Josh's Birthday Party Filed under ( appetizer, Dessert, Family )

Hi Everyone! I hope you're having a very nice weekend! Yesterday was Josh's 28th Birthday! Since his favorite number is 8 and mine is 2, I decided this was cause for a BIG celebration! I enlisted the help of my side kick and got to work...

Since Frank doesn't have thumbs, he wasn't much help! I have tons of pictures to share, so I will keep the words to a minimum. I started with a few gifts (a Polar HRM, a new modern looking ceiling fan for our bedroom, and a bulldog t shirt):

Yes, I wrapped his gifts in little boy birthday paper ;). The prep work started with baking up some meatballs. I kept these on the dry side, as I planned to put them in the crock pot with marinara for a few hours prior to the party (if you make them too moist, they will fall apart in the crock pot):

I had placed an order for mini desserts at WFs, so I ran out to pick those up. I got key lime tarts (Josh's favorite), fruit tarts, and chocolate/raspberry tarts:

I also made up some chocolate dipped pretzels based on inspiration from the fabulous Sabrina (melt chocolate in microwave (30 second increments, stirring between), dip pretzels in chocolate, lay out on parchment or wax paper to solidify). These disappeared VERY quickly:

We had plenty of beer on hand (this was a manly party after all). Miller Lite in our keggerator, that I purchased for Josh for Christmas a few years ago):

Other beers in the fridge:

Had to make my fruit and fruit dip (1 container cool whip or truwhip mixed with 1 single serving fruit yogurt):

Simple spinach salad (spinach, walnuts, mandarin oranges, dried cherries):

Sabrina's Zaatar Bread:

Josh had made a comment earlier in the year that his ideal birthday would include beer and chickfila nuggets and fries. So...I made it happen ;):

The meatballs cooking up:

Josh and I at the end of the night (I was too busy during the party to take pictures!):

The craziest part of the night? It SNOWED in South Carolina! Its almost completely melted now, but here is a picture of one of the palms in our backyard not looking too happy:

I think the party turned out well and we both had a blast!

Due to the snow, the classes I was supposed to teach at the gym this morning were canceled (yes 1-2 inches of snow cancels everything here!). My plan is to do some things around the house, hit up the gym for a short run and go food shopping. What are you up to???