Cupcakes and cat doors

As I said in my last post, Dan was working on making me some cupcakes Sunday evening. It was very sweet of him. He was inspired by the Food Network's Cupcake Wars episode where contestants had to use a savory and a sweet ingredient. Someone made a maple cupcake with maple cream cheese frosting and bacon on top. He found the recipe, went shopping for the ingredients we didn't have, and made them from scratch. He fried the bacon and sprinkled it on top of the icing (he bought canned) along with brown sugar. They were so delicious! He used some of my adorable Bake It Pretty cupcake liners and they looked really cute in my new cupcake tower.

Despite the adorable display, some people at work were a little freaked out by them, but the people who did have one loved them. Dan had made a list of who was allowed to have them - mostly people he's actually met. He awarded his favorites 2 cupcakes and explicitly said that some other people could have none. I told him it couldn't quite work that way, but his list was hilarious. I definitely realized who I talk about most at home and saw that Dan has his favorites.

My coworkers took me to lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant, and it was really nice to hang out with the girls. I'm so fortunate to have a great group of coworkers here. In the afternoon, they presented me with not one, but two desserts: a delicious cherry chip cake and a yummy layered pudding dessert. It wasn't the most productive day ever, but it was definitely special.

In the afternoon, I got an email from my mom about my sister's dog, Meadow. Megan had been out sunbathing and playing with Meadow when she took off running. Megan ran after her and searched for about an hour before calling her fiance and asking him to come join the search. They looked everywhere around their neighborhood and the nearby lake, asked people if they'd seen her, and gave their number. Not knowing where else to look, they headed home. Megan passed by the house across the street and saw this:

Megan figured out that Meadow had run after the neighbor's cat and followed it inside the house through the cat door, which you can see she is sitting only inches away from. Because Meadow doesn't have a cat or doggie door of her own, she couldn't figure out how to get back out of the house. The neighbors weren't home, and Meadow was scratching at the door to be let out. After Megan was unsuccessful in coaxing or pulling Meadow out the door, Daniel had to come and bribe her with treats. We're all glad she's safe and we have a funny story out of it, but she gave us a good scare for an hour. Oy, Meadow :)

Last night, we took it easy. Dan met me at the grocery store after work and bought ingredients for dinner. He made me a delicious pasta with Italian sausage and bell peppers. He bought me a nice bottle of wine, and we curled up on the couch and watched Last Comic Standing and Intervention (season premier! trainwreck!). It was a really awesome birthday, and I'm so thankful for all my wonderful friends and family for making it a great day!