Good friends, Good Food and a GREAT time!

This weekend was amazingly fabulous! When I was pregnant with Stella I joined a message board for moms due the same month as me. We have kept in touch since having our kids and have all grown pretty close. I have made some wonderful friends out of these awesome women and Saturday some of us met up here in Columbus for a May '09 Babies' Birthday Bash!!! Amanda and her some Jacob and Amanda and her daughter Sylvia came together from Missouri and Sherri and her son Colton came from Pennsylvania to be there. Jen (Olivia), Heather (Luc), Erin (Adyn) and Angie (Keegan) are all here in various parts of Ohio. 8 babies, 8 mommies, pizza and cupcakes...what a fun day! It was so great to put faces to the pictures and names that we've come to 'know' over the past almost 2 years. Below is one of my favorite pictures from the party, all the babies stripped down and ready to eat some cupcakes! How can you not love that big mess of baby chub? Can you see Stella in her little pink bow ;)


After the party ended, Erin, Amanda, Dawn and I took our babies and headed up to Tuttle Crossing Mall for a little shopping before grabbing dinner at House of Japan, a delicious hibachi style joint.....oh the yumminess! Dawn, being the outgoing gal that she is, urged us all to try sushi, something that she loves. So, I was feeling very adventurous and decided to take the plunge. I ordered the Philadelphia which is cream cheese, smoked salmon and sesame seeds. It looks the safest because I liked all the ingredients. SO GOOD! Dawn prompted me to try her spicy tuna (not bad but not a huge fan) and her Manhattan which was crab stick, avocado and smelt caviar. Now the second one was a little scary because 1) I didn't think I liked avocado and 2) caviar has always sounded gross....I mean come on, fish eggs???? BUT, it was so so so good. The caviar almost tasted like buttery sesame seeds and guess what, I do like avocado, who knew. So it is safe to say I am now a sushi addict. Dinner was great, the babies were fantastic and so well behaved and the looks on their faces as the chef set the grill on fire and tossed the shrimp in his hat was priceless.


I was so in love with my sushi that I got some from Kroger's today (they have a sushi bar) and crossed my fingers that it wouldn't suck. I was very pleasantly surprised. Basically the same as what I had yesterday, this included avocado, cream cheese and smoked salmon with the sesame seeds on the outside. I have a feeling I will be getting this quite often. I haven't figured out the WW points value yet but I've heard its on the healthier side and at Kroger's you get 12 pieces for $5.95!


So, after dinner we made a pit stop at Kohl's for, yes, more shopping. I found the deal of the century! We were perusing the purses so Amanda could pick up a new bag and I scanned over the clearance stuff and was unimpressed by the usual ugly leftovers that make it to that section. Until.....drum roll please....I spied with my little eye, something purple and lovely. I discovered that that loveliness was in the form of a deep purple and black Vera Wang bag that was originally $89 and was marked down to $26. SOLD! To make it even better, the cashier gave me an extra %15 off so it ended up being $22 with tax. I love Kohl's!

Afterwards we all went back the their hotel and met Sherri and Colton down at the pool for a little swim fun. Despite the water being a tad cold, all the babies had a great time splashing each other and the mommies.

From L to R: Dawn holding Sylvia and Jacob, Erin and Adyn, Sherri and Colton and me with Princess Stella

What a fabulous weekend. Erin and I are already planning on making a trip out to MO to see Dawn and Amanda...maybe in the fall? We aren't sure yet but I cannot wait to see these girls again. You never know how it will go when you meet in person people you've only known through the internet but they were exactly what I was expecting and hoping for and what a great experience for our kids. What a great story we will all be able to share when our kids when they are older. Thank you Amanda, Dawn and Sherri for making the trip and it was great seeing all the Ohio moms again!!!