27, continued

I was showered with kindness yesterday for my birthday and I am just so thankful for the husband, family, friends and co-workers that really made it a special day!

First Mike got the whole day off to a wonderful start by waking me up with breakfast in bed- so cute and unexpected! He made me a spinach & cheese omelet with toast and coffee :)

Co-workers were especially nice with all sorts of birthday wishes and I even got a nice pair of earrings from Melissa as a gift and Mary-Beth took me out for lunch at The Hilltop.

email wishes throughout the day continued....

and then Mike picked me up from work and we headed to downtown Iowa City to Graze, a new restaurant I've been dying to try after hearing such great reviews from friends- check out the dinner & libations MENUS in the bottom left of their website to see the ridiculous amount of choices for martinis, etc, and the fun food names & descriptions.

We chose the Grazing 101 menu and I had a sweet martini to wash it all down (try to guess which one I'm drinking) everything was awesome but our faves were definitely the 'chicken lips' & the 'half-ass ice cream pie'

I came home to cards in the mail and the cutest gift from my parents- a sprouting seeds kit! I'll be growing & enjoying home-grown sprouts for salads & sandwiches year round.

Thank you everyone for showering me with love on my 27th b-day!

27

As of 7:50 am I officially 27 years old. It's been a great birthday so far despite the dreary weather outside. I will post pics tomorrow of my special day today because it isn't quite over yet and there is more fun to come- yeah!

Celebration Weekend: 6 yrs & V-day

Mike & I had a wonderful Friday night as we celebrated the 6 year anniversary of our very 1st date. We chose to venture in the snowy weather to the Ced-Rel Supper Club for dinner and it was quite the place- so old school with their complimentary appetizer tray, beef tenderloins & fried shrimp, bean pot, salad, baked potato and home baked rolls. They even brought us an ice cream sundae with cherry on top to share in honor of our special occasion.

We then checked out the Piano Lounge in downtown Cedar Rapids and enjoyed a few martinis while listening to some very entertaining dueling pianists.

Saturday morning I surprised the hubby with a Valentine's Day brunch of strawberry filled crepes, sausage & spinach egg strata with cheddar cheese, crispy hash browns & heart shaped chocolate chunk brownies and of course served with a beautiful mimosa (or 3).

Sunday the Suzy homemaker in me got down to work on making my largest to date pot of Vegetable Beef Soup- delicious and will provide quite a few leftovers for my soup-obsessed husband.

BRUNCH!

Tuesday night my high school friend-turned sophomore year in college roommate-turned now grown up friend Rachel joined me for yet another one of my fave local cooking classes at the New Pioneer Co-op. This time the topic was 'Winter Weekend Brunch' and it was fab as usual! We enjoyed samples of and learned how easy Egg Strata is to make with variations such as sausage, feta & various seasonal vegetables. We also devoured crepes with strawberries & chocolate hazelnut spread, frozen 'citrus fruit freeze' & crispy hash browns. We washed it all down with Mimosa's & classic peach nectar Bellini's- yum! I am inspired to create a special Valentines Day Brunch for my very own sweetie this coming Saturday morning (even though it is probably more of an excuse for me to enjoy a decadent breakfast than anything else but he doesn't need to know this).

how to make a classic peach Bellini
fill 1/2 your champagne or wine glass with peach nectar (sold in cans these days) & top off the rest of the way with Italian Prosecco wine, drop in 1 fresh raspberry and enjoy!

The Big Game Update

Sorry for the delay but check out some pics from our big Super Bowl Bash which somehow ended up being a 4 day event! Everyone had an awesome time and brought great food to share- everything from a 2 man chili cook-off to home-made guacamole with everything in between (classic veggies & dip, several bean/salsa & cheese dips, fruit, sweet potato skins, brownies, broccoli salad, lil' smokies wrapped in bacon, meat & cheese tray, jalapeno poppers, etc) Thank God it only comes around once a year because who knows if our tummies or livers could take it :)


kicking off the party with beers & our party shirts (mine said SUNDAY FUNDAY! purchased online for the special occasion)




my football shaped brownies were especially festive & delicious!







we played the dice game during half time (we call it 'feed the monkey') Mike won the much coveted $75 pot!





our yard after the 4 day melee- no comment.