
* 6 eggs
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 2 1/2 cups milk
* 2 tablespoons vanilla
* cinnamon
* confectioner's sugar

Cut challah into 6 thick slices. Beat the eggs and mix in the sugar, milk and vanilla. Spray a 13x9 baking pan and arrange the challah at the bottom of the pan. Pour the egg mixture over the bread evenly. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Before baking, sprinkle the top with cinnamon. Bake at 350 degree Fahrenheit for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

I used Portuguese sweet bread instead of Challah because my Stop and Shop doesn't carry Challah (I live in Dorchester, people - we also can't find chilies in adobo sauce or Indian pickle at our grocery store).

In other birthday news, I seem to have passed right over the fact that I turned 30 a few weeks ago. 30! I love being 30. I didn't think it would matter, I'm not someone who usually cares about dates, anniversaries, etc, but turning 30 has given me pause to think. Mostly, I'm happy I'm not turning 20 again. Not that my 20s were miserable - far from it - but I feel settled in a way that I didn't 10 years ago. And that's a good thing. I don't quite feel old, but that might be a way to describe it. Probably just thankful that I'm more mature. And just think how much more mature I'll be at 40!

I had a wonderful 30th birthday. Sweet Sarah wanted to help me celebrate before she left for CA, so she and Heather organized a surprise party for me at Finale. Here we are at Finale:


Chris and his mom surprised me by giving me a weekend away with Chris! Suzy came up for the weekend after my birthday for 2 nights and watched the kids while Chris and I went to Woodstock, VT. It was a nice, relaxing time. We watched Slumdog Millionaires, which was great!

Here are some shots of Frankie's party, and a video of "Happy Birthday"!



Rachel and Frankie made this birthday crown

The Jack of Hearts (it was a Valentine's Day party after all!)

Accessorizin'

Thank you for coming to my party, Uncle Rahul

Stylin'

Frankie learned from last year not to touch the sticky icing with her fingers - she went face-first this year.



Happy Birthday, big sis!

Birthday Queen

Rebecca's adorable dog, MacGyver - more on him in the next post!

A pregnant Beth!


The hand-made doll from Jennifer White

(which is a perfect complement to Frankie's Steve)


Anne gifts Dex a bottle


Rachel and Heather have some fun

Mine!