Time to party!!

 

On a cold, rainy, Sunday afternoon I mixed, chopped and stirred the hours away in the kitchen. There is nothing more rewarding than the ability to create something with my own two hands. Whether it be a bowl of ingredients, a heap of trimmings or paper I enjoy working with my hands. The old adage goes "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach" I would agree nothing quite satisfies the soul like a good meal. I am still very much a novice in the kitchen, but my fearless approach to tackling new recipes (especially when guests are to arrive in mere hours) helps to increase my repertoire. On this particular day I tried my hand at a two tiered Chocolate Cake with Swiss Chocolate Meringue Buttercream frosting and homemade whole wheat pizza. 

These tall, skinny, rainbow candles are my favorite. 

They just happened to compliment the salad just perfectly.

On the menu: whole wheat individual pizzas, a variety of toppings, salad and chocolate birthday cake.

We spent a lovely evening by the fire with good conversation, tasty food and most importantly a good reminder to Cameron just how much he is adored by me and the people in his life.

Birthday weekend

For those of you who know Cameron he is easy to please, his demands are few and far between and he is happy to be doing whatever whenever. For his birthday, his request way simple: he wanted to take it easy. After trying to process exactly what this meant, I thought I had devised the perfect blend of entertainment, relaxation and surprises over the course of three days.

We started the festivities Friday evening with dinner at The Metropolitan Grill. When they sat us at the exact same table as last year, I knew it was the perfect place to be celebrating his birthday again. The restaurant with its dark wood and dim lighting is classy yet sophisticated. This is the type of place just begging for special occasions. The waitstaff is professional and you just cannot help but feel special in this meat lovers paradise.

They are nice and subtle about your birthday celebration, no clapping or loud singing, just an indiscreet creme brulee slipped onto your table donned with a single candle.

After dinner, we headed to the The Salish Lodge to fulfill the "taking it easy" request. Each room has a large wood burning fireplace, jetted soaking tub and a pillow menu.

After a restful evening, we awoke to brunch with a view.

Yes, this is my second indulgent helping of french toast this week, but who is counting??

Cameron is more of a waffle man. I was politely urged to learn the secret to this cinnamon infused whipped cream.

The Salish Lodge is grand and yet cozy enough to feel like one's home.

Cameron made himself right at home, while reading his favorite publication, The Seattle Times.

After indulging in copious amounts of good food, we deemed it appropriate to squeeze in a hike to reduce our caloric overload. The incessant rain did not stop us from enjoying Rattlesnake Ridge and it was a great deterrent for keeping fellow hikers away.

That evening as a little added surprise, we met up with two of our favorite people for dessert at The Melting Pot.

The actual day of birth was celebrated with my family an assortment of presents, a rainbow of fun sodas and homemade BBQ Chicken and Chicken Pesto pizza.

Although I am not a soda drinker, I just cannot resist the fun bright colors in glass bottles for a celebration.

For the last surprise of the weekend some of our friends came over for a little molten chocolate cake celebration. I mean we had to have something sweet that weekend :)

The smile inducer

South Carolina, February 2010

As we celebrate Cameron's birthday this weekend I cannot help but think how fortunate I am to walk through life beside such a kind, thoughtful and happy man. Happy birthday Cameron, life is just better with you around!!

Cameron's Claim to Fame

Last year, Cameron and I were up at Mt. Rainier hiking around. We stopped for lunch and Cameron started eating needles from a pine tree next to us as we were eating our lunch. We shared a few laughs and then I came up with the idea to record it. All we had was our point and shoot camera which has a video setting, very low budget. We filmed a few scenes and then Cameron edited the rest once we got home. What you see here is the finished product.