Oh, hello, there. Excuse the rhyme. But happy Monday! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I certainly did, and now I’m going to share it with you. Sound good?
I told my mom I’d make her whatever dessert she wanted for her birthday weekend. She settled on fudge brownie cupcakes with cookie dough frosting. On Friday after work and a toasty dog walk, I got baking.
Guys. These are one of the easiest desserts ever – and they’re deceptive. They’re super-rich and seem like you spent forever on them. Make them!
Friday also happened to be the day my dad finished up a work project he’d been working on for quite a while, so he came home in really good time and brought pizza. 
It was the first time in a while we all three could completely relax for an entire evening, so we decided to start a new TV show. We’re only three episodes in, but I highly recommend Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. So funny!
On Saturday, we headed up to Mansfield to celebrate my mom’s and grandpa’s birthdays with my grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousins. It was a seriously wonderful day. After snacking on chips and cheese, we settled down for lunch.
{Hot dog + pickles + veggies + sauerkraut + homemade baked beans + kettle chips + fruit}
And after lunch, my cousins headed to the pool with the ladies of the family, minus me. I had a migraine with crazy aura, so I opted to hang out with the guys, watch golf, read (I started Middlesex and love it so far), and take a nap.
When we were all back together, it was time for dessert.
{Times two, because it was yummy and there was one leftover, so I had to remedy that situation}
Dessert was followed by gift-opening and card-playing before we all parted ways.
On Sunday, we had planned to go to a late brunch to celebrate my mom’s birthday and then go see Trainwreck. Her phone entirely stopped working on Saturday afternoon, though, so we instead made a trip to the Apple store. Good news: she got her phone replaced – a lovely birthday surprise. Bad news: it took long enough that brunch and the movie couldn’t both happen. We made the best of it, though!
While we were waiting for our appointment at the Apple store, my mom and I grabbed lunch at Noodles & Company.
{Bangkok Curry + shrimp + Sriracha + flatbread}
Once she had her new phone, we ran back to the house, grabbed my dad, Peanut M&M’s, Twizzlers, and some popcorn, and headed to the movie theater. Trainwreck was hilarious and I’d actually willingly go see it again because I laughed so much.
When the movie was over, my mom chose Mitchell’s Fish Market for dinner. And I could go on and on, but really… it was just incredible. That’s it.
{Warm, fresh sourdough + butter}
{Appetizer: pickled red onion & cucumber + spicy crispy shrimp + sticky rice}
{Scallops + ginger + sesame spinach + sticky rice}
And if you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen dessert…
{Sharkfin pie: “Butter fudge ice cream, honey roasted peanuts,
fudge, peanut butter, Oreo cookie crust.”}
It was enormous and lovely and perfect for National Ice Cream Day.
Aaaand that was my weekend.
How was your weekend?
Happy birthday to your Mom & good job to your dad on finishing his work project. Sounds like your family had a fantastic weekend. I’m not sure when the last time I ate that much delicious food in one weekend. Between those cupcakes & your scallop dinner, I’m basically drooling!
Thanks, Jessie! It was a pretty delicious weekend, for sure 🙂
I totally get that your addicted to Food Network 😉 It’s just too intriguing! And I totally wish I was a judge on Chopped, too! All of the food you had looks sooooo good, and I totally wish I could dig in to each and every plate LOL. Have a great day! 😀
Thanks, Kennedy! It was delicious 🙂 Hope you had a great day, too!
Sounds like the perfect weekend of birthday celebrations to me! Can’t go wrong with lots of desserts- that’s how I spend my every weekend haha I want to see that movie!
Haha I spend a lot of my weekends baking, so I end up with quiiite a few desserts, as well 😀 Go see it! Loved it 😉
Both the brownie & cookie dough cupcakes (I’m sure your mom felt really special!) and the shark fin pie sound incredible! And warm, fresh sourdough bread…what could be better?
Haha it was a great food weekend for sure 😀
Chocolate chip cookie dough frosting?! That looks absolutely luscious!
I loved “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”. My mom and I watched it and we could not stop laughing. I still sing the theme song! 😉
It was amazing 😀
Haha yes! Sometimes you need a nice, lighthearted show and it’s sooo perfect for that!
The title of your post is my life in a sentence, I can’t lie ;). Those cupcakes look divine, please open up a bakery and provide me unlimited access to these amazing things!
Ahhh that would be the dream 😀
Oh my goodness, Ellen, cookie dough frosting?!?!? I am so doing that. GENIUS. Thanks for the link! And that pie looks to-die-for!!
I had a pretty great weekend. Saturday I worked childcare at a nearby church and saw some of my favorite little kids from that church…how come everyone else grows up so fast?? 😉 Sunday was pretty relaxing, though I over-taxed my eyes through too much screen time (my eyes I think are kind of sensitive… 😐 ).
Hope your Monday was awesome!!
They do all grow up so fast! It’s crazy. Sometimes I think my cousins are still however old they were 5 years ago. Oops.
Relaxing is good 🙂
Thanks, Hannah! Hope your week started off nicely!