Before we started the birthday party with family in Sioux Falls, we stopped for lunch. Where Hannie got a new hat and a mega dessert!

She shared a little bit. But not much.

And almost as soon as everyone had gathered and there was a pile of presents, Hannie ripped into ‘em. How did she know they were for her?

The theme of the day was “Dora.”

Heidi made Hannie’s lovely (delicious) cake. I lit the three candles and before everyone could gather to sing the birthday song, Hannie started blowing them out. “Wait!” we all cried, which accidentally made Hannie cry. Aw! But round two went much better.

Then we chilled out.

a few weeks ago, some of my friends and i hosted a bridal shower for mary, whose wedding is in june. we decided the theme should be musicals — just for fun.

i illustrated the table cards to explain how the food all tied in to the theme. at the end of the party, those table cards went into a book that also had additional illustrated pages of special quotes each of the hostesses chose (signed with personal well wishes for the happy couple). i chose hairspray — “without love, life is like the seasons with no summer. without love, life is rock ‘n’ roll without a drummer.”

nina’s house was filled with gorgeous tulips, too. it was such a fun, colorful day (just a few days after a big snowfall, too).

after everyone had a chance to enjoy some of the food, we launched into the first game. the objective was to try to pronounce a character’s name from a couple of mary’s favorite musicals — with a giant marshmallow stuffed into your mouth!

katie developed a “chipmunking” technique.

i had no idea how difficult it actually was until i tried it, but luckily i was too busy taking photos and only had to attempt it once.

then, to the next game…

i’m not sure where jane found this one but it was both hilarious and completely inappropriate. yes, there is video. no, i’m not posting it (i promised everyone [and myself] that i wouldn’t embarrass us all like that).

michelle’s coconut cake with coconut ice cream was ohmygodyum. i wish i had some right now.

and then it was time for gifts!

nina was the purveyor of gifts.

katie explains why its very important to have at least one nice, big serving tray. and she sure picked a lovely one for mary!

this was so cute – mother of the groom put together a whole picnic kit, complete with rainy day substitution!

custom apron for mary, who loves aprons.

and, finally, the hostesses presented the book that includes the table cards, our well wishes, and…

a ticket for her and her future husband to see the musical of their choice. (judging by her face, i think she was surprised and very pleased!)

i’m so excited for her wedding! it will be at her family’s farm in south dakota and guaranteed to be a super fun time.

last night i made a pie. except it was a casserole. except it was an enchilada!

whatever it was, it was delicious. jason even went back for seconds! i felt pleased by this.

the official recipe for this “Santa Fe Chicken Casserole” —

3 cups shredded cooked chicken breasts
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed
1 (14.5 ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, drained
2 green onions, sliced
1 (10 ounce) tub PHILADELPHIA Santa Fe Blend Cooking Creme, divided
3 (6 inch) flour tortillas
¾ cup KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese, divided

i cooked up two boneless, skinless chicken breasts with my foreman grill while i stirred up the beans, tomatoes, onions, and a little of the cream — and i actually used cream cheese instead of “cooking creme.” i’m not sure i know what cooking creme is or if i’ve ever seen/noticed it. cream cheese seemed to work just fine.

i also only used two tortillas since (a) that’s how many i had left and (b) my pie pan was not big enough to hold any more.

1. Heat oven to 375° F.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Add ¾ cup cooking creme; mix lightly.
3. Spoon ⅓ of the chicken mixture into 9-inch pie plate; top with 1 tortilla, half the remaining chicken mixture and ¼ cup shredded cheese. Cover with second tortilla, remaining chicken mixture, ¼ cup shredded cheese and remaining tortilla. Top with remaining cooking creme and shredded cheese; cover.
4. Bake 20 min. or until heated through; uncover. Bake 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

i sprinkled a little bit of chili powder over the top before baking, too, just because i thought it would probably need a tiny kick. it was quite tasty! and so easy. i feel like these ingredients are items i usually have around my kitchen. i will be making this one again!

i’ve been following along with jenni’s monthly updates on completing a list of 101 goals to complete in 1001 days, which has finally motivated me to begin my own.

yesterday i kicked off my own 101 in 1001 list by having lunch at the melting pot with my sister — #12: Visit 20 new-to-me restaurants in the Twin Cities.

the motivation behind going for lunch was actually because jason had purchased one of those online coupon things and it was going to expire before he could find time to use it. so… thanks, sweetie!

though we didn’t anticipate it being a two hour visit, it was a fun lunch! the booths are wide and tall, so it felt very much like we were dining privately. the food was all delicious, too!

i currently have 61 items on my list that should have 101 items. i’ve been trying to brainstorm, but i’m sure more ideas of things to get done will come along. do you have any suggestions? i think i could probably add some goals related to my professional life, fill out of the list of goals for home, and add some more twin city to do’s easily enough. what am i missing?

Brenda from The A to B of Cooking came over the other night, when I had no idea what to make for dinner. She proposed trading her cooking for my photography… um, yeah, of course I’ll take that trade!

Lucky for her, it’s pretty rare that I feel like making dinner — but I’m always up for taking photos.

I’m looking forward to your next visit, B! Yum!!