More birthday magic

Could I possibly be more spoiled? Just when I thought my birthday celebration week was over, M. comes home on a work break with a box of...drummroll...cupcakes! There's a new bakery in Highland Square called Happy Cakes which trades exclusively in designer cupcakes for special occasions.

Just look at that! Rich cream cheese icing infused with scents like lime, orange water and liqueurs of various persuasions. I can't remember all the names, but the best were "Cosmo" and "Jack & Coke".
Heaven!

At every birthday and holiday for the past year we have bought something for Flynn. This time, it was this handmade olivewood bowl - part of my ongoing (and sometimes futile) struggle to reduce the number of plastics in our household. The spoon was a gift from M's parents upon their return from Africa. The fewer toxins that enter my child's tender mouth, the happier I will be!

This was quite possibly my favorite present of all. M. likes to order curiosities from Asia that he finds in his internet perambulations. This one is, I suppose, a meditation "cheat-sheet" - because he knows that I crave meditation, although I have yet to find the time to properly learn. This little box contains twelve Buddhist chants which can be changed with the flick of a button. Meanwhile the lights swirl rhythmically behind the icon, creating the most alarmingly mesmeric effect. I'm just afraid that if M. were to walk in the room while I'm "meditating", I might be in such a suggestible state that he could convince me to cluck like a chicken every time he says "kalamazoo" for the next ten years.
Here I've placed it on my painting table, where it sooths me without actually putting me in danger of being hypnotized ;)

To rewind a little, we topped off our Butterfly Pavilion day on Wednesday with a trip (as per my one special request) the the amazing and phantasmagorical world of Casa Bonita. Those of you who live in Denver as well as those of you who are fans of South Park will know what I'm talking about, wink-wink.

This room looks like the inside of a cupcake.

The grottos.
Casa Bonita claims to be the most exciting restaurant in the world.
And extravagant as that claim may seem, I can't really disagree with them, even though it is categorically the worst food this side of the Rio Grande.

Here's M. onstage in the cabaret room.

Ahem.
Well, that's how he rolls.

And of course, no birthday is complete without my sidekick and companion, the wonderful, worrisome and neurotic Sam. He shares a birthday with me, since he doesn't have one of his own.