Yesterday certainly was a surprisingly bountiful 37th birthday for me.

Times are tight, so it wasn’t as if I expected so much as a card, let alone baked goodies! It all started around noon yesterday when there was a knock at our apartment door. Seems there was a cookie delivery for me courtesy of my friend Dave. The cookies were from Dallas’ O’Cookies and delightfully wrapped with a perky green ribbon. My cookie delivery included Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat and Dark Chocolate Raisin Oat and we managed to scarf down half of them before I even thought to look O’Cookies up on the interwebs.

Seems these sinful cookies were actually good for me, who would’a thunk it?

According to O’Cookies’ site, all of their oaty treats are “low in fat and cholesterol and are made with all natural and organic ingredients. Oh, yeah, they also have no trans fats, or hydrogenated oils… Only the highest-quality chocolates and naturally dried fruits are used.” And who doesn’t enjoy an indulgence that’s actually good for you?

As for later that evening, we’d planned a pretty low key get together with my best friend Val at her new apartment. After popping out of the shower, I plugged in my hair dryer and shorted out the entire apartment. Stumbling in the dark and freezing without heat, I was pretty scowly leaving the apartment sans cosmetic aids and with wet hair.

That all changed when we showed up at Val’s and I spied a Red Velvet cake with my name on it. Seemed that Val and Josh were in cahoots again and I was thrilled that they both remembered my favorite cake.

Val explained that the cake had come from one of her favorite bakeries – A & J’s Cafe and Bakery on Oaklawn. The cake was moist and dense and the cream cheese icing was some of the best I’ve ever had – even the big red roses decorating the cake were made of the same icing.

There’s not much left of the cake, though there were only three of us…and I did just happen to eat a cream cheese rose for breakfast this morning because frankly, when you’re 3 years away from 40, you can damn well eat what you want with your morning coffee as far as I’m concerned.