![\"\"](\"http:\/\/foodiddy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/IMG_5592.jpg\" "\\"IMG_5592\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nFlowers from Davis Ranch were put in plastic buckets I picked up at Party City – Paper plates were sandwiched between glass plates, and party hats were placed…<\/p>\n
Later to be customized by my niece. She broke out the Sharpie and wrote “Birthday Queen” on my Mom’s hat. Dan drew flames on his orange hat and I cracked up when my niece wrote my bro’s name on his instead of Dad or Daddy… so very formal.<\/p>\n My Dad ordered and picked up the cake – super chocolate on top of chocolate with a side of chocolate – just what the birthday girl ordered.<\/p>\n Happy Birthday Grammy! – I pretty much gave up the notion that my Mom would ever be known as “Mom” or “Mommers” after my niece was born. I am now officially and will forever be Aunt Kath. My Mom is Grammy, my Dad is Grampy and apparently my brother is still Rob \ud83d\ude09 If having an adorable niece means we all change or names – I’m definitely down.<\/p>\n We hung out in my parent’s beautiful backyard while my brother fired up the grill for his amazing tri-tip. An overnight marinade and the flavor was out of this world. Mental note: I must get him to do a Foodiddy guest post about marinades and grilling… probably the best tri-tip I’ve ever had. I’m sure it had nothing to do with not having red meat for 28 days, hah!<\/p>\n The Birthday Girl, aka Mom, aka Grammy, and my niece.<\/p>\n Super purple Barney hair Aunt Kath and her niece. Back story – I went to the salon on Saturday and decided I wanted something different. It was time to get rid of the chunky blonde highlights. My stylist usually uses a semi-permanent dye – but I wanted something vibrant. I picked a color and the blonde ate every purple and blue pigment out of the color. It turned out super cool, but not super cool for my conservative work place. So my stylist used a deep espresso on top of the purple\/blue and viola! I actually love it and have been getting lots of “Oh my God, I love your hair” and Wow…. you look great! comments. In all honesty, when I pass by a mirror, I still think… who the heck is that girl?<\/p>\n My niece helped me build the salads. It’s a job she takes very seriously. I busted out the purple cauliflower that I had brought and I lost her. She wanted to know how it got to be purple and “Foodiddy McAuntyKath Pants” couldn’t answer her… so I made something up. Hah! I actually took time to look it up, so just in case she’s reading this post – The purple color in cauliflower is caused by the presence of the antioxidant group anthocyanins, which can also be found in red cabbage and red wine. Now we’re talkin’. All though, I liked my hand colored by artisans at the Crayola Veggie Plant story better.<\/p>\n Earlier in the day… I had gone out to Davis Ranch for some “Sloughhouse sweet corn” – this is as fresh and as good as corn gets. Wow! what a difference.<\/p>\n I wasn’t technically supposed to have starchy veggies after 2:00 p.m. on the 17 day diet, but I decided to go for it anyway. The corn was so sweet that you could eat it without butter…\u00a0 lip smackin’ good! In case you were wondering… I passed on the cake and pretty much stuck to my “Cycle 2” plan with a few minor adjustments.<\/p>\n My niece wanted to make sure that I included her plastic salad on the blog. Grammy bought her plastic food when she was probably around 2 years old. She is obsessed with it almost 8 years later. She breaks out creations, takes customer orders, it’s hysterical… so yes, this is a mixed green salad. Green broccoli? How unoriginal. Apparently the paint and markers had already been put away.<\/p>\n Come on? Who doesn’t enjoy a good breakfast after dinner? Bacon, waffles, pancakes, lunch meat… oh me oh my.<\/p>\n The last photo of the evening. I present to you – Mr. Hedgehog – with my bro creating a “moment” that had the whole table rolling. There is a story behind the hedgehog. When I was a little kid – I referred to hitchhikers as hedgehoggers. “Look at that hedgehogger Mommy!” – It became a thing in our family. So yes, even now… as I’m cruising along a freeway entrance and I spot a lovely man or woman with a sign asking for a ride – I immediately think “HEDGEHOGGER!” and then I pee my pants laughing. It’s not pretty… but it’s a memory I will hold onto forever. I found my Mom’s hedgehog gift at Pier1 Imports – they had a whole bunch of little critters.<\/p>\n Happy Birthday Mom!\u00a0 I love you more than any blog post or words could ever express. Cheers to another fabulous year! My Mom’s birthday celebration was a little delayed due to coughs and colds that swooped through our family after a long\/emotional week. When most of that had passed, we gathered up the troops and spent Sunday afternoon together to honor my Mom. Flowers from Davis Ranch were put in plastic buckets I picked up at … <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"