Another Year Younger!

It was my birthday on Saturday.

Feels like yesterday when I was writing my "farewell to my 20s" post and here we are again. First of all, let me start by saying that I had an amazing birthday mainly because I was surrounded by loved ones- the people that have been there for me from day one. As you grow older the distinction between the words "acquaintance" and "friends" becomes quite clear. I am very blessed for the people in my life. The amount of true friends I have may be a handful but the quality is beyond this world. 

Saturday's itinerary consisted of the following: Brunch with close friends and my amazing sister, dinner with parents, and a spontaneous evening party with my best friend (which turned out the be a blast).

Brunch was once again at Sarabeth. Last time I went there was for my birthday last year and the food & ambiance was as good as I remember! {note: this place can be a bit overpriced which is something I am not sure I previously mentioned but for special occasions is completely worth it}. We went to the upper east side location:

My craving for pancakes was 110% satisfied:

Mango Mimosa!

Afternoon celebration at my parents house! My mom made me a delicious carrot cake + cheesecake (she knows me too well):

Dinner with my parents & grandma at Olive Garden. This is my mom's favorite restaurant and a new location recently opened by my apartment so we decided to try it out. It may not be the healthiest food in the world but everyone enjoyed their dish! I don't think you can go wrong with unlimited bread sticks and salad :). Plus the waiter allowed us to try some delicious wine while we waited which was a nice touch. 

Post dinner my best friend and I met a few other people at a local lounge. It was the highlight of my evening and a perfect ending to a birthday filled with love. <3

I got some pretty amazing gifts as well: very generous gift cards from my dad and grandma, a gorgeous purse from my mom, hot winter boots from my sister, and a Bath and Body Works package from my best friend.

...All of that plus gorgeous roses from my parents and more flowers from a neighbor that is like family to us. I got my favorite type of roses which is a combination of red, pink & white. Love how they opened up in my apartment. I placed them by the window:

And that's all folks! Another year younger, another year more knowledgeable, and another year blessed and loving life. Upcoming post regarding a list of a few of the things I learned during the last year and my aspirations and goals for whats to come! Stay tuned!

Thank you for reading!

Tell me, what are your favorite kind of flowers? What do you enjoy the most on your birthday?

Love,
Mabelle

Brunch and Fancy ice cream at Melt Bakery

Hey all!

 

Happy Monday! Hope you are had a phenomenal weekend. Nothing too eventful around here. I worked out, hung out at my parents house and ultimately visited one of my best friends from High School (Hi Ana!) . We had a nice chat/'heart to heart' catching up on life: past, present, and beyond. I am grateful for the fact that a lot of my friendships date back to a long, long time ago. Not sure how I've been able to maintain half of my friends considering life happens and we're all usually so busy. But it is definitely true what they said-- true friendships can go a very long time without communicating much and when they are reunited again, is like time never passed!

 

So anyways, this is kind of an overdue post. Talking about friendships, I went to brunch with a former co-worker of mine about a month ago. We used a Groupon deal for a delicious brunch at Sons of Essex located in the Lower East Side of NYC. I had never been to the spot and I have to admit I loved it. The brunch included two breakfast entrees and unlimited mimosas or bloody Mary's. We opted for the mimosas and it will be an understatement to say those things were STRONG! Ugh! Feeling dizzy just thinking about it. The entire meal + drinks + overall experience was great. I would definitely recommend it. Only thing is that the ambiance was a little dark and I like to clearly see my food when I eat it but that was a minor thing. I believe we paid $39.99 for the both of us (thanks to the Groupon). Our final bill was about $5.00 which included the tax + tip. Not bad. Although my frugal self wouldn't do this every weekend. Once in a while is worth it.

 

 

My delicious breakfast pizza. To die for!

My friend's "Cap'n Crunch" French toast (I had a taste and pretty much died and went to heaven).

Of course I had to ask the waiter to take a pic of us as we left the restaurant.

After the brunch my friend suggested we check out an ice cream spot called "Melt Bakery" which she had tried before and loved. When it comes to ice cream or anything sweet you definitely do not have to ask me twice! So off we went to find this hidden gem.

 

There were so many choices that we literary spent about 20 minutes just staring at the display and reading the description for each flavor. A NYC tour group even came in, had time to give a tour, and eventually headed out and we still had not made a decision. For some reason I just kept thinking about how each piece must have like one thousand calories. Thankfully the attendant surprised me by saying they had "mini versions" of each flavor. That definitely helped make my decision a lot easier and I opted for the "mini red velvet". To.Die.For:

My friend had the regular size chocolate chip cookie flavor. Also super delicious. And off we went with our delicious treats, walking the streets of downtown New York City and talking away.

 

The mini version is about $2.75 while the regular size is $4.00. Not bad for a nice treat on a warm summer day. Definitely a clever idea. I see more and more businesses getting creative and moving away from the "cup cake" craze that swept the nation for years.

 

And that's all folks! I don't go out in the city very often but when I do, I love to share it and document it as a reminder of the places I've been to and wouldn't mind visiting again.

 

Thank you for reading!

 

Tell me, how was your weekend? have you ever tried a Melt Bakery ice cream or been to Sons of Essex?

 

Love,

Mabelle <3

*Birthday Highlights*

Just had a chance to sit down and share some of the highlights of my wonderful 30^th bday.

First of all, as planned—I took off from work and it felt amazing not to wake up rushing to catch the bus/train. Oddly enough, I woke up at the crack up dawn without an ounce of sleepiness in me (most of the time around that time I am usually dying of exhaustion). I think that’s when I fully understood the phrase “Cant keep calm, is my Birthday!!!”.

I had a light breakfast (had brunch plans for later on that day) and then went to get my hair done-- which usually only happens for special occasions. After my hair appointment I met up with my best friend and we took the train towards the city.

She chose an amazing brunch spot called Sanabeth.

 

The atmosphere was amazing and the food was beyond delicious. I cant wait to go back and try some more of their breakfast/brunch items. We also had a couple of mimosas to celebrate. I could have not asked for a better way to start my birthday. My best friend really went all out with this! Love you Christina!!

 

After a nice brunch and a few hours of conversation about our past, present, and all of our amazing goals for the future we headed our separate ways. It was also her brother in law birthday so she had some other plans that day. I had to head back to my parents house to continue the celebration! Before leaving the city I did a little shopping at H&M (which had so many cute clothes, by the way) and then headed towards to the subway back uptown.

Let me just say one thing: The love I have for my family is beyond words. Those are the people that have been there for me 24/7/365 and whom I can always count on. I had a low key/super amazing birthday dinner, received gorgeous flowers, and then was surprised with the coolest birthday gift I gotten to date: An IPad!!! I know I may be late to the ‘IPad’ world but I could not be more excited. It is something I’ve wanted for a while.

Below are some birthday pics for your viewing pleasure:

 Birthday Flowers:

Make a Wish:

My Lovely Sister and I:

 

 

Thank you for reading! Hope you all have an amazing and super fun Halloween and be safe!

Tell me, what was your favorite birthday gift ever?