Easter, And Monica's Birthday

Before you read any further, here's a spoiler alert...there were no sales for us this weekend. That's right...no sales. Easter is a Sunday and a lot of tag sale companies took the weekend off. There were some sales on Thursday and Friday but that usually does not do us any good. We work Monday through Friday. We did make this a three day weekend but we chose to take off Monday instead of Friday simply because it was Monica's birthday! 

Our house had been decorated for Easter for a few weeks now. Each holiday season is fairly short and you have to get as much out of the celebration as you can. So, we set up a little Easter here...

...and we set up a little Easter there...

...and here...

...and there! 

Although we didn't have any sales to attend, we did have an open house just one house over. Sometimes, Monica will see an open house near us and we really want to see the inside of the house. We have passed this house a lot and the carport attached to this 1950's house has always intrigued us. Here was our chance to look inside. As a bonus, we got to meet the owner's dog, Creature, who we met on the lawn. He followed us throughout the whole house. Unfortunately, our visit was a major disappointment. Aside from the kitchen cabinets (which needed a lot of work but were salvageable) with its original 1950 handles and a 1950's stove, everything in the house had been changed and not in a good way. The house was trashed inside and every update the owner tried to make was a disaster. Oh well! 

We still had a few things to do to prepare for Easter morning and the first thing was to hard boil the Easter eggs. 

Hours later, once cooled, we were ready to color the eggs.

Our finished Easter eggs! 

We also had to make our lamb cake. We baked the cake on Saturday evening and would decorate it on Sunday.

This is what we we were targeting

This is what we were trying to avoid; our disastrous first effort a few years ago which we, affectionately, named "Lamb, I Am" because it looked like a cross between a lamb and a Dr. Seuss character.

Our 2017 lamb cake! Not too bad! 

On Easter Sunday, Monica was dressed in her Easter best! We found that Easter bonnet at a sale a weeks ago.

At Monica's sister's house, not only do the humans get to enjoy a nice Easter dinner, but the birds get fed, too.

So do the squirrels! 

The lamb cake had double duty on Sunday. It was, of course, Easter dessert but it also served as Monica's pre-birthday cake!

After a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday", Monica blew out her very fancy birthday candle.

Monday arrived and so did Monica's birthday! 

Beautiful roses for the beautiful birthday girl! 

For Monica's birthday dinner (actually, a late afternoon lunch/dinner), we went to Borrelli's, an Italian restaurant which opened in 1955 and is still owned and operated by the same family.

While much of the restaurant has been updated, some things have not. We love the original neon sign.

Two more pictures of the sign

The other side of the building also has its original neon sign

The inside of the restaurant has seen many updates but there are still some original pieces of it that remain like the brick wall.

This is the second dining room. That wall on the far side is also, most likely, original to the restaurant. 

The food was great and why shouldn't it be? It's the original Borrelli's...since 1955! 

We loved our dinner and we will be back at Borrelli's soon! 

Having had her fill of birthday cake the day before, Monica opted for ice cream with a candle for her birthday. After all, Rob wasn't going to sing "Happy Birthday" without a lit candle around! It was a great weekend spent celebrating Easter and Monica's birthday together!