April 30, 2013

A BIG Birthday Celebration, Dinner, and a Question For You


I've missed you.  I really have.  You've been on my mind all weekend.  This weekend was jam packed but very fun!  We celebrated our best friends big 3-0 birthday!  She did most of the hardcore partying on Friday night with her cousins, and then Saturday night was our night.  I made AMAZE-BALL cupcakes.  Strawberry champagne cupcakes with chocolate champagne frosting to be exact.  And then I went there...oh yes,  I went there, and repeated the deliciousness that is chocolate covered cake mix peppermint patty cookies.  Vanilla and chocolate this time.  Yep.

It's a celebration weekend, why not?!  We then pulled a '21' moment and started our night out at 10pm.  Yes. That rarely happens anymore.  When I go 'out', I usually begin my night at 6pm and then see what happens. :)   We went to Philly for a few hours, dinner happened and then a quaint wine bar, and then out of nowhere, it was 2am.  The birthday girl was tired from her previous partying fun, and well, we were tired too.  We're old. It happens.  We got home around 3am, watched my wedding video because whatever the birthday girl wants, she's gonna get.  And then we all pretty much passed out at 4am.  It really was a fun night, just hanging out and catching up and doing 'sleepovers' again.  Love it!

Here are some photos to prove the funness! {and deliciousness}.


Cupcake and frosting recipe here:  I changed up just a few things by topping the cakes with fresh strawberries and making the frosting chocolate just by adding a 1/2 cup of cocoa powder. I didn't have red food coloring and I was pressed for time.




If you look closely, you can see Sammy's head in this shot. :)







This frosting was realllllllllllllllllllllllllly good!


Yes, I made her a scrapbook!  She loved it. {I hate crafts...but I was proud of this...and my self}!

These nails were ready to party! 































My lovely sister-in-law Kelly, The birthday girl, Lauren, and yours truly.









































Train ride home. Tired feet.




Frosted Ricotta cookies...divine!

Sorry if that was overwhelming. I just love photos and instagram. A lot. Clearly.  I totally ate my weight in all of the goodies above this weekend. And I haven't worked out since Sunday morning. oh well. I'll get back on the horse soon enough.  Why do all things frosted with sprinkles always look so amazingly tempting???  Whyyyyy.

Okay. Enough of the dramatics.  Let me now share with you tonight's dinner. It was so good and so simple!  Decently healthy, too!  How can you go wrong?!


Bow tie " farfalle" Pesto Pasta





All I wanted tonight was to really just relax and cook something for dinner. But I wanted it to be good and fast!  Enter bow ties, a jar of yummy pesto, a can of diced tomatoes and some EVOO and Parmesan cheese and you've got dinner!




I'm not telling you what to do or anything...but uh, you better make this!  You're missing out on serious flavor and quickness for such an awesome meal!

This may be me being a tad lazy since I'm tired, and I reallllly am not trying to be a smart butt, (I sort of am, please don't hate me). but I'm going to just assume that you would know how to put this together. k?  The ingredients I mentioned?  Yup.  They would be it.  And a large pot filled with water until it boils.  Cook the pasta, drain and set aside. In a serving bowl, drizzle some EVOO, add the can of tomatoes, and about 3 Tablespoons of the pesto. Add the pasta in the bowl and a dash of black pepper if you'd like, and the cheese.  Mix well, and serve. Oh, and eat it.  I'm serious. That's the recipe and directions right there my friends. :)

You're going to love it; I promise!




Before I leave you for the evening, I have a question.  It's more like a vote AND a statement all in one!  I am going to re-brand "All in Moderation'' soon! {I'm definitely excited, but kinks have to be worked out first}. I know I have only been blogging for almost 5 months now, however; It's time for a new look again, and a more spunky name, and my very own domain!  It's just time.  I love this blog but want it to shine even more. I want it to become better because it can!  And of course, I want it to grow. I need your help with a blog name. A name that still sticks to its origin and meaning of what All in Moderation truly is.  As you know by now if you have followed this blog a good amount, I talk about food and share recipes and random photos of yumminess. But I also discuss workouts and just life in general. It's important to me that moderation also touches on everyday things in life besides just a brownie recipe or what I ate for lunch.

It's also important to really understand what moderation is. Some people see me post a double chocolate chunk iced cookie recipe and probably think, 'well, that's not really being in moderation, now is it?"  They would be correct if I actually ate that stuff every.single.day. Clearly I don't.  Hence, moderation. And, well, being a human. Most days, I try to make each one a little different; regardless of my workday routine, M-F. I try to mix up my week. I feel it's just more exciting that way. I don't go bonkers or off the wall or anything like that, but I just like mixing things up.  I don't have coffee everyday, even though I do like it. I don't eat the same food everyday, actually, I never do that anymore.  I will mostly make my lunch for the entire week on Sundays. But I'm also human and certain Sundays I don't want to do anything. So, when my week starts, I will have to pick something up to eat at a store near my work.  I don't workout every single day either.  I might do yoga twice in one week and then skip it completely for two whole weeks and hit the gym or run outside instead.  I like the variety I give myself. 

Moderation is very important to me.  Life is going to take over sometimes. It doesn't care about your plans; and that's okay.

Below I have four blog names that I am messing around with and that I do like. Please be honest and let me know your thoughts.  Any tips/advice/other blog names is greatly appreciated as well!!

Sorry for the novel.  Thanks for your support and for reading! I love you!!

A. In Moderation
B. Chocolate and Spinach {I like this one the best}
C. Girl in Moderation
D. Life in Moderation

*Note*  If you do not understand the meaning of these names, please see above for my explanation of moderation. :)

Thank again and Happy 1st day of May tomorrow. {that's just cray-cray right there}!


Goodnight!

5 comments:

  1. okay, I love all these birthday photos! looks like you guys had fun! super cute putting the 30 on them!
    I also love option B..super cute and I think that sums up exactly what you are trying to say! are you switching to WP? I'd love to talk to you about your move!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Alex! Yes--I'm thinking WP for sure. I will keep you posted about my experience!

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    2. great! I want to make the switch too, but just thinking about it makes me want to eat a dozen cookies

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