It's my husband's birthday today. 
And since it is neither a weekend nor a holiday, he has to work today. So the birthday celebration won't begin until he's home at dinnertime.
I'm working on planning a special meal and a nice cake. Unfortunately, it's hard to find one cake that pleases everyone in the family. One kid only likes chocolate; another prefers vanilla. My husband isn't a chocolate-cake fan either. One year I found a root-beer-float cake recipe somewhere on the internet, and made that for his birthday. What a disaster! It looked fine but didn't taste so great, so the poor guy had no birthday cake that year.
A lot of times I just prefer to avoid the whole "what kind of cake are we having" question and just make 2 batches of cupcakes: 1 chocolate, 1 vanilla. But we're not having any company, and 48 cupcakes is an awful lot for a family of 5.
No matter what kind of cake I wind up baking, though, I know the kids are going to insist on a certain kind of candle. They love those "trick" candles that light back up after you blow them out. In fact, my daughter always wants them for her own birthday, even though we keep telling her that there's no trick in trick candles if you're planning to use them for yourself.
COUPON TIME
If someone you know is celebrating a birthday, why not mark the big day with some flowers or a gift? We've found some terrific bargains here:
15% off your order at RedEnvelope.com 
Use this link to activate the promotion code. The discount will appear in your shopping cart.
Valid through: August 31, 2009
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15% off your order at ProFlowers.com 
Use this link to activate the offer.
Valid through: August 31, 2009
Cannot be combined with the free vase offer.
See other ProFlowers coupon codes!
Free Mylar Balloon when you buy a Birthday Bouquet of $50 or more at Teleflora.com 
Valid online only. Use this link to activate the coupon.
Valid through: August 30, 2009.
May not be combined with any other promotion and is not valid toward previous purchases. Not valid at retail locations or partner sites.
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20% off orders of $75 or more at Collections Etc. 
Enter promotion code 3GZZC2 during checkout. Instead of seeing the dollars off discount listed separately, the prices of the items in your cart will be reduced.
Valid through: August 31, 2009
See other Collections Etc. coupon codes!
Free delivery on select Gifts at Harry and David 
Enter coupon code SHIP at checkout.
Valid through: September 15, 2009
Valid online only. See individual items for more information.
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33% off Photo Notepads, Notebooks, Stickers, and Notecards at Walgreens.com 
Use coupon code NOTE33 at checkout in the Photo Center.
Valid through: September 5, 2009 11:59pm CT
Valid for up to 5 uses per account. Does not apply to taxes or shipping charges.
See other Walgreens coupon codes!
