Birthday Bliss

My birthday was way back in February! I love my birthday because it's the one day a year I don't have to feel bad about money being spent on me :). My birthday fell on one of Bryan's long days of school and a sweet friend of mine, Erika, wanted to help make it special by taking Max and I out to brunch! I know she is a busy woman with 3 little girls so it really meant a lot that she would go out of her way to do something so special for me. We ate at the Old European in Post Falls, ID. It was my first time and it was so yummy! They give gift cards to people who are eating there for the first time so I can't wait to go back and take Bryan! Bryan was home for lunch and I was able to open my presents (correction, Max was able to open my presents). Max was a little disappointed in the things I received. It was so funny because he was so excited to open presents and then his face would just drop when he saw what was inside each of them. Haha, I love that kid. Bryan brought home Cafe Rio (I'm no longer a hater!) for dinner. We went out to my birthday dinner the next day. I had told Erika where we were going and that we planned to take Max with us. She thought it would be a better idea if we dropped Max off at her house and Bryan and I go to dinner alone. I was super nervous about how Max would react being babysat in a strange home with strange people and I really should have gone with my instincts and just taken him with us. Though it was super sweet of my friend to offer, Max did horribly! He cried basically the entire time he was there and by the time we came back to pick him up (we had dinner at a Brazilian BBQ - The Grill from Impanema - in Coeur d'Alene, ID) he had little red specks all over his face from crying that took a couple of days to go away. I felt so bad for the family that they had to endure him for a couple hours like that, and so so bad for Max for putting him through that. Anyway, dinner was yummy.

 Missing is Ringo Starr's brilliantly illustrated book, Octopus's Garden, which both Max and I LOVE!!!

 My favorite cheesecake (or as I've learned from the internet, cream cheese pie) that my mom made growing up that I may have for my birthday every year from now on. The only bad thing about it is that there aren't as much leftovers as with cake!