Happy Birthday to Me! And to you!
So today is the big day. I turn 21. Okay, that's a total lie. I'm not 21. I'm 25. Okay, that's a total lie too. I'll be absolutely honest here. I'm 45. Yepper, stunning right. That's a big ass number. But it's okay, with age comes wisdom and the ability to know yourself well enough to say whatever pops into your mind. Which I do. Way too often.
So how am I celebrating. Well, if all goes well today we'll be hitting a movie and dinner. Mini-me has school today so we're doing two days of celebrating. Which I'm going to be honest here, totally rocks. Sunday I hit a flick with hubs, Mini-Me (my daughter) and Boytoy (Mini-Me's boyfriend). We saw Jack Ryan, which totally rocked. Then hubs grabbed some Swiss Chalet so I didn't have to cook dinner. Today if all goes well, which is questionable, I'm seeing either The Secret Life of Walter Mitty or Saving Mr. Banks. It's a toss-up depending on my mood after I grab some much needed sleep. I refuse to cook on my birthday so we're meeting Mini-me after school (she's in university so she is in class late every day) for a very late dinner. My birthday is the one day a year I refuse to cook. Or clean. Or basically do anything "grown up" at all.
Each year I ask one of my BBBF's to make a cake for me for my birthday. This year I begged my lovely buddy Jenni. She is the genius behind Pastry Chef Online. I adore Miss Jenni. She's one of my besties and I am so lucky to call her a friend. I had the pleasure of meeting Jenni in person at a food conference called Mixed in 2012. We had a ball hanging out and talking. We've become such great friends. 2013 was a hard year for me on a personal level and Jenni stood by me through all of it. She was supportive and kind, it's just who she is.
I left it completely up to Jenni what to make me. We had a little G+ hangout so we could talk about what we were doing for this post. I told her to make anything she wanted. Then we got to chatting about foods I hate which turned into a hilarious conversation about pickles. So knowing Jenni shares my twisted sense of humour I'm half expecting a pickle shaped cake today. Which would be absolutely hysterical.
As you can see Jenni and I are silly girls. The first photo was of us posing with the Dirty Dancing cutout at the hotel they shot they movie at. I think we may have been cracking up because my hand might have been somewhere inappropriate moments before the photo. In the second one we had promised our friend Becca we would take a pic of us together at the conference missing her because she couldn't come. We keep our promises. And have no shame when it comes to being silly in public. I love that about Jenni. She makes my heart happy.
So make sure you head over to Pastry Chef Online to see what mystery cake Jenni made for me. I cannot wait until she unveils it. I'm so excited she agreed to do this for me.
Jenni I adore you woman. You are the wind beneath my wings. Thank you so much for your friendship. You  make all the ups and downs of life seem like a smooth ride. I'm a lucky egg to have you in my life.
*Update: Yeah, it was reveal time and Jenni sent me the pic of my cake. Okay so she nailed it. She knows me so well. It's everything I LOVE rolled into one cake. Someone grab me a huge spoon!*
Another special touchy feely thank you to Jenni for this awesome cake. You went above and beyond. Turtle S'more Chocolate Cake, it's like you know my true heart. I am so thankful you did this for me Jenni. You rock.
Make sure you check out Pastry Chef Online for the recipe. You're going to want to make this. Immediately!
Toodles and smoochies! xx
Karen
Happy Birthday Kim!!! My favorite cake is coconut! My grandmother made the best!!!!!
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks Karen. I love coconut cake.
kiki corcoran
Happy birthday, Kim! May you have a great day and terrific year. I love a homemade yellow layer cake with homemade peanut butter frosting. Worth the increase in number every year just to enjoy the tasty deliciousness!
Kim Beaulieu
Thank you. I love your cake choice. Sounds delightful.
Ellen M.
Have a wonderful birthday - any age is a great age to be! My favorite cake is German Chocolate. Enjoy your celebrations!
Kim Beaulieu
Totally true. I love german chocolate.
Georgette Helton
butter cake chocolate icing
Kim Beaulieu
Yummy.
Georgette Helton
Happy Birthday . My favorite cake is butter cake chocolate Icing
Kim Beaulieu
Thank you. Great choice.
Liz
Happy Birthday to You; Happy Birthday to You. Happy Birthday Dear Kim and wishing you many more.
Kim Beaulieu
Ha, thanks Liz. You are so sweet.
Shelly
Happy Birthday! I love a dark chocolate cake with lots of vanilla buttercream on top.
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks Shelly. That cake sounds amazing.
stephanie
I love ice cream cake with salted caramel swirls and chunks of brownie!
Kim Beaulieu
That sounds divine.
Karen
Happy Belated Birthday! I love caramel cake!!!!!
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks Karen. I love caramel too.
Emily @ Life on Food
Happy Happy Birthday! My favorite cake is vanilla cake with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting.
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks. I love the sound of that cake.
jodi schulman
Fave cake is carrot cake or vanilla with chocolate frosting and a jam layer
Kim Beaulieu
Both sound really amazing.
Thomas Murphy
I like vanilla birthday cake.
Kim Beaulieu
One of my faves.
Barbara Mc/Whenihave Time
My favorite is an old fashioned pound cake with lots of buttercream with beautiful roses.
Kim Beaulieu
That sounds so good.
Maureen | Orgasmic Chef
My favorite birthday cake is anything with fresh fruit or has a gooey icing on top. I think I'll go make one now. 🙂 Happy Birthday!
I agree about how fantastic Jenni is!
Kim Beaulieu
I love cake with fruit in it. Thanks Maureen, you are so sweet.
She is such an amazing person. I adore her.
Beth W
Wowzers....that cake looks decadent! I love Chocolate Kahlua Cake, especially for birthdays. 🙂
Kim Beaulieu
Jenni outdid herself. I love that woman.
Nice cake choice, so yummy.
Sally Tews
Poppy seed with custard filling
Kim Beaulieu
That sounds yummy.
Nancy @ gottagetbaked
Happy belated birthday, Kim! I hope you had a fabulous few days of celebrating, doing nothing except eating and relaxing, and being pampered! What a fabulous friendship you have with Jenni and the cake she made for you is a total stunner.
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks Nancy. I was actually sick all week so it's been interesting. Almost better now. Hoping to open gifts tomorrow.
I adore Jenni, she makes me so happy.
Nancy @ gottagetbaked
Uuuuugggghhhh that's the worst! Was it the flu? I've been suffering from the most horrible flu ever these past two weeks. I could barely get out of bed for an entire week. Whatever it was, I hope you fully recover soon and can have belated birthday gorging now 😉
Kim Beaulieu
Started as a cold, then I got the flu, then ended up dehydrated and need a trip to the doc. Wild week. Now I'm down with a pinched nerve. I feel a bit cursed right now, lol. I'm hopeful to make up for my lack of birthday foodie shenanigans this week. I start a new workout routine once the pinched nerve heals so I figure I have at least a couple of days to make up for lost time and get a cake.
Hope you're doing better. Nothing worse than the flu. I hate that bedridden thing. Although nowadays at least we can all curl up and watch tv on laptops in there. I watched all seasons of Felicity in about a week or so. Sad state of affairs.
At some point this year I want to email you about FBC, I'm assuming you're going this year, it's near you right? I'm going to start reaching out to sponsors next week and hope for the best. That'll be an expensive trip but if I can finagle it I'm going to try. I thought I'd fly in for the conference then make a pit stop in Alberta for a few days to see my son on the way home. We'll see if I can work it all out.
Mary
Happy Birthday,,,late. Life starts at 40,,,it's all practice up until then. My fave birthday cake is a devil's food cake with 7 minute frosting. Reminds me of being a kid.
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks Mary.
Love a good devil's food cake. And 7 minute frosting is amazing.
suzanne Perazzini
Oh, yum to that cake. Happy birthday, Kim, for your 45th. I should think you don't have to cook on your birthday. I hope you had a great day.
Kim Beaulieu
Jenni really did it up right. Love her. Thanks so much Suzanne. I had a rough birthday, worked and got sick. Long week. Glad it's over now. lol
Debbie
Happy Belated Birthday! Your cake looks awesome. My favorite is just a plain old chocolate cake with white icing. 🙂
Kim Beaulieu
Thanks Debbie. Jenni did an amazing job. I love plain, it's the classics that are the most requested.