Happy July! A Big Birthday Bash

M. believes that birthdays should be celebrated all month long. But since I was born in July, I party all month long. The catch is it isn’t just me getting the attention.

July is the busiest birthday month. All of my friends and family were born on one of the next 31 days. Could it be that Midwest winters got our parents “in the mood”? Heck, they had to stay warm somehow.

The nice thing is that we’ll get fireworks for our birthdays. Trips to the beach and warm, sunny days top the list of why July is one of the greatest months of the year. For me, it’s a month to celebrate my  fabulous friends and family in my life.

So, on this July 1, I raise my glass to and cut a piece of cake for you…whether you were born this month or not. I need to start this party started, right?

Tonight’s Dinner

Ben & Jerry are my favorite summer cooks. Their ice cream always hit the spot. If I want something gooey I reach for Light Phish Food; craving cheesecake, it’s ONE Cheesecake Brownie; or have a taste for peanut butter, it’s Peanut Butter Cup. And when I was pregnant, I had dreams about Neapolitan Dynamite.

In truth, I could live on ice cream. Not what a someone who makes her living writing about exercising and eating right should admit to, but there is something in me that can’t say no to the creamy frozen stuff. Apparently I am not alone in this indulgence. Americans consume about 15 quarts of ice cream per person per year—that’s 27,840 calories (which could translate into 8 additional pounds)!

But this admission gets worse: once I start, I don’t know when to stop. I can easily polish off a pint in one sitting. This has gotten me into trouble. In my 20s, I gained 40 pounds thanks to my two-pint-a-day habit. (Ben & Jerry aided that addiction with their Chubby Hubby flavor.)

Now a days, I try to keep ice cream out of the house. But every once in awhile on a warm night when I don’t feel like cooking, I go to my grocery’s freezer section to pick up an indulgent dinner.

If I Twittered … (The Snarky Version.)

Thank you to restaurants that serve full menu at the bar. Good food, interesting people and sports.

Hmm. Carrot cake or grilled veggie platter for dinner. Carrots are a vegetable, right?

Decided on the grilled veggie platter. Yum!

Come on, Blackhawks. Score! (Unfortunately, they didn’t survive overtime)

I love that we live in a country where Keith Olberman and Rachel Maddow can poke fun at people in the news. When you think about it, public figures are humorous.

Still thinking about the carrot cake.

Man Cow experiences waterboarding and changing his mind about whether it’s torture. Really? He had go through it to decide that?

When did I limit my vocabulary to only 100 words?

(To get more snark, visit my friend Mo at The Daily Snark)

A Shout Out: Delicious Dessert

Next time you’re craving cake and ice cream, head to local Cold Stone Creamery and pick up their cupcakes (http://www.coldstonecreamery.com/promos/sweet_treat_cupcakes/). In my opinion, they’re the perfect blend of this dynamo dessert duo. Yum!