Welcome to Your Late Twenties, Hugh.

If you judge a birthday's success by the number of cups of coffee you need the next morning, then we can mark this one as a big W in the books. After I had three cups, approximately two and a half more than I normally drink, I felt ready to face today and get back to work.

Yesterday was the perfect day of relaxed fun. We started off with cards and coffee and presents and breakfast (Bagel Melts, a White Hot favorite):

We soaked up the beautiful weather with the pup in the yard, ran a few errands, and enjoyed Hugh's one day break from the all-encompassing activity that is being a med student. And before we knew it, it was cocktail hour and time to start dinner:

Birthday boy!

An example of how your will see things should you choose to drink three birthday cocktails.

Fried Green Tomato prep.

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Icing

The birthday dinner menu:

• Southern Burgers (Grilled burger topped with Pimento Cheese, Bacon, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Bread-and-Butter Pickles). I came up with this burger idea on a whim and whipped up the Pimento Cheese off-the-cuff. And the whole creation was f'ing delicious. Like so delicious that if I wasn't worried about my heart health I would eat the leftover one in the fridge right now, for breakfast.
  
• Onion Rings (Loosely based on this recipe, and I emphasize loosely - I doubled the beer, added cornmeal, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder and more flour.).
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake - Should Hugh ever doubt my love for him, he can look back and remember when I made him this cake. I really do not like to bake (Except for pies. I love to bake pies.). As I told my Mom this morning, Hugh is probably the only person for whom I am happy to create baked goods. And I use the word happy loosely. Perhaps a better substitution would be willing. But, it was worth it because he dubbed this labor of love the Best Cake He Had Ever Eaten. Success.

And some photographic evidence for why Hugh and I will be running two hundred miles each this weekend:

At the end of the day I think Hugh felt full and loved. Last year, two days after his birthday, we had a heartbreaking reminder that life is just short and you never know what tomorrow will bring. And so this year the day was tinged with the reminder that I have to make it a priority to soak it up, celebrate every chance I can, and focus on showing my nearest and dearest just how much they mean to me. Hugh is the joy of life and I felt lucky to spend the day celebrating him.

So, friends, I hope your Wednesday was better than usual and you ate something delicious and you loved the one you're with. Happy almost-Friday!