Happy Birthday to Me

Even though my birthday isn't technically until today, that hasn't stopped me from celebrating all week

Last Sunday, Sexy Nerd agreed to play Mario Party with me, which he never, ever does. In fact, the last time we played was for my birthday last year!

On Monday, Sexy Nerd took me to dinner at Chili's after work, followed by a trip to the mall. I used a coupon at Chili's for a free birthday dessert (in case you missed my FREE BIRTHDAY TREATS post, you should absolutely check it out! Oh, the coupons this ~~cheap~~ thrifty girl has received! Life is good!)

Tuesday, Sexy Nerd made dinner. It was his turn to make dinner anyway, but he insisted I count it. To be fair, it was pretty tasty Hamburger Helper. What's Sexy Nerd's secret ingredient? Soybeans!

Wednesday and Thursday, Sexy Nerd brought home little goodies for me, like cans of Diet Coke, a piece of cake from a meeting he'd had at work, and a candy bar. He also rubbed lotion on my feet! For him, that'a a huge deal.

Another fun Thursday activity? At work, one of the girls made me a birthday cake. She enrolled in a cake decorating class recently. I am a huge fan of her new hobby! My boss also got me some fancy clothes for our cruise!

Chocolate cake with chocolate pudding, chocolate chips, and chocolate frosting - does Angelica know me or what? Perhaps I should have taken this photo before we dug into the cake!

If the little old ladies on the cruise ship think they're going to out-dress me, they're in for a surprise!

On Friday, Sexy Nerd gave me my 1st birthday present: a tea strainer ball and a card with a sappy note, including smooches from Pica and Biscuit. I've needed a tea ball forever! Angelica gave me some fancy loose tea a while back and, as yummy as it was, I was getting a bit tired of wrapping up the tea in a coffee filter and holding it in the hot water each time I wanted a drink!

Saturday, my parents, Sexy Nerd, and I went bowling at the Isleta Fun Connection. If you live anywhere near Albuquerque, this is definitely the best bowling alley! It costs less than the others, it's never crowded, and everything is clean and new. Next, we signed up for the Players Club at the Isleta Casino - free $25 slot play for everyone! Even more exciting, Sexy Nerd and I won (a whopping $3! Woo hoo!) All that winning made us hungry, so we continued to Tucanos Brazilian Grill for lunch, which I also had a free birthday coupon for. The next time you're in Albuquerque, GO TO TUCANOS! They have just about the fanciest salad bar ever, with everything from sushi to mozzarella balls. While you munch on your salad bar goodies, servers stop by your table offering different kinds of meat. Oooooh, I ate SO much meat! I wasn't quite as brave as my dad though. He was the only one to accept the servers offer to try chicken hearts. They looked like rubber bands. No thanks!

Am I a bowling pro?

No. No, I'm certainly not.

I'm a year older and a year sneakier! When no one was looking, I added a few extra strikes to my score. Even after cheating, my score was still low!

Our original plan for after lunch was to go to the botanical garden and aquarium. Unfortunately, everyone else was worn out by then! I can understand my parents being tired, but Sexy Nerd too? He's going to need to work on his endurance for our cruise. We're walking everywhere!

We opted to go home instead, where we took a few photos.

A nice photo with my Sexy Nerd is the best birthday present of all!

Today, my actual birthday, Sexy Nerd and I are off to redeem my Denny's free birthday Grand Slam and my free Starbucks birthday beverage, which I'll drink while we go for a walk through my favorite neighborhood.

Cake Mix Pancakes

This reader-favorite recipe is *almost* as popular as my Cake Mix Cookie Bars recipe . When making Cake Mix pancakes , the scrumptious possibilities are endless. Red Velvet cake mix pancakes. Chocolate cake mix pancakes. Butter Pecan cake mix pancakes. Funfetti cake mix pancakes. (Yes, Funfetti cake mix pancakes!) With this 2-ingredient recipe, you can turn your favorite cake mix into your favorite pancakes. Pancake making at its finest. Cake Mix Pancakes Personally, I think my funny napkin is the icing on the (pan)cake. It's Sunday morning and you're planning to do all the things today - scrub those grody baseboards, polish your quartz countertop that was supposed to be low maintenance but actually isn't at all, sort through the disaster that is the freezer. While on your superhuman kick, you think I'm going to make my family pancakes for breakfast. Not just any pancakes - the best pancakes ever. I may even serve them as breakfast in bed! You pu

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My site is popular for reviewing memory foam mattresses. With today's bed-in-a-box options lasting much longer than the traditional 7 years of a spring mattress, there's a good chance you'll eventually need to move one. But how? This is how to move a mattress without damaging it - even by yourself! When we were faced with the challenge of moving our beloved Amerisleep AS3 to our new home, it seemed like my readers would enjoy the details. This handy tip should work for any memory foam bed, including Casper, Leesa, and Nectar. I'm happy to report there is an extremely simple way to do it. Apartment and dorm dwellers rejoice! How to Move a Mattress At first, I wasn't sure how to move our king-size mattress down a flight of stairs. It's a problem we've dreaded solving ever since we made the decision to build a new house. The answer? It was right in the back of our truck. Ratchet straps . This solution could also serve as a 'How To' for returning

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Hello Fresh Complaints

Hello, my bloggy friends. I have a HelloFresh complaint and believe they are pulling a scam. Yours truly came *this close* to falling for it. Maybe scam is too harsh of a word. Sneaky? You can decide for yourself. The fact that there are so many Hello Fresh complaints online does seem suspicious. My main complaint about Hello Fresh has to do with their promotional rate, which seems like it is set up to be intentionally misleading (more on this below). Despite so many people complaining about being charged more than they thought they'd agreed to, Hello Fresh maintains this as part of their business model and continues to mislead. So it's intentional, right? I do not recommend Hello Fresh. For starters, the service is just ingredients-by-mail with recipes, not meals. You can buy your own ingredients for much less, especially now that most grocery stores conveniently offer pickup and delivery. Excellent recipes are easy to find. Click here for a list of top-rated, reader-favorit

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See it? Waaay at the back of the photo? I like how the window seat extends past the window all the way to the wall. How about you? If that's not your style, how about one of these lovely window seats? I'll seat you, my pretty, and your little dog too. How perfect would this be in a home office? I'd swap out that wimpy rug with a larger one.

Kitty Deschanel

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