Birthday Brunch

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It turns out that the 20s are a difficult age. It’s a decade with lots of transition including graduating college, throwing yourself into the real world, learning what you like and don’t like to do, strengthening friendships and letting go of others, and a whole lot of learning to love yourself. At least that’s what it’s been for me.

I have graduated with two degrees, started my first job, moved to Mexico for a year, come back to that same job, made Philadelphia my post-grad home, and started to build a career (or at least I’m trying).

I’m “over the hump” at 26 years old and can already start the anxiety building for the big 3-0. I can no longer refer to my life as a “quarter-life crisis” and instead it’s just a plain ole crisis. A super bumpy roller-coaster crisis with way too many emotions because I’m a girl and I cry a lot. Deal with it.

One thing that I feel really good about is that I have a group of kick-ass friends in Philadelphia. After school, most of my friends left Philly for New York City, D.C. or San Francisco and when I came back from Mexico in 2014 it was a hard transition trying to find my local “tribe”.

Growing up, I always had lots of friends and acquaintances in different groups with a core group of girlfriends I could lean on. I liked being friendly with lots of people and I missed that when I first came back to Philadelphia.

Over the past year and a half, though, I have learned that the core group is what is most important to me. And I have an awesome core group! I have girlfriends from high school, college, and work who I know I can count on, and there are even a few good guy friends sprinkled in there. It feels good.

So, when it came to celebrating my birthday a few weeks ago in February, I decided to host a fun bday brunch with my girls. I love going out on the town every now and then, but I also love laid back get-togethers and I really love hosting my friends at my apartment. Not only is it a good excuse to clean my apartment, but I also enjoy cooking for other people.

First came my menu planning. I’ve got some vegetarians in the mix so as much as I love bacon, I kept it off the list this time. Instead, I made a Corn, Kale, and Goat Cheese Frittata as the main dish. Ridiculously easy and so tasty. I also made Earl Grey Scones with Blood Orange Curd and I was happily shocked at how good they both turned out. I got some help from my friend, Ari, who is now a cooking and baking chef extraordinaire ;).

For the drinks, I made Iced Berry Hibiscus Lipton Tea to mix with champagne for a fun take on mimosas. The tea had the best red color, was super flavorful and better than most herbal teas I find at the grocery store. I loved the combo of the berry with hibiscus for a fruity and flora flavor. The “mimosas” were light and refreshing, and my friends really liked them. Success!

As for the frittata and scone recipes, don’t worry- I plan on sharing them both soon!

It was a blast to have my friends over and I’m so glad I was able to celebrate with them. I used my birthday as the perfect excuse to eat lots of dessert. Zero regrets!

Even though we were all stuffed, we finished things off with these adorable cupcakes that my friend Emma brought. Aren’t my friends the best?!

Photos by Madison Neumann Photography.

For $0.75 off any 1 Lipton Black, Green, or Herbal 20 ct tea, click here.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.