Birthday Celebration, Part 4: Do I get to slide down the fire pole?!

Well, it's no secret that I have the world's greatest sisters...but yesterday, they sure outdid themselves!

Ing and Pin had been planning some super secret birthday celebration for me, and last night, I finally got to see what the big secret was. I was very pleasantly surprised to have one of my favorite meals made for me by my sisters: Mexican Stuffed Shells!

Throughout dinner, Pin kept texting some mystery person and checking her watch. Of course, every time I would ask what we were doing, I was yelled at.

Finally, we left for some unspecified location. As Ing pulled into the Schaumburg Fire Department under the pretense of seeing where Pin worked (the police station is behind the fire department), I knew something was up. Ing said she was just turning around in the parking lot, but she definitely parked the car and Pin definitely started getting out of the car. Thinking that they were messing with me, I started saying things like, "OOooo do I get to slide down the fire pole?!" ...but apparently we were actually getting a tour of the fire house!

We got to see everything...the old fire pole (there are no longer fire poles because too many people broke their ankles sliding down them. LAME.), the offices, their AWESOME kitchen that I would kill for, their "cubes" of beds. And then we got to ride the fire truck! For being a gigantic tank of steel and 500 gallons of water, it actually rode pretty smoothly. When we got back to the fire station, they even let me turn on all the lights and honk the horn. The whole visit pretty much rocked my world and made it the best birthday ever.

But much to my surprise, it wasn't over! Pin arranged for us to have dessert at the super swank Renaissance Hotel restaurant. Since I have apparently been on a martini kick lately, I ordered the Root Beer Float martini.

For dessert, I ordered the Renaissance Chocolate Dome. I don't remember what was in it other than chocolate mousse and ganache, but HC it was the most amazing dessert ever.
We got a little excited by these desserts, so we went a little photo happy.








Who gets to have dinner made for them, ride in a fire truck on their birthday, AND go out for dessert afterwards? I do!! All because of my awesome sisters...best in the world.

Birthday Celebration, Part 3: Fondue and Flowers

By the time I got home from work on Friday, I was feeling pretty sick. I had originally suspected it was from having one too many chocolate martinis, but as the day went on, it was clear that I was actually coming down with something.

My hubby's plane didn't get in until later that night, so I was forced to lay on the couch alone until 8:00 that night. When he finally did get home, I wasn't in the best mood from being sick and annoyed on my birthday.

That attitude quickly changed when he showed me the things he came home with for my birthday.

A dozen roses...

Mango salsa...
Shrimp and steak for fondue...

...and an awesome Mango White Chocolate Ganache birthday cake = YUM!!


I can always count on him to make everything better :)

Birthday Celebration, Part 2: Streamers!

When I walked into work on Friday (my actual birthday), I was greeted by a beautifully decorated cube and an awesome present from Barber. As more people trickled in, tons of food started showing up. I would have gotten a picture of that too if I wasn't so busy stuffing my face with it!

The rest of the day was filled with people coming into my cube blowing streamer curls in my face (mostly Andrea and Barber). I have a video of it somewhere, but since my computer was eaten by some random virus, I'm not surprised that I can't find it.

I work with the best people ever.