I should probably stop celebrating my birthday now.
But at 32 I’m just not that mature yet.
Vegas had an amazing surprise planned for me on my birthday… but she didn’t wait until the day of to treat me! And – because I don’t think you should stop being treated either – I have a delicious (healthy-ish!) cheesecake dessert giveaway for you at the end of this post.
So. To begin the birthday celebration we first went to a fabulous dinner on my birthday-eve. The Patio on Goldfinch has been on my list to try for a long time. Vegas picked me up in my freshly washed car (another treat!) and we had a lovely evening out. How fabulous does this look?!
We started with the Crab and Ahi Tuna Tower. The crispy wonton on the top made it. Then I had the braised Spanish Octopus with gigante bean ragout, pork belly, pine nut butter, arugula, and salsa verde… and the heirloom tomato and burrata with asiago cheese crackers, wild rocket arugula, black garlic vinaigrette. I could choose! Vegas had the Summer Vegetable Pasta and added chicken.
Then came my first birthday dessert: the Twisted Elvis. It was shockingly good. Warm banana bread topped with caramelized banana, pecans, vanilla ice cream, and peanut butter.
I barely slept all night in anticipation of the big mystery birthday surprise Vegas had planned. I had NO idea what was coming! To begin, I was woken up with flowers, coffee, a singing candle in a chocolate chip pastry, and a bottle of rye whiskey. After relaxing in bed with my treats, I was told to dress comfortably for the day’s adventure. Again, NO IDEA what we were doing.
As if that wasn’t good enough, I was greeted in the kitchen with a bottle of my favorite sparkling wine from Schramsberg, go-cups, and Elvis. At this point I was DYING to know what we were doing.
We set out in my (clean) car around 10 am. Vegas still wasn’t giving any hints. So I tried to relax for the hour long drive… then I saw where we were exiting. Temecula! For those of you who aren’t familiar, Temecula is the wine capitol of Southern California.
It turns out Vegas had planned a day-long PRIVATE wine tour for us! In a jeep! We got to go off-roading through vineyards. I’m pretty sure this is what my version of heaven looks like.
It was literally the best birthday I’ve ever had. She even remembered that my birthday is more than a day and woke me up on Friday with these! I have no idea how she’s going to top it next year.
In the spirit of stretching out the celebration, I have another gift for you guys: Cheesecake!
My sweet tooth knows no limits so I am forever looking for ways to satisfy it that aren’t the Twisted Elvis (not that it wasn’t worth it, it just isn’t an every day treat). I picked up a box of the Fiber One Cheesecake Salted Caramel Bars on my last grocery trip.
At just 150 calories, they are the perfect size for an indulgent treat that isn’t too bad for you. I really loved the graham cracker layer on the bottom. It totally made the cheesecake… well, that and the fabulous salted caramel goodness running through the center of the creamy treat. Sweet and salty really is the best combo.
I have a giveaway for you to try them out too, but in case you don’t win you can use these coupons to save when you give them a try! You can choose from Salted Caramel and Strawberry flavors.
I love the salted caramel with a cup of coffee for breakfast. It was a fun way to start the day when I still wanted to birthday-treat myself but knew I needed to reign it in a bit.
Treat Yo Self to Cheesecake Giveaway
Want some extra cash in your PayPal account? Thanks to the lovely people at Publix & Fiber One, one of you lucky ducks will receive $15 to spend on cheesecake treats! The $15 goes right to your PayPal. It doesn’t really get batter than that, right?!
All you have to do is click here and tell me how you would use one of the items to fulfill your sweet #CheesecakeInstinct!
Remember when I made that Rainbow Cake last week? I was commissioned to make one! Like for money! How marvelous is that?!
How do you satisfy your sweet tooth?
What is the best birthday you’ve ever had?
I fulfill my sweet with gelato, ice cream, or of course some cheesecake. #CheesecakeInstinct
Gelato is my absolute favorite!
I mix greek yogurt with frozen fruit–freezes the yogurt up and tastes so decadent!
I used to love doing that! Thanks for the reminder. Way better than the store-bought flavored stuff.
Chick fil a ice cream 😉
Ice Dream! 🙂
I blacked out after the crab and ahi tower. GIMME
Amazing Bday- your lady nailed it! Best bday was probably my 21st because…. bars. Looking forward to my 30th next year though!!
HA! How could I forget 21… oh, wait… 😉
Oh salted caramel…
My favourite end of day nightcap is frozen cherries mixed in with Greek yog and cocoa powder… So good.
Damn Vegas did well!!! Maybe next year you’ll have a vineyard tour in France? Got to top it ya know 😉 haha.
I’m sooooooo sending this comment to her. Thanks. 🙂
What a fabulous birthday! Can Vegas plan mine? Seriously so glad you had such a great time and THE FOOD looks amazing.
Thanks Megan! Come to San Diego and we will throw you a bash!
Perfection! I love this so much and am so glad you had such an amazing birthday!
Thank you Heather!
What a gem- Vegas did well this year :-)!! Dark chocolate is my go-to when I need a sweet fix, 70-85%!
Oh my…what an AWESOME birthday surprise tailored to you! Happy birthday week! You can just change the first digit in the T-Swift song to suit you 🙂
Oh, that’s a good one! T-Swift is my homegirl.
I vote that birthday celebrations last as long as possible 😉 I haven’t tried that Fiber One bar but I love the chocolate & oat ones!
that crab and ahi tuna tower looks like absolute perfection, I’m jealous! Looks like you had a great birthday 🙂
I need the heirloom tomato salad with burrata, arugula, truffle oil and asiago crackers. Pretty please.
Vegas rocks!!
She really does. 🙂
Private tour! How awesome! What a great birthday Laura!
With a birthday this good and so much delicious food…the real question is why would you stop celebrating? Drool-worthy. 🙂
LOL you are still celebrating your birthday!! My daughter always manages a whole month long celebration w lots of parties.
Hmmm I fulfill my sweet tooth with candy hahaha!! And best bday… Hmmm not sure lol. A couple kid years ago was really good. Spent it with my bestie so it was awesome.
I love the Patio on Goldfinch. Such a great place to hang out with friends. Happy Birthday! 🙂
Thank you! I will definitely be going back!
I am a froyo addict. YUMMMMM
Girl, keep celebrating until the cows come home! You deserve it and you’re LIVING LIFE to the fullest right now! Rock on with your birth(day? week? month?). 🙂
Cashew cheesecake with strawberries.
Happy birthday to you! No shame in celebrating as long as you feel like 🙂
I love cheesecake froyo! I saw these bars at the store and they sound awesome too!
That looks like a fabulous birthday! She did very well 🙂
Don’t ever stop celebrating! I for one, want to celebrate with that Twisted Elvis dish right now and my b-day is four months away!
I put cheesecake instant pudding in my overnight oats!
Vegas is the best!!! Those flowers, gerber daisies, are my favorite. I’ve never heard of a sing candle, looks like you had an awesome Birthday. I say keep celebrating… you deserve it. 🙂
Wow I wish I celebrated my birthday like you… (minus the wine part that is ;)). Here is to a year of fun-filled memories, awesome workouts, and delicious cheesecake of course!
tell vegas my bday is next week. I’ll stay if she books me a wine tour, yes?
We would have if you’d stayed longer!
I add lorann’s cheesecake bakery emulsion to protein shakes 😀
I have that stuff too! So good.
Amazing birthday fun! She is most definitely a keeper! Chocolate in some form or other is my dessert of choice. Always.
I think I’ll hang on to her. 😉
I’m not very good at fulfilling my need to cheesecake but lately I’ve been wanting to make a protein cheesecake I’ve been seeing all over instagram.
Me too! You have to let me know if you try it!
Crab and ahi tower? YUM. I love long birthday celebrations. I’m going to Vegas for the first time in November and can’t wait! I’d love these cheesecake bars with a little ice cream on the side, yum!
It sounds like someone got awesomely spoiled for her birthday!!! 🙂 I love, love, love wine country! I need to get back to Temecula soon. And how funny, I went to The Patio on Lamont 2 weekends ago for the first time. Thought it was a really cute place and I had an awesome cous cous salad! Wish I had seen the Twisted Elvis on the menu now….. sounds yummy!
I fulfill my sweet #CheesecakeInstinct by enjoying cheesecake as desserts.
What a fun birthday weekend! I want a private wine tour. Hell… I just want to be able to drink wine again, period. I bet wine would go well with cheesecake, eh? 😉
I thought of you this weekend. I was in ATL, and I was wishing you were still around for a meetup. 🙂
Froyo usually satisfies my sweet tooth since I can add on whatever crazy topping I may be craving… And my 21st birthday was my favorite… my mom threw me a surprise birthday dinner and one of my best friends flew in from London… it was beyond incredible : ) Hope you have a great day!
From London?! That’s so awesome!
Usually, with chocolate ice cream.
I did not know there were cheesecake bars! I LOVE Fiber One EVERYTHING! I need salted caramel in my life!!
They’re brand new! Totally worth a try!
by eating strawberry cheesecake bar with a cup of coffee #CheesecakeInstinct
If I don’t have access to real cheesecake, I’ll whip up some greek yogurt with vanilla/other seasonings and fruit then chill it for a little bit!
I love seeing you so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks Jody! 🙂
by getting a sonic slushie
My sweet tooth is all about my favorite threesome –
Ben & Jerry + Abby
HAHAHAHAHA! I love that threesome too.
Yuuum! This looks delish. I make my own version of cheese cake with coconut cream.. amazing!
Ohhhh… that sounds awesome!
I LOVE a heaping bowl o’Rice Chex late-night! If I have it in stock, I’ll through a glob of raw almond butter on it. I mean, what DOESN’T nut butter enhance?!
Absolutely nothing. I can’t think of anything I wouldn’t eat it on!
I love to do mini cheesecakes from wholefoods to get my fix! They have so many different ones from chocolate to fruity!
I eat cheesecake on my birthday every year!
Their Protein Cranberry Almond cereal sounds good! And the Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie sounds marvelous — chocolate and peanut butter — can’t beat that!
I will fulfill my #CheesecakeInstinct by putting vanilla ice cream and tons of strawberries over the cheesecake bars!
Good call! I’ve got to try that!
We have cheesecake instead of regular cake on birthdays!
I’ve wondered it the new Fiber One Cheesecake bars are good or not – I’d like to try them out. I do like their other products – especially their Caramel Nut Protein Bars.
They’re really good! I need to try that protein bar!