Friday Favorites: Birthday Week

This week I turned 35. I can’t believe I’m right smack in the middle of my thirties. Sometimes I still feel like I’m 25, and in other ways (like when I’m ready to go to bed at 7:30!) I feel much older. But, nevertheless, I’m 35 and this week we celebrated!

This was an unusual week because I only had to work Monday and today. I took three days off in the middle of the week to enjoy a little birthday road trip with Chelsea (and Penny!), so most of my favorites this week are about that!

We had a great time, despite the rainy weather, and I was so excited to check another National Park off our list! Pictured above is Diablo Lake. I’ve seen so many pictures of the lake, so I was really eager to see it in person. It is gorgeous!

First up was this awesome little place we stayed on our trip. They’re called Rolling Huts, and Chelsea found them in Sunset Magazine a while back and thought I’d really get a kick out of them, and I did!

If you’re used to hotels, I’d consider them pretty rustic, considering the fact that the shower/flushing toilets/sinks are in a separate building. They do have a portable toilet outside each hut, plus a water faucet outside the hut. If you’re up for the adventure, they’re super fun! As you can see from the picture of the inside, they resemble a tiny house with the little kitchen/living room area, then the bedroom at the back. They have electricity, heat, and wifi so I’d consider them perfect for a little getaway. I also enjoyed the fact that we were the only ones there, so we always had the shower/restroom facilities to ourselves.

If that’s not your jam, they do have a super cute cabin on the property that has bedrooms, a full kitchen, and a full bathroom. And, if you enjoy something even more rustic, they have platform tents on the property for summer nights. Those looked really cool too.

My next favorite thing this week was this awesome birthday cupcake gift box I got from Chelsea. They’re from Baked by Melissa, out of New York City, and they are super yummy!

They arrived packaged with dry ice, and after being set on the counter for about 30 minutes they were ready to enjoy. They’re super moist and I never would’ve known they arrived frozen if I hadn’t seen it myself. They’re mini cupcakes and all the flavors are so fun. We’re about ten cupcakes in at this point, and so far my favorite is the red velvet!

And since we’re talking food, and when I’m on vacation I feel like all I do is eat, I’ll share my next favorite. Cinnamon is definitely a favorite spice of mine. In fact, this scene from Seinfeld really speaks to me. How about you?! 😉 So, needless to say, I was delighted to find two awesome cinnamon treats at both bakeries we visited for breakfast on the trip!

The Cinnamon Twisp Bakery was so charming and that cinnamon twisp treat was delicious. I loved the cinnamon crumble topping, and it was served warm, so yeah I’m wishing I had brought a couple home….

The Cinnamon Pull-Apart from the Rocking Horse Bakery was also yummy and the bakery was equally as charming! I make Pull-Aparts myself, so I was really excited to see them on display. I only ate half while on the trip, so I’m glad I get to enjoy that with my chai for breakfast today.

Another favorite on the trip was the amazing fall colors we saw on our drive. I wish we’d had some blue skies, but the golden trees did pop against the gray skies so I can’t complain.

I’m so glad we were able to get out and do some “leaf peeping” this fall – it’s always something I intend to do, but then somehow October slips by and I miss it. It definitely did not disappoint and makes me even more eager to get to Vermont someday!

And my final favorite this week was getting to shower my sorority sister, Courtney, with a Baby Shower in a Box! She is expecting her first baby, a girl, in November, so I was excited to surprise her with this treat. If you missed my post about this shower, you can check it out here. Here’s a sneak peek:

This weekend I’ll be prepping for Monday’s Harvest Brunch, and next week I’ll share all the details, so I hope you’ll come back by!

Have a great weekend, and party on!
JW

On Fridays I link up with Friday Favorites and Five on Friday.