Birthday and Verrine Glasses

Yesterday was my birthday and in all the excitement of the day I didn't have a chance to post. It was a very good birthday too. At first I was rather worried that it wouldn't feel like my birthday at all - Matt bought me my present a month ago, we didn't have any special evening plans and my only plan for the day was to paint. Well, fortunately my sister-in-law just got home from a trip to Costa Rica the night before and was eager to see Gabe. I let Gabe sleep in until almost noon and stayed in bed myself reading the whole time. Once we got up I fed Gabe and decided that I did not want to cook for myself so I called my sister-in-law and booked her for the day. We went out for brunch at Phils and then went shopping to Homesense! I've been looking around for verrine cups a lot lately (slightly bigger than shot glasses and preferably prettier) however the ones at Pier1 were too expensive and the ones at Ikea were cheaper but not as cute. And yet again, Homesense came through for me. Within 3 minutes I had found a box of what they called 'amuse bouche glasses'. There were 12 in the box, 3 different styles and all for $13! The ones at Pier1 were nearly $4 apiece and the ones at Ikea were $2.50 apiece! The only slight issue I had with the ones at Homesense was that I didn't like one of the styles as much and the first box I opened of them had only that style. The second box I opened had the other styles in it and I thought, "it hardly matters, they are still cute and cheap and will work perfectly," so I bought them. Later when we got home I opened them up to show Matt who had been aware of my hunt for cute little glasses and I realized why the first box I opened had only that one style: someone had taken out that style from other boxes and replaced it with some of the other two styles. So I had none of the ugly glasses! And honestly, they weren't really ugly, they just didn't seem very special to me since my parents had water glasses in that style when I was growing up. Anyway, we got home and I was debating painting some more (I had done a little bit in the morning before brunch) but Matt came home in good time and banished all my thoughts of being productive. He came in carrying a small gift bag and a large bouquet of flowers! He was also worried that it wouldn't feel like my birthday apparently. After he showered we dropped Gabe off at my parents' house, grabbed dinner at Timmy's (upon my request) and went to Auxano. I love going to that. The guys who lead that are wise, godly men and the teaching times are great. Well, once Auxano was done and we had chatted with some friends we went to my parents' house to pick up Gabe and we ended up staying until 11! My mom wanted us to see some of Big Bang Theory, which she apparently just discovered. It was quite cute. I could see myself watching the series on DVD.
Today is going to be a more productive day. I'm going to finish painting the china cabinet, the banister and some baseboards, I need to go grocery shopping, make phone calls and I spent about an hour already working on memorizing James 1. But tonight I get a birthday dinner with my parents, complete with jello salad and my favorite honey garlic chicken wings!
My backyard party this weekend is still happening and I have to plan the menu still. So far all I've got planned are Lychee martinis, cucumber, avocado and mango maki rolls and margarita soaked frozen watermelon slices. I might do watermelon, feta and mint cubes and I may also pick up some cheese but I'll definitely be adding to that menu before the party.
Well, Gabe just fell asleep and I think now would be a good time to finish painting!

Mrs. Vander Leek ;)