It’s a celebration

(lyrics to one of the songs that was on the “banned from the wedding” list along with “Electric Slide”)

Indeed it was 🙂

Cake

When the Pilot got home from work, the entire family was here and dinner was hot and waiting.

Madre grilled steaks, and I made twice-baked potatoes (with turkey bacon, chives, veggie broth to make them smooth and creamy, sour cream and cheese in the dairy versions), salad (romaine from our farm box with tomatoes) and salmon:

Salmon

(marinade of Tamari, garlic, ginger, raw honey, orange juice and zest, little bit of cayenne)

pan-seared and baked to finish while the potatoes heated up in the oven.

Salmon 2

(the plain piece was for Bell and Oliv)

Sorry about the gnarly photo- my kitchen lighting is a little scary at night. Needless to say, everything was pretty delicious.

Even though we were all pretty stuffed, there’s always room for…

Cake 4

Desserts!

Birthday boy:

Cake 2

Dump cake with ice cream and the madre made her famous earthquake cake:

Dessert

I’m pretty sure that plate is what happiness looks like.

My bros:

Brothers

This morning I’m off to work- my Zumba dreams came true and I get to booty-shake two days in a row.

Just wanted to say hi and I’ll see ya this afternoon with a fun DIY on the Fashion page <3

xoxo

Gina

Something to talk about: Birthday cake of choice. The Pilot loves the two above, and is also a huge fan of the chocolate peanut butter cupcakes I made last year. He already asked me what kind of cake I’d like for my upcoming bday – I’m thinking yellow gf cupcakes with chocolate frosting. The classic never dies 🙂 Did anyone else have a wedding song ban list? I like to think/hope I was a pretty chill bride, but that’s one thing I was selective about.

Something to do: Don’t forget to try out this week’s workout and send in your sweaty pics! I love the ones I’ve seen so far! Keep up the amazing work.

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73 Comments

  1. Theresa on October 25, 2012 at 11:32 am

    I just got married 2 weeks ago and the only song that was on my wedding song ban list was the chicken dance. I hate that dance!

    • Michelle on October 25, 2012 at 9:15 pm

      I second the chicken dance song ban. The DJ was a riot though, he’d play the first few bars and watch me shot him a dirty look and laugh.

  2. Amna on October 25, 2012 at 11:34 am

    Recipe for earthquake cake please?!

    • Kali on October 25, 2012 at 2:11 pm

      If you go to Gina’s previous post, has the link for Earthquake Cake. 🙂

  3. RachelG on October 25, 2012 at 11:35 am

    I want a banned song list but I also don’t want to be a brat if people are DYING to do the electric slide. If it does get played that will be when the bride gets a drink (or uses the bathroom)! 🙂 No chicken dance though!

  4. Brittany on October 25, 2012 at 11:38 am

    I could NEVER have a banned from the wedding song list. My family takes an amazing amount of pleasure out of pleasure out of pranks and I guarantee they would play all the songs on my do not play list!!!

  5. Michelle @ Eat Move Balance on October 25, 2012 at 11:41 am

    Funny about banning songs . . . I made sure to tell our band NOT to play/sing “We Are Family”. I know some people love it, but for some reason, I can’t stand that song!

    • Fitnessista on October 26, 2012 at 12:06 am

      i hate that song, too!!

  6. Jessica on October 25, 2012 at 11:52 am

    My husband always goes for chocolate cake and vanilla frosting. From a box. Don’t try to get fancy on him. 😉 This year we did that in cupcake form since it was his 30th and we had a big party. Since I’m a summer baby I’ve always gone for ice cream cakes (homemade) and I like to mix up the flavors and add-ins each year.

  7. Kristen on October 25, 2012 at 11:55 am

    My birthday is tomorrow and I want you to come fix for me all of the food in this post! Thanks ahead of time 😉
    Looks like you guys had a fabulous celebration!

    I too would pick yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It’s just so darn good. It’s perfect, not too sweet but certainly sweet enough! There are other cakes that I love, cough *red velvet* cough, but I find myself really having to be in just the right mood for them. The simple yellow with chocolate is one I could pretty much eat at any time 🙂

  8. Amber @ Busy, Bold, Blessed on October 25, 2012 at 12:00 pm

    My mom makes an awesome one with devils food chocolate cake layered with whipped cream and cherries. I die!

  9. Maria on October 25, 2012 at 12:09 pm

    I’m also a sucker for the yellow cake with chocolate frosting 🙂 My favorite chocolate frosting is made up of chocolate pudding mixed with cool whip…SO GOOD!

  10. Mary on October 25, 2012 at 12:15 pm

    I definitely had a song ban at my wedding! I banned anything that tells you what to do in the song and definitely the chicken dance. Its your wedding and if you don’t want to hear a song you shouldn’t have to.

    • Fitnessista on October 26, 2012 at 12:06 am

      amen 🙂

  11. Ali @ Peaches and Football on October 25, 2012 at 12:20 pm

    There’s something about dump cake that I really love. Maybe it’s just cause it’s easy, you can try different fruits, and requires so little effort yet tastes amazing? Happy Birthday to the Pilot. So great you were able to spend his birthday together. Oliv eats salmon already? Whoa is she growing up fast! Does she like it?

  12. Emily @ Glitz Glam Granola on October 25, 2012 at 12:24 pm

    It looks like the Pilot had a fantastic birthday full of lots of yummy treats!! Those twice baked potatoes sound great, as do both cakes! I might need to make that earthquake cake soon! I love either red velvet or something extra chocolatey for my birthday! Though my Grandmother’s German Chocolate cake is also a winner! And I never thought about banning songs from a wedding- that’s actually a great idea!

  13. Soniathe Mexigarian on October 25, 2012 at 12:30 pm

    I banned Taylor Swift but she showed up uninvited.

    😉

    Couldn’t help myself hehehe.

    I banned overtly nasty rap music, Nicki Minaji and Taylor Swift. Everything else was free game (banda, John Denver, Ke$ha, Journey, etc.) and as long as my friends and family danced merrily, I was a happy bride. Which I was. Sadly, my DJ did not play the Chicken Dance even though my grandmother in law really wanted to polka. lol.

    Happy Belated Birthday to the Pilot!

  14. Liz @ Southern Charm on October 25, 2012 at 12:40 pm

    Birthday cake of choice … either a plain cake from Creative Cakes- a famous cake shop here in New Orleans. And by plain, I mean it’s a wedding cake in a birthday cake form.

    Or there is a cake I tried one time and still have dreams of it … it’s a plain vanilla cake, with icing in the filling, but get this, there are slices of strawberries in the icing!! So fresh. So good!

    … I love cake!

  15. Amy @ purewellnessamy on October 25, 2012 at 12:43 pm

    I did have a wedding song ban list at our wedding 8 years ago – I banned pretty much any group dance such as the electric slide – and people got pissed at me! They’d request a song from the DJ and he’d say, “sorry, the bride banned that song.” – lol. Oh well, I felt that those songs would take up too much valuable reception time; time I’d rather spend freestyling to my favorite songs 🙂

  16. Melissa on October 25, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    We had a banned song list too! And the electric slide was on that list We told the dj he couldn’t play those songs even if someone asked! My hubbie loves music so he actually gave the dj a list of songs he could play thy need up being about 12 hours worth of music

  17. Ashley @ Sweat for Sweets on October 25, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    Yummy desserts! I must say, I love pretty much any cake or cupcake that’s thrown my way 😉 My favourites are chocolate/peanut butter, chocolate/caramel, vanilla + red velvet flavours! And weird, I know, but I prefer chocolate cake to vanilla BUT vanilla cupcakes over chocolate ones. Anyone else with me? Hahha

  18. Amanda on October 25, 2012 at 1:03 pm

    For my fiances birthday this year, I made him dirt cake with pudding, cool whip, oreos, and gummy worms! It was such a hit!!! We are getting married in 9 days (eek!) and our ban list includes “Sweet Caroline” and any line dances 🙂

    • Brittany on December 24, 2012 at 1:46 pm

      being a Boston Girl. Sweet Caroline is MUST at my wedding. My dad would make me!

  19. Melissa on October 25, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    I banned I will always love you by Whitney Houston. I wasn’t saying goodby to my new love, we were beginning our new life, you know what I mean?

  20. natalie @ will jog for food on October 25, 2012 at 1:07 pm

    I love the idea of 2 cakes!!

    I’m a huge fan of yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It’s what my mom made me every year (from the box and the can). I always request it from her if I’m home to celebrate 🙂

  21. Joanne on October 25, 2012 at 1:19 pm

    Last year I made my husband a carrot cake using the Hummingbird Bakery recipe. It was a hit with everyone that tried it. I think I’m going to see if I can veganise the recipe 🙂

  22. Paige @ Your Trainer Paige on October 25, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    We had a wedding song ban list too! YMCA topped ours, but at the end of the night, so many people were chanting “Y-M-C-A” – and I’d had so many glasses of champagne 😉 that I gave it the green light, haha

  23. Kerry @ Totes My Oats on October 25, 2012 at 1:27 pm

    Looks like you guys had such a great celebration!

  24. Averie @ Averie Cooks on October 25, 2012 at 1:56 pm

    Looks like a great bday celebration! Glad the salmon and cakeS! were hits!

    And your bro’s tattoos are so vibrant! WOW! I love artwork 🙂

  25. Kali on October 25, 2012 at 1:57 pm

    German Chocolate cake or a really good homemade carrot cake–has to be really moist with lots of nuts and raisins though!
    .

  26. JBecca on October 25, 2012 at 2:08 pm

    Haha! We had a banned song list. I was adamant about no electric slide or chicken dance because I thought they were so corny. During the reception, my 10-year-old niece asked so sweetly if we could do the chicken dance. The DJ had told her no & she was so disappointed. I totally caved. And I was completely surprised by how many people joined in.

    Looks like an amazing birthday celebration. Happy belated birthday, Pilot!

  27. Brooke (beingvivacious.blogspot.com) on October 25, 2012 at 2:08 pm

    Two cakes! He lucked out! Can we have the recipes for both? They look so yummy

  28. Suzanne on October 25, 2012 at 2:36 pm

    What a fun celebration! 🙂

    Wedding song bans for me: Chicken Dance, Conga Line, Electric Slide, YMCA…and anything with props.
    I wish they had Gangnam Style when I got married though. 😉

    It seems like you’re not a fan of GS – have you or your fellow dancers been using it in class?
    There are so many workouts now based on Gangnam Style. I know there are a lot of haters out there (my husband included!), but I think it’s so much fun. 🙂

    • Fitnessista on October 26, 2012 at 12:05 am

      i wish they had it when we were married too!!

  29. Cara @ I Don't Believe in Diets on October 25, 2012 at 2:41 pm

    the salmon looks so yummy. need to make that stat!

  30. Beth on October 25, 2012 at 2:46 pm

    On our banned list was “Love Shack.” I absolutely detest that song, so it was not allowed at our wedding! I am not a big fan of YMCA either, but I tolerated it. 🙂

    • Tracey on October 25, 2012 at 3:50 pm

      That was the only song on my list, too!! ‘Love Shack’ and anything by Destiny’s Child. Dating myself right there, ha! 🙂

  31. Katie @ running4cupcakes on October 25, 2012 at 2:50 pm

    Yup-the chicken dance!!! Can’t stand it!

  32. Natalie @ FreshLifeFindings on October 25, 2012 at 3:07 pm

    Oh yes I definitely left off the Electric Slide and Celebration along with the YMCA 🙂 Looks like a fun birthday celebration!

  33. Erin @ Girl Gone Veggie on October 25, 2012 at 3:09 pm

    I’m engaged and I haven’t really even given much thoughts to songs I want or don’t want played. I have to do that! Also, looks like the Pilot’s birthday celebration was a good one, so glad he enjoyed his special day!

  34. Whitney @ Whit Likes Fit on October 25, 2012 at 3:20 pm

    Ice cream cake. It’s my birthday tradition. My parents always got it for me and my husband has continued it. Normally it’s a peanut butter chocolate from Baskin Robbins but last year he totally out did himself and got me a DQ Blizzard cake with half butter finger and half peanut butter cup (my fave blizzard flavor). It was the most amazing cake I’ve ever eaten in my life.

  35. kim@hungryhealthygirl on October 25, 2012 at 3:40 pm

    I pretty much like any kind of cake. Strawberry cake with strawberry icing is always a favorite of mine. The pilot’s cakes look pretty darn tasty!

  36. Catherine on October 25, 2012 at 3:45 pm

    I would love to make any of the delicious cakes listed here, but my finance ONLY wants funfetti from the box. Does anyone else have this problem? I know he would be polite and encouraging if I made something myself, but I know he’d always be secretly disappointed if a celebration rolled around with no funfetti.

  37. joelle (on a pink typewriter) on October 25, 2012 at 4:34 pm

    Mmm PANCAKES – that’s the kind of cake I always request on my birthday. 😉

  38. Juliet @ From Teacher to Mom on October 25, 2012 at 5:04 pm

    Omg those cakes look amazing! Happy birthday Pilot!

  39. AutumnTao on October 25, 2012 at 6:00 pm

    Let’s see.. we had a few.. Electric Slide, Macarena (sp?), Chicken Dance, and any other dance that makes people get in a line of any shape or size! We also made a late night dance cd of some jamband tunes from the Dead and String Cheese Incident… it was so.much.fun! Happy bday to the Pilot 🙂

  40. Laura on October 25, 2012 at 6:47 pm

    Happy birthday to the pilot!

  41. Amal on October 25, 2012 at 7:22 pm

    Question: I went back and looked at the post where you showed us how to make a dump cake but I have to ask, because you don’t mix it up, aren’t there dry cake mix bits in there?

    • Fitnessista on October 26, 2012 at 12:04 am

      the fruit soaks into the cake mix and makes a cobbler-esque “shell”
      there are tiny bits of powder, but nothing noticeable

  42. Allison @ Train Eat Repeat on October 25, 2012 at 7:24 pm

    Mmm cake! I love eating pie on my birthday though.

    I’ve got a small list in my head of songs that must not be played at my wedding!! anytime i hear the songs i’ve selected, at a wedding, i’m always just like “WHY did they let that play now no one is dancing”, at my wedding thats NOT gonna happen

  43. Emily @ www.main-eats.com on October 25, 2012 at 7:25 pm

    Looks like a pretty great celebration-yummy food and great company!

  44. Melanie on October 25, 2012 at 7:36 pm

    Do u follow a recipe for the twice baked potatoes?

    • Fitnessista on October 26, 2012 at 12:03 am

      i kind of did it on the fly, but let me know if you want an idea of what i did

      • Melanie on October 27, 2012 at 4:34 pm

        Yes please!! 🙂

  45. Jessica on October 25, 2012 at 7:36 pm

    I’ve never been married, but I have to agree with you on those two songs. Shudder.

    As far as birthday cake goes, I’m all about the classic white cake with buttercream frosting.

  46. Lisa on October 25, 2012 at 7:51 pm

    I’m not married yet, but when I eventually do get married, I know for sure that I’m going to be EXTREMELY selective about music, and hopefully pretty chill about most of the rest of it. I definitely agree with you on your 2 banned songs, and I think my banned list might get a little extensive lol.

  47. Torie =) on October 25, 2012 at 8:06 pm

    I wasn’t into line dances and neither was my DJ, thankfully!

    Oooo! ALWAYS chocolate chocolate. (Can you tell I’m a choco-holic?) Although my mom has gotten me into this cake called “Chocolate Thunder.” Here’s how the website describes it: A single layer of dense mocha cake infused with bourbon and raspberry puree crowned with a fudge truffle filling and bathed in chocolate ganache. Oh yessssss! =D

    • Fitnessista on October 26, 2012 at 12:03 am

      that sounds INSANE

  48. stacey on October 25, 2012 at 9:08 pm

    I banned several songs, including ‘We are Family’. But, I ended up giving in on that one because my grandma wanted to hear it and she was having a blast dancing with my aunt all night. The DJ came up to me and said “I know that this song says ‘NO, NO, NO’ by it, but your grandma told me to tell she was the one who asked for it because she knows that you will let me play it for her.” Okay grandma, you win:)

    • Fitnessista on October 26, 2012 at 12:02 am

      hahah i love that

  49. Valerie @ FreshMutz on October 25, 2012 at 10:37 pm

    Gluten issues over here, too. Years past, i’d just eat the real deal and deal with the consequences. This year I discovered a local GF/Vegan bakery and it was glorious!!! I went with Pumpkin spice cake and vanilla spice frosting. Even my very gluten tolerant, carnivorous family loved it!

  50. Coleen on October 25, 2012 at 10:47 pm

    I had my do not play list which included most group dances (macarena, chicken dance etc). I love to dance but usually get dragged out to do these dances and hate it so I did not want to put anyone through that. I see my DJ in a heated discussion with one of my best friend’s husbands (who was drunk). The husband comes over and tells me the DJ refuses to play the song for the Conga Line. I told him why. He begs me and I say “if you promise not to make anyone do it, I will let him play it” Song plays, most people join. My husband then joins(I jokingly called him a traitor) which makes me join. It was actually fun and made for some great pictures/video. Moral of the story is just say no if someone wants you to dance and you don’t want to or disappear during those songs.

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