My Sweetie's B-day

Dylan has the best birthday possible - July 3rd. Every year there seems to be something fun going on, a day off, and great energy in the air - especially here in PB. I have fond memories of his last nine birthdays ranging from 2002 letting loose on a party boat and staying up all night in our friend's backyard before the Bristol, RI 4th of July Parade (the oldest in the nation), to squeezing in a quick walk on the boardwalk between feedings with our 3-month old last year. Here is our now 15-month-old, having way too much fun with daddy's balloons:


Today was a fun day of opening presents and playing with Connor, however our dinner plans (a baby-less bbq feast at our place with Darin & Melissa) got canceled last minute because Darin got sick with a high fever. So we switched gears and picked up salmon fillets, with plans for a gigantic salad with some CSA and some non-CSA veggies (spring mix, avocado, beets, radishes, artichoke hearts and cherry tomatoes) and a fruity vinaigrette, topped with a piece of grilled fish. We also had bread from Bread & Cie, and I made a garlic butter mash to spread on the bread so we could have little garlic toasts alongside the salad.


I haven't mentioned it here, but over the past month Dylan has gotten into shape and lost 15 lbs. He started to ride his bike to work, run after work, and just today ran six miles down the boardwalk while I was preparing dinner. In addition to the exercise, he is eating smaller portions, and has stopped drinking beer at night. All of these things combined have made the extra weight just drop away like it was nothing. The best part of it all, is that we haven't stopped cooking all sorts of super-delicious food (veggie-rich, yet accented with butter, bacon, chocolate etc), he is just eating less of it. He is so happy and he looks great!

Despite the general healthy eating that happens around here, a birthday is THE day of the year for cake. We picked up a couple of small cakes from the French Gourmet (our go-to dessert place when we don't bake ourselves) and after an unexpected romantic dinner for two, and a palate-cleansing Netflix episode of Mad Men, we had candles on the cake and singing. Another wonderful dinner, and here's to wishing a splendid upcoming year to my sweet 34-year-old husband :)