To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes… and that I will go overboard when planning my daughter’s birthday party.”

This year she turned five. It is also the fifth year in a row where I told myself I wouldn’t spend entirely too much time and money on the celebration. As expected, it is the fifth year in a row where I did, in fact, spend entirely too much time and money on the celebration. On a related note, if you have stock in Amazon (AMZN), Michaels (MIK), Costco (COST), or Sprouts (SFM), you have me to thank for this quarter’s stellar earnings.  Looks like I have some carbon footprint offsetting to do, y’all. Continue reading →