Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts

Birthday 53

I turned 53 years old yesterday. My mind tells me I’m 23 but my body tells me otherwise. 

My daughter came home this past weekend to start the celebration with me. My husband had to work so It was just me and her. She came to the house with a handful of surprises. One included this lemon cake. 


We have been eating on it all weekend. I love any kind of cake and lemon is one of my favorite fruity flavors. 
Gifts she got me included a My Pillow, a herb growing kit, and a hair brush. 

Then she went with me to get a …….yes. A tattoo. I have been wanting a tiny white tattoo but was not sure where I wanted to put it. I decided to have it put on my finger. That’s weird because I said I would never have a tattoo on my hands. In fact, I though I was out of that faze of wanting tattoos. But like I said, my mind tells me I’m 23. 


She was excited to take me to get it. She does not have any tattoos, nor does she want one. She almost got one in college but she looked at the long time effect of having something permanent on her skin. Smart girl. 

Afterwards, we had lunch at McAllisters deli. We ate outside on the patio. We had a guest at the table. My daughter shared her lunch with him.


The evening turned bitter sweet when I got a call that my Aunt had just went to heaven. Though the news was sad, It also calls for celebration. 
Not many people can have the peace in their heart knowing where a loved one goes after life. We could all still use your prayers. 

Yesterday was my actual birthday and I had to go to work. 
When I arrived, I walked into the office to see my work cubicle decorated with birthday banners, cards and few gifts. 



It made me smile and all day long, everyone that walked by, wished me a happy birthday. It was a good day.

At the end of the day I come home to a nice steak dinner from my husband.  He gave me my birthday gift earlier this month. It was the Yeti bag you see in the picture above. I had been wanting one to carry my purse, lunch and other things I need for work. 

Next weekend the celebrations continue at my mom and dads house. Mom will have May birthday dinner. I have a sister, brother and daddy that also celebrate a birthday in May. 



Over 50

I can officially say “I am now over 50”. I had my 51st birthday yesterday. It does not matter how many stay in orders, epidemics, and virus scares the world has throws at us, It still happened. We are all guaranteed a birthday every year as long as we live.

(Excuse the hair. I had just finished up a 3 miles walk.)

We normally go to the beach for my birthday, but under other the circumstances, we decided to wait. 
My daughter came home with a handful of goodies. Gifts in one hand and a Cannoli cake in the other. She also wanted it to be fun and brought birthday banners, and balloons. Later my daughter’s boyfriend came over and brought flowers and gave me a Hobby Lobby gift card. Isn’t that sweet?


My state still has a stay in order. Our Governor refuses to let things open up right now even though we have very low numbers of Covid19. 
Well, we didn’t let that ruin anymore plans. We piled in the car and drove about 6 miles into South Carolina where they are now allowing restaurants to have indoor seating at 50% capacity. 

We headed down to a little BBQ place out in the country called Courtney's and enjoyed a meal at the table. I will admit, it was a little weird walking in while cars were wrapped around the building for pick up orders. Once we were inside, there were only a few families there. We had to order at the register then find a seat. We sprayed our table down with hand sanitizer for extra precaution (per the boyfriend) and waited on our food. 



Things were a little different such as ketchup was in individual containers and drinks were in styrofoam cups. I like it that way though. I have always been skeptical to eating condiments that set on the tables for everyone to use from.

Afterwards, we came back to the house and had cake and ice cream while sitting outside. It was a nice evening and we sat there until dark. It was a nice birthday and I felt loved. 

Sometime before this month ends, my mom will be doing a big birthday dinner for my sister, brother, daddy and me. 
We all have a birthday in May......Good bye Diet.

A Birthday and Pumpkin Painting.

This weekend we celebrated my sweet husbands birthday. His birthday was Sunday but I started it off on Friday by making reservations at a new upscale restaurant in town. The name of this restaurant is Barristers at the Esquire.


Barristers is located in the center of our little town, inside one of the oldest and tallest buildings. This was the old Lawyers building. It had been empty for years until it found a buyer who has spent a couple years making something out of it. 

This is my favorite building and I have always had this goal to get to the roof of it. There is just something about the size and architect of this building that makes me want to visit the top.

Well, so far I have made it to the first floor. That is where the new restaurant is. The rest of the floors are still under construction. It will soon me an upscale hotel called the Esquire.


Walking in, I immediately got a 1940’s vibe.  I have never been inside this building in my life but could feel the history all around me. With the smell of new paint, chandeliers and oldies music, we took our seats. It was quiet and only a few other tables were occupied. After looking at the menu, I was ready to make my tastebuds smile and my pocketbook cry.

I ordered the Ranch Steak with fingerling potatoes, mushrooms, and horseradish ham crumbs in a Demi Glaze. 


Nick ordered the Carolina Coastal white fish. Maui Maui was the fish of the day. It came on a bed of glazed sweet potatoes and Carrots. 


It was all delicious and we had a wonderful evening. 

Saturday, My Daughter came home and we all went to my moms for a big birthday dinner with Country style steak and gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, pasta salad, biscuits and lots of desserts. Nicks request was pound cake. She never lets us down on a good meal and dessert. We left stuffed and it was a lot better and more satisfying than the fancy dinner the night before. 

Sunday after church, my daughter and I made cookies and painted pumpkins. 


She painted hers a Disney theme. I opt to paint a butternut squash instead of a pumpkin. 


Scary huh?


Birthday Girl

Today my Daughter turned 28 years old. Oh my! Just how did this happen? Feels like just yesterday when I was carrying home a 7 lbs bundle of joy dressed in blue lace and ribbons.

We are very proud of how she has matured into a beautiful and smart lady.
She has always been a good child. We have had our yelling spats and made each other cry but all and all she was an easy one to raise. I always wanted a little boy but I'm glad God chose me to have a little girl instead. She is a lot like me and we are best friends. She has never been that teenager that didn't want to be around her mom and dad. At times she would rather sit around the table with us for dinner or go shopping rather than go out with her friends. She went on every vacation with us until just a couple years ago. But she still somehow shows up and that's ok.

© Lifeawayfromtheofficechair2019. All Rights Reserved. Do not use without permission.

She always made good grades, went to church and finished college. Shes a country girl living on her own in the city as a successful business woman. She still drives the little car her dad got for her and made her pay it off. She is proud of that and so are we. She seems to be conservative like us. She doesn't spend her money on expensive things but she does spend a lot on her hair and shoes. But hey, that's just a girl thing. 


© Lifeawayfromtheofficechair2019. All Rights Reserved. Do not use without permission.

So later today, we will be meeting up with friends and family for dinner. She picked a place in Belmont called Nellie's. The Jonas Brothers started this place with the inspiration of their grandmother. I heard they have some good Southern Cooking. We have never been there but I'm sure we will all enjoy it especially if there is cake.






Birthday Sandals

My 50th birthday has come and past. It was in May. I had a wonderful time and lots of cake. So far, 50 ain't that bad.

As a birthday gift, my husband wanted get me a pair of summer sandals but he didn't have any idea where to start so he just gave me some money to pick for myself. I was in limbo on what style I wanted.

I tried on hundreds of wedges and shopped every store in three different towns. No luck. I just could not make my mind up on a style or color and if I did find something I liked, they didn't feel good on my foot. The struggle is real. Am I right girls?

I had almost given up on getting a new pair of sandals. I mean, It's not like I don't already have seven pair. As we were walking through Belks department store, Nick pointed to a pair of cute little platform sandals . "I like these" he said. I walked over to take a closer look. I was not sure about the printed design since I'm such a plane Jane, but I did agree that they were rather cute, so I grabbed a 7.5 and tried them on.
Perfect! I like them. Though they have multi colored yellows and browns, they will still go with so many different outfits.


“Do you know, it’s hard taking a photo of your shoes yourself? The neighbors must have thought I was crazy as I struggled to keep a balance”.

I wore my new sandals to church Sunday with a dress I had bought a couple of years back from a cool store we used to have in town that carried several new boutique vintage style dresses cheep. I really miss that store. This skunkfunk brand dress is regularly $59.99. I got it for $3.50. What a deal!



Platform espadrille Sandals: Jelly Pop
Tribal Print Dress- SkunkPunk

Weekend Celebrations

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. I have trouble saying “Happy” Memorial Day because I feel it’s a sad day, but a day worth remembering and respecting. So many lives were sacrificed for our freedom. I can’t help but think of how young most of these soldiers were and the pain of the Mothers that had to let go of them.

My weekend had lots of celebrations. Four birthdays were celebrated. Mom invited us all over for steaks on the grill. My dad, brother, sister and me all have a birthday in May just days apart. Mom makes us our own cake. I requested a pound cake. It was delicious. I just can never seem to get a good photo of the food at Moms because everyone starts digging in as soon as the blessing ends. No one in my family understands why I want to take photos of food and when I say the word blog, I get funny looks. They have no idea what a blog is. My mom is the only one that reads my blog. All the others could care less. 

Just look at these two cute gifts from my sister. A hat and a bucket list bucket. Haha.

 

I had to work on Memorial Day but the boss let me slip out early. Me and Nick spent the rest of the day walking the strip malls and then to the grocery store. We were gonna put some fish steaks on the grill but we both agreed to settle for a good ole fashion hot dog instead. He threw some wieners on the grill while I made homemade slaw and tossed some french fries in the air fryer. Afterward, we enjoyed a nice walk around the neighborhood and settled in with a slice of cheese cakes later. 

Now it’s back the regular work days and routine afternoons. 
What did you do special for Memorial Day?

Beach Time

We took us a nice little beach trip this past weekend.
It's always nice to get away. We celebrated more of my birthday while we were down there. 

My daughter, husband and brother in law took me out to a nice dinner at LuLu's on Friday night. I failed to get any pictures of my plate as there was just too much going on. I know I know, as a blogger I should be required to take photos of my food. I just sometimes prefer to never bring my phone out at the table and this was one of those times. I enjoyed a fried oyster po-boy with fish soup. It was pretty good. It was not worth the price but the atmosphere is almost worth it. This was our 2nd time eating at LuLu's. Our first visit was back in October. You can read about it HERE.
Unless we are invited again, this will probably be our last time.

We never saw rain and were able to soak up lots of sun on the beach. It was in the 90's at times but there was always a cool breeze. We didn't even need to put up the beach umbrella for shade. It was gorgeous!

We normally get up and leave out in the mornings to head home but this time we stayed until after lunch. We spent the morning walking the beach and eating ice cream.


Later while Nick cleaned up some things around the camper me and my daughter sat around the pool until time to eat. We rarely visit the pool. I mean, why go to the beach if your gonna go to the pool? But we did.


Nick met back up with us and we sat around the campground lake to eat. Me and my daughter took a few photos then headed back to the camper to pack up and leave. It is a 4 hour trip and we made it home before dark. 

Our next trip will be in June. My little niece will be graduating and we want to be there to capture this special time with her.


Shop high-waist bathing suit at Walmart.com




Hello 50

Hello 50. 
I see you.

🎉

I saw you this morning when I looked into the mirror.
There is a new wrinkle that was not there yesterday.
I heard you laugh when I thought of how in the world did I make it this far?
I also saw you smile back at me when I realized I have no serious health issues.
My hair is a little more gray today and I think I see another hair on my chin.
My eye sight is not 20/20, It's 20/happy according to the optometrist.
I can’t hear as good as I used too but I'll consider that a gift.
I am told that you bring friends when you arrive such as mood swings and hot flashes.
I sure hope I never have to meet them.
It’s ok that I’m older than Sesame Street or the Internet.
because I do not feel a day over 30.

Until I saw you when I looked in the mirror this morning. 



My famous birthday twins are:
(also born May 16, 1969)

David Boreanaz & Tucker Carlson

Image result for David boreanaz              Image result for tucker carlson


May Celebrations

I started the Month off with a happy Anniversary and would like to thank everyone for your happy wishes. It was a great day. My husband showered me with kisses and hugs. We exchanged cards and he surprised me with an iPencil and a new iPad case with a keyboard.


I was overwhelmed. We will celebrate some more this weekend with a nice dinner somewhere.

May is also my birthday month. I am excited to say that on the 16th I will be turning 50! Wow. Bring on the wrinkle creams and potty handles!

I have my birthday outfit ready!


May will be filled with all kinds of fun and events throughout. Not only will I be having a birthday, but I have a sister, a brother, and my dad that will be celebrating birthdays too. This means lots of cake cakes. Mom will make each one of us our own birthday dessert of our choice and we all share. I can already feel the pounds adding on as I type.

This weekend we will be making a trip to Charlotte to celebrate my daughters boyfriends Birthday and also Cinco De Mayo. We plan to try a new Mexican restaurant in town.

Speaking of Charlotte. If you have not heard already, there was a student shooting at UNCC this week that left the whole town in a somber state of mind. It hits close to home. This is where my daughter graduated college. It feels a little different when it's your area that is affected with such tragedy. Please keep all the students, faculty and families in your prayers.

I see a beach trip happening this month too! Can't hardly wait to have some fun in the sun and more birthday celebrations!

Beach Birthday and LuLu's

We finally got in our last beach trip for the year. We fought two hurricanes to get there. One knocked us out completely in September and then this last one (Michael), held us back a day. I hate winterizing the camper. It means no more trips til Spring. Nick says we can still go if we want too. We would just have to winterize it again in case of a cold snap, but we never do. We will probably not take another trip down until March.

First something funny/cute I saw:.
I kid you not. As we were walking down the beach we approached an oxygen bag sitting on the sand, there was a very long oxygen tube that was running down to the surf to a lady with her feet in the water. I thought "now that's some beach loving dedication". I wish I'd had my camera at the time.

While we were there we celebrated Nicks birthday. He turned 59! Isn't that wonderful? Our plan was to grow old together and here we are living the dream. haha.


For his birthday dinner we visited a new place at Barefoot Landing called Lulu's. This place is owned by Lucy Buffett. Jimmy Buffett's Sister (I heard).
This was a neat place that included a gift store, indoor and outdoor eating, a sand playground outback for kids, a live band and a bar.


We requested seating on the patio. We loved the atmosphere of sitting out by the water way. The sun setting in the back ground made it a beautiful night to dine.


Nick ordered the blackened fish tacos and I order crab toast. It was a mixture of melted cheese and crab meat baked open face on a french bread with a side of fries.


I also ordered a mudslide drink to try. We laughed because of the cost, we figured it would come in a fancy glass topped with whip cream dripping down the sides. But no. It was more like a frosty in a LuLu Cup. It was good though.

My review of this place? Well, I thought it was rather pricey to be served on plastic and paper plates, with plastic cups. They had a roll of paper towels on the tables and tub of silverware you help yourself. The food was just OK. Nothing special. The over all dining experience was nice. We enjoyed watching the boats and listening to the live band. We liked it enough to try again but it will not be one of our first choices.


This Weekend

This weekend- I am having a little trouble blogging and I’m rather aggrivated. I do all my blogging from my iPad pro. and occasionally from my iphone. Blogger does not support ipad any longer, so I bought an app called “Blog Touch Pro”. It links to my blogger. I can write a post from there and it is just like writing one on blogger. If I need to work with my blogger settings or layout, then I have to go to my desktop computer in the other room. It’s frustrating sometimes but I’ve adapted pretty well and happy with the app now for a couple years. HOWEVER, when my ipad did an update to IOS 12.0, the blog touch pro crashes and will not stay on more than a second. I have contacted them and they are aware of this and are in the process of fixing it. I wish they would hurry. I could be using the desk top computer now but im Blogging from an iphone, that’s where my photos are.

This weekend- We did some shopping for a couple last minute birthday gifts for my daughter. I saw a lot of things I wanted for myself but held out for another day.

I seen these little wizards things at Belks and fell in love.


I wanted one so bad but not at $30.00. I’d rather put that toward a pair of Fall booties. I shopped for those too but could not find the ones I want.

Then I saw this little biscut can thingy.


I just had no idea what I needed it for. I just liked it. I can’t afford things I “just like”. I have to save for things I “need”, like shoes and pocketbooks. 
Girls, you get it.

I went to the dollar store to get wrapping paper and grabbed these two adorable kitchen towels.


One for me and one for my daughter.

This Weekend- We got out early Saturday morning to the YMCA to watch my little 4 year old nephew play his first ever soccer game. 
He is number 4.


Those kids are just the cutest things. Some played their little hearts out and some stood on the field and cried for their moms. Here is number 4 and his poppy consoling a little boy that was upset.


During the game, you would find some players picking flowers and some doing cartwheels. They were just so funny. The coaches were worn out.

Number 4 was asked to block the goal. Here he is doing just that.


This weekend- We took our daughter out for her birthday dinner with family at the Thia House.


She was showered with gifts, cards and birthday wishes. 


It was a great ending to a long weekend.

Now its back to work. It’s going to be a long day on Monday as I have had some computer and employee problems to deal with, but I will get through it. I always do.

Nothing

It’s almost that time of year again. A couple people in the family have birthdays coming up. I will ask them what they want for their birthday and the response is always the same.
“Oh NOTHING”. “There is NOTHING I really want” or “I need NOTHING’. 

They know they will get something. I’m just wired that way. I love to give. So why can’t they just give me an idea?  If I think of something myself, It is usually the wrong thing, they do not need it or it doesn’t fit. I wish for once they would give me a small hint of some things they would like to have. 
Feelings will be hurt if I literally do not get a gift. My own heart would even be broken. 

Neither one has a hobby or collects anything (not that I can afford to supply for anyways).
Honestly, they really do have enough and really dont want anything. But still........

I know they mean well and really do not want anyone spending money on unnecessary things. I get it. But surely there is something. But NOTHING. 

My sister feels the same way.
She sent me these photos of the perfect gift for those that want NOTHING.

We both had a good giggle over this. 



Wait, I think she actually bought this since the photo was taken in her car. 
Now I wonder if she really is going to give someone NOTHING. 

Today is...


  • I am 49 and don't feel a day over 32.
  • Well except when I’m around my daughters friends, then I feel 49.
  • I don’t know how to act because I have never been this old before. 
  • Inventors must have thought I’d be a hot one since they invented the smoke detector the same year I was born. 
  • I lived in this world before Emails, cordless phones, automatic sliding doors and ATM’s. 
  • No one knew what a laptop computer was or a GPS. 
  • Prozac was also invented after I was born. They saw me coming. 
  • Did you know the first personal computer was invented in 1983 and called an “Apple Lisa”? Just had to throw that out there. 
  • Microwaves were just getting popular in homes and moms actually cooked. 
  • We didn’t have Xboxes or Nintendo . 
  • We played pong until Atari came out.
  • We also played hopscotch, jack rocks and marbles.
  • We swung on a swing set almost every day 
  • And played in the woods all the time. 
  • If we were not playing outside, it meant to our friends that we were grounded. 
  • I just realized, I’m too young to be this old. 

The birthday fun actually started last weekend when mom prepared a wonderful birthday dinner with family. Four out of six of us have May birthdays. The fun will last through this weekend with a short get away with my daughter and husband. 
I need to enjoy it while I can still get around.


Here is a the “Apple Lisa” 







Gifts and Surprises

It has was a great weekend full of surprises. I spent Mothers Day weekend at the beach. My daughter tagged along with us of course. Despite the cloudy weather, the temperatures were in the 70's and we didnt get rained on. We had a small shower the night we went out to dinner but that was ok. We got to spend lots of time walking the beach and enjoying the ocean.

My husband and daughter treated me to crab legs at Duffys Seafood Shack. It was delicious. My Mothers Day gift was a round beach towel that I had wanted and a gold bracelet. I love them and cant cant wait to use the towel on my next beach trip in June.

 

 

Then came today. I am 48 years old today. Until yesterday, I thought I was going to be 47. Haha. I feel great! My goal is to live to be 100 years old. So far Im doing pretty good at it.

My daughter is home today so she can celebrate my birthday with me. Her being here is the best gift ever. She came in the door carrying a giant doughnut instead of a cake. I love doughnuts! 

 

Then I opened more gifts. She wrapped me a beautiful tasseled shirt and a new sports bra. Ha. I love them. 

 

My husband gave me a beautiful card with some cash to buy myself something nice and wanted me to assure him I wouldnt spend it on anything else but me. That will be hard, so I hid the money until I find something to buy myself. 

I have had so many friends wish me happy birthday on Facebook and other social media. They all mean so much to me. Everyone has made my day special. Of course I want at least 52 more of them!