Oren's Video Game Themed Birthday Party!

For his fifth birthday Oren wanted a video game themed party. Not any one video game in particular, just a big ol' mixture of them all. So we had a little of everything. Cheryl came through with THE GREATEST cake imaginable after I sent her a bunch of random pictures and very little direction. And she made the cute little zombie and mario cupcakes too! Abby made the triforce lemon bars and the "mine craft" brown butter rice krispie treats (they were shaped like blocks so that counts, right? ;) We also had cheese pizza, cheetos, doritos and a punch bowl full of mountain dew. I mean, it was a video gamed themed party after all...

CAN YOU EVEN BELIEVE THIS IS EDIBLE!!!!! (I know, because Oren ate it)

Oren Turns Five

I just tucked my brand new five year old into bed and I wanted to take a minute before this day is over to reflect on this little one as he starts a new year of life. We had a birthday party for him on sunday, but we saved his gift for today so that his real birthday would still have a little fun left in it even though it was a school day. He came down for breakfast and found a new star wars bike waiting for him and cupcakes to take to school to share with all his friends (thanks to my mom for baking those). Abby surprised him after school by picking him up and taking him to the Peanut Shoppe for a little solo date with she and Jeff until we got off work. When we got home we let him choose what we'd have for dinner (wonton soup takeout) and Abby made him a personal birthday pie. Chocolate cream, but hold the cream please haha. 

This year's birthday has hit me a little harder than I expected. I think it's because five seems like the last year he will really be little, and Oren, little, is oh so sweet. Oren little is my very, very favorite. He is wild, and ornery, and silly but he is also fiercely loving and sensitive and so full of empathy. He loves me so fully and unabashedly, that I wonder how much longer it can possibly last? He is my mama's boy, my velcro baby, my loyal and devoted love. Watching my son, and his boyhood unfold these last five years has been the stuff of dreams. He is all I could have wanted and more, and I am so, so lucky to call him mine.

Happy fifth birthday, Oren Henry. Whatever was this world before you?

Oren's Five Year Old Photos

Somehow he will be five next week. I'm not sure how we got here, but here we are.

Thankful for every day of those five years with him. Look at that face.

And as always, a huge thank you to Katie for taking these exceptional photos of our boy. I will treasure these.

Nicole's 30th // Chef Sawyer's Metal as F*ck Dinner

I have sung the praises of Chef Sawyer before but get ready for an earful tonight ;) Josh's sister, Nicole, turned thirty last month and when we realized chef was hosting his annual Metal as F*ck dinner only a few weeks later we knew taking her would make the BEST gift. Josh and Nicole grew up on pretty solid diet of heavy metal in their household, and if you know them you know how perfect this night was bound to be. 

So, in a nutshell, the dinner is a ticketed event made up of tasting stations set up around the Greenhouse Tavern. Every dish has a heavy metal theme (read: blood and brains are key ingredients), the cost per person is $66.66 and it started and 6:66pm. Metal bands were set up in the loft playing live music all night long. You get the idea. 

Nicole doing bourbon shots through bone marrow :) :) :)

The food was nuts, no doubt about it. I can now say I've eaten just about every major organ including but not limited to brain bolognese and poached heart jelly. It sounds disgusting, but I'm telling you chef Sawyer knows exactly what he's doing. He made the unappetizing not only appetizing, but actually quite delicious. I think our favorite menu item was the roulette wings. Six wings are placed on a lazy susan and one is hot, five were not. The "sous chef of death" was secretly injecting one in six wings with the insane hot sauce that was making grown men whimper and reach for the whole milk...

 including Josh ;)

Dessert was red velvet cake disguised as the chef and chef's widow's decapitated heads.

We had such a good time that the three of us have vowed to make it an annual event. Just another reason to love Cleveland and all these unique events it has to offer. So, thanks for such a fun night, chef! We love your crazy, twisted mind and your cooking even more. 

xoxo