Hello there friends! You’re going to have to bear with me on this one, judging by the post title, you can maybe tell this is going to be a jam-packed post.

Last time I checked in with you all, I mentioned that we were going to be hosting a very special birthday celebration for my mom’s 60th on Saturday. I left you all dangling in anticipation about the secret menu I had planned for the party. 😉

You may have figured it out with this sneak peek photo I gave you on Saturday…

That’s right…savory, warm and comforting pot roast; in the slow cooker of course. But I didn’t do just one roast, oh no. I did two. Who doesn’t love leftover pot roast? Also, I’d rather have too much food than not enough food for company any day.

I began by lightly searing all sides of the roast over medium-high heat on the stove top. I then transferred the meat to the slow cookers, added in the rest of the goodies, and set those bad boys on low for 8 hours. Check out the recipe at the bottom of this post!

An hour or so before company arrived, I got to work on the potatoes. I made simple boiled and smashed red potatoes. First I rinsed and scrubbed off any dirt on the potatoes. Don’t you love my apron BTW?! Thanks to Stacy for her creative sewing work. The other side has ladies on it so that if Dana wants to cook in it he can reverse it. How cute, right?!

Next, I halved the potatoes and placed them into a large pot, covered them with water and boiled for 15 minutes or until fork tender. I drained the water, added 1 tablespoon of butter, and some salt and pepper, and got to mashing.

Ta da! I also made a small batch of cheater beef gravy to go on top for those who were interested.

For some green love to go around I made a salad I found on Pinterest from Espresso and Cream’s website. I gotta give this girl major credit. This salad was amazing. I made just a few minor tweaks. You can check out her recipe here, but below is my modified version.

Pear Poppy Seed Salad
Ingredients

• 8-9 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 2 medium pears, diced
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 3 slices turkey bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled
• 1/3 cup feta cheese crumbles
• Ken’s Lite Poppy Seed Dressing

Once the food was all ready to go, we got a fire going in the fireplace, set the table, and relaxed while waiting for our guests to arrive.

Once my family arrived, we munched on a tasty shrimp appetizer that Kevi brought to share. Then I told everyone to move to the table. It was time for dinner. We gave the birthday girl the head seat at the table, right next to the fire. She’s the freeze baby of the family. Dad, Kevin, and Scott were our other lovely guests.

This photo below is pretty much the best food photo shot I got all night. I must have been so caught up in the excitement of the party and some surprises to come that I wasn’t really into snapping.

For example, these next two photos do not justify the awesomeness of dinner and dessert. The pot roast came out so tender and flavorful. We also had the baby red potatoes, the pear side salad, sunflower whole grain bread, and apple crisp for dessert.

Mom and dad even made me a special gluten-free apple crisp with almond flour. Bless their hearts. It was delicious too! Talk about an all around comforting meal.

After dinner, we moved on to gifts. My brothers and Dana and I bought mom a Cuisinart 7-cup Food Processor. She has been needing a new one for one for quite some time so I thought it would be the perfect birthday gift. I have the same exact food processor at home that ironically enough, my mom and dad gave Dana and I as a shower gift. I really like mine so I decided to get them the same one!

Next came the big surprises. First, dad started off by giving mom a few gifts: a sweater, a shower liner(!), and some golf balls. Mom’s reaction was so genuine after receiving just these few simple gifts being that it was a big birthday for her. She was just happy to have (almost) everyone together—gifts don’t matter to her. But really, a shower liner??

A short while later, dad grabs another gift and gives it to her confessing that he has one more gift for her, and that it’s for their anniversary which is in November. Mom goes right along with it all and opens her gift which is an iPad.

Her laptop has been on the fritz for a very long time, but he has been planning on getting her this iPad for months, so needed to keep making excuses as to why they should wait to buy one. The line that had worked best lately was, “let’s wait until Black Friday, then we’ll go get you a laptop or an iPad.” She was fine with that idea since it at least gave her a time frame and gave her hope. Haha. This all cracks me up.

So, anyway. She doesn’t believe it’s really an iPad, or really her iPad. As she’s still trying to grasp the fact, dad wants to show her something on YouTube. He opens up the application and there is a video clip of one of my mom’s best friends singing a special song she wrote to my mom to the tune of “Give My Regards to Broadway.” In this clip, she divulges to mom that my dad will be taking her to New York for her birthday, and her friend and her husband would be joining them. 

At this point mom is completely floored and practically unsure of what to believe. Her reactions to all of these surprises were absolutely priceless and so sincere.

The last surprise that dad pulled out was tickets to see Jersey Boys on Broadway, and that at the latter end of the trip, they are going to travel to New Jersey to visit my mom’s aunt and uncle that live out there. 

The whole series of surprises left everyone very emotional. Mom deserves every single bit of every one of these gifts. She is so giving, faithful, compassionate, and a rock for all of us. She always knows what to say to make me feel better and to put things into perspective. I hope someday I will have the wisdom that she has.

It was such a fun birthday celebration. I’ve said it a million times but I’ll say it again, HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY MAMA! You are the most incredible woman and I love you to infinity!

The rest of the evening was spent playing with the iPad and watching these two lovers play. Scotty’s dog Tuner is a husky and black lab mix, and she is beautiful. Mooser and Tuner get a long very well. Moose and Tuner sitting in a tree…

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This post is getting real lengthy, and I apologize but real quickly I just want to check in on the October Yoga Challenge.

On Thursday I whipped out an Ab Strengthening Yoga session OnDemand. I thought it was a 20 some minute session, but when I looked back at it, I realized it was a 30 some minute session. Score! 

I am still loving every bit of this yoga challenge. I would like to work more of it into my schedule!

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Now, finally here is that Slow Cooker Pot Roast recipe for all ya’ll. Have a great day and thanks for sticking with me through this novel of a post! Muah!