CAKE AVERSION! (I never thought it would happen, but I am there!)

Yesterday was a great day. It was the day one of my favorite people in the whole world was born, my sister, chocolate covered Kimmy. She’s the greatest oldest sibling a girl (or boy) could ever ask for. She always made such wise decisions, forging a path that we all tried to follow. She is, by far, my favorite shopping buddy. She is beautiful inside and out. She is an amazing mother and wife, a wonderful sister and a fabulous daughter, although she’d never allow herself to believe it! She's erudite, yet humble (a very rare combination). Her children are my world (along with Adam & Julie’s and Ryan & Jennica’s). I think of her often and thank God for her always! Happy Birthday big sis! In honor of your special day, I have a confession, I have kept it to myself all these years - I used to sneak into your room and spray your perfume on me and listen to your Suzy Q record when you were gone at drama rehearsals… I couldn’t help it, I kind of idolized you (and Suzy Q) and still do (well, obviously not Suzy Q – anymore). It was also Grace Kelly’s birthday. And, Charles Manson’s. And, my boss’s brother, Mike. And, mine.

For those of you who are new to this world (or this blog) or have never met me, so therefore do not know, I am a people-pleaser… always have been, always will be! I have tried “tough love” when I thought it mattered, or would work, but I suck at it. Really, I ALWAYS cave, not just a little - A LOT. I try to hold my ground, but somehow I always end up apologizing… I am trying to work on this. (I better marry a rock or my kids have no hope of turning out decent, we all know I will feed them crap and ALWAYS cave to their demands… shoot the list is getting longer, not shorter!) However, I have figured out that I do have a Facebook spine. If you try to add me and I 1.) don’t know you; 2.) am a little uncertain as to whether or how I know you; 3.) know you, but never see you and don't care if I ever will; 4.) never particularly cared for you or 5.) don’t care AT ALL what you’re up to or how your life is going, I WILL hit “ignore” if you try to add me as a friend… I am kind of a Facebook snob! What can I say? (If you are related to me and you fall into one or more of the 5 aforementioned categories, I will still add you… and never tell you that you fell into one (or more) of those categories, because I’ll more than likely see you again, and that could get awkward… for me, of course…) Morgan informed me that I do have a virtual spine… that’ll have to do until I find my real one.

Anyway, since I am one year older and wiser and still spineless and apparently really well adored (ha ha ha), I ate cake 5x within a 24-hour period. I had to! I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, of course (and let’s be honest, I LOVE CAKE). But, even I have my limits, or would, if I had a spine!

First, darling little Angela Graham made me a cake for YW, it was Funfetti… which I LOVE. And, my YW sang to me… they are SO cute… I LOVE them all… (which is why I am still planning on reading Twilight by next week, but I haven’t started… so that’s not gonna happen).

Second, my assistant at work, Roxanne, who I have only known for a month, but adore more than words, made me cupcakes! They had fondant??? on them. They were so pretty and very yummy. So, I ate one (at 10 AM – yikes). She also went around the office and told all the boys it was my birthday. I had successfully kept it under wraps for 5 years now, because I am sneaky like that… and they’re men, so let’s face it, even if I wore one of those cone hats, with a pom pom on top and that elastic around the chin that could drive a girl to drink, they still wouldn’t make the mental leap that it was my birthday - it would be a whole bunch of guys shrugging their shoulders and thinking “huh, Ali must be in a hat phase or something.” For the first year ever, they all wished me a happy birthday. And, took cupcakes.

Third, the girls downstairs took me to PF Changs, where I got a ridiculous fortune. “You will soon play in a group sport, be cooperative.” News flash, I don’t play team sports, because I am people pleaser, and I wouldn’t want to perform badly and have anyone mad at me. Plus, that's a LAME fortune. And, I got the Great Wall of Chocolate Cake (which I generously shared with my co-workers, thank goodness! Little did I know, I’d have to eat cake 2 more times by the night’s end).

Fourth, M.E. Clayton (the great) and her sweet sweet mom, Lisa bought me Sprinkles Cupcakes, which, if you don’t already know, are DIVINE. There were 4 of them (pumpkin, strawberry, black/white and red velvet - yummy!) and again, I shared!

Then my amazing roommates and darling friends took me to Pei Wei (Clearly, some of you thought Plan #2 from last week might have been a joke… nope… today, it was not!) Since, it was my birthday I opened a bazillion fortune cookies (luckily I did not actually eat even one of them). I got all loser fortunes/statements! GO FIGURE! “Your clever mind will lead you to many rewards,” “Today is a good day for being with a companion,” “If you go fishing, your catch will be plentiful.” (I so wish, I was kidding, these are quoted verbatim. The Peking Noodle Company MAY want to consider getting some new employees). Out of a dozen or so fortunes, I never found even one I liked (of my own accord). So, because it was my birthday (and I kept reminding Robin that it was my birthday and I needed a good fortune, namely HER good fortune), Robin gave me hers and I loved it “Family is more valuable then money. But, you will have both!” - Yipee. Plan #2 accomplished. Now, I can work on Plan #3 and believe me, after yesterday's diet, I need it.

Fifth, we went home and the girls gave me another Funfetti cake, (which, let’s review, I LOVE) made by Morgan the fabulous! And, of course, I ate a whole piece WITH ice cream (mint chip AND oreo). All day I had on this cute little party dress (because, hello that’s what all little girls do on their birthday and I am dying to be young again… so, I just fake it…) And, I even had tights on, which by the end of the night started to roll over my pouchie tummy which was ridiculously full of cake and on down to my hips, and for the first in forever, I totally felt like I was 8 again!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I really do have amazing friends and family! (But my favorite well wish of the day came from Brett, knowing how I adore Kate Spade, all the way from Montana via Facebook “I can't find Kate Spade shoes to gift you in MT but I did find some that look like what David Spade wore in the early 90's- they're on their way!” And, an honorable mention goes to my 7-year-old niece, Haley, who sang her heart out to me, then asked how many candles my friends were putting on my cake and quickly stated “I hope they don’t put them all on, that could start a fire.” - Thanks for that Haley.