What are the odds that at a party of 14 friends, three of them share the same birthday — and that birthday is also a national holiday (flag day)? Well, with compliments of AI, I found out: the odds are roughly 1 in 16.4 million (or 0.000006%).

Isn’t that amazing? So every June, at our June dinner group, we celebrate this crazy improbable birthday occurrence!

This year I signed up for dessert and made a wonderful cake that was a huge hit. It was also easy and could be made ahead. A triple winner! The cake is called Neiman Marcus Cake, and I highly recommend trying it. I think you’ll get rave reviews.

I had to add a little handmade touch: tiny dolls to sit on each slice. I drilled a tiny hole in the bottom of each doll, glued in a toothpick, and topped them with little hats I found at a craft store a few years ago. The dolls came in bulk from Amazon — because naturally, a person who makes things needs a stash! 😉

I made this lettuce wrap recipe after my son sent me a video, but unfortunately I can’t find the original to link. The good news is that it’s so easy!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground chicken
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1 head lettuce such as iceberg or bib, leaves separated into cups
• cooked rice
• sauce of your choice, such as soy, sweet chili, boom boom, etc.

Mix the chicken, egg, and seasonings together. Pat the mixture into a rectangle on a parchment-lined baking sheet, then score the chicken into smaller rectangles.

On the same baking sheet, add thinly sliced onion and cherry tomatoes. Spray everything lightly with olive oil.

Bake at 375°F for about 20-30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are soft and melty.

Break apart the chicken along the scored lines and place two pieces into each lettuce cup. Add rice, the cooked vegetables and your favorite sauce.

I put out soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, and boom boom sauce because that’s what I had on hand — and everyone loved them!

This was such a hit that it’s officially being added to our dinner rotation.

I just finished listening to Yesteryear by Carl Claire Burke, and it moved me so much. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The story centers around a “tradwife” social media influencer who goes viral. With each daily post, she loses a little more of her identity as she reshapes herself into the person her followers expect her to be. It’s timely, heartbreaking, and fascinating — and it sent me down a rabbit hole of learning exactly what a tradwife is and how much successful influencers can make.

And I’ll tell you… the numbers are astonishing. Some successful influencers can earn $10,000–$100,000 per Instagram post. Multiply that by 365 days, and it’s easy to understand how someone could end up making millions a year.

Knowing that helps explain (at least in part) how this already-fragile woman spirals further and further into the world she has created online. I’d love to hear what you think if you read it or listen to it!

Also, after listening to the old classic, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (and loving it so much), I decided to re-listen to To Kill A Mockingbird read bySissy Spacek. Doesn't matter how many times you've read this book, listening to Sissy Spacek bring this to life is an unbelievable treat that I'm sure you'll enjoy.

I hope you have a wonderful and fabulous weekend!

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