this was a pretty great weekend.  don’t you just love birthdays?!  what a perfect excuse to eat yummy food, indulge in way too much dessert, spend extra time alone with my man, and do some shopping!  fun. fun. fun.

even though my birthday was technically on friday, i received my hubby’s blessing to commandeer the entire weekend.  we did it up.  we kicked things off early with a whitehouse family dinner on my birthday eve. then we enjoyed a hubby & me date night on friday for dinner and shopping…shopping for baby goodies.  we walked away with a bag of tiny little apparel to begin her wardrobe.  a very merry un-birhday to you, baby girl.  it was so much fun. then we had an ice cream social [okay, there were only four people there but there was ice cream and we were social] followed by some additional baby girl shopping.  this time, it was off to home depot for paint.  wahoo!  and finally, we wrapped up the birthday-palooza weekend with a dinner with my dad, my fianc-ed sister, and her man.  whew!  needless to say, it was a splendid few days.  i feel quite celebrated.  quite full.  and actually, quite accomplished.  i couldn’t ask for more.

here are some snaps. 

date night with my handsome man + citizen public house.  yes.  again. + fondue with pears, grilled bread, and peppered sausage + the famous and scrumptious [gf] fried chicken and waffles with almond butter and desert lavender honey + plate o’ bread and sausage and cheddar and grainy mustard + rockin’ the scarf and looking like a “fashionable, old-fashioned cleaning lady” as ben’s sister katie calls it + a bag of tiny baby goodies for our tiny baby girl + a table-full of gifts from my man.  the contents thereof: a cookbook, chocolate bars from vosages, baubles and a scarf from j.crew, a giant bag of my favorite decaf coffee beans from local roaster matador, and a fancy-schmancy cold coffee brewing system + miss coco.  she was very jealous of the my presents and the baby’s clothes… + enjoying some of the aforementioned fancy-schmancy cold brewed coffee + a vegan peanut butter cookie from tammie coe.  ah.maz.ing + heading out for some ice cream + sweet republic artisan ice cream + some sweet republic press & a sassy face + my huckleberry ice cream + painting supplies for baby girl’s room! + off to church + dinner at the greene house + the california-cool decor + my dad + my b-day balloon + the menu + the goods…tuna; potato gnocchi with sausage, peas, and mushrooms; chicken ravioli; and scallops + some share-able birthday dessert…chocolate bars of yumminess.

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as i was assembling the collection, i realized that this weekend was a pretty fabulous tour of some great local venues and vendors from the scottsdale/phoenix area.  fox restaurants, citizen public house, sweet republic, matador coffee roasters, tammie coe.  we are blessed to live in a cool town.