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We Just Took Office Birthdays to a New Level

By Chanel Dror
great way to start the day

It’s an unspoken truth: when your birthday falls on the weekend, getting a year older is something to be celebrated. But when it falls on the middle of the week, well, it can be a bit of a bummer. Around these parts, however, we believe it doesn’t have to be that way. So when we realized that sweet Carmen had a birthday coming up (the big 2-4!), and that it coincided with our weekly team meeting, we decided to take a typically mundane part of the day and elevate it into something memorable.

We packed up our computers and headed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather and a menu of mouth-watering treats. And since we couldn’t possibly start the day without coffee, we were excited to unwrap Nespresso‘s brand new VertuoPlus machine and put it to the test. Keep reading for the all the details (including a build-your-own breakfast taco spread), and get inspired to turn your next office birthday into something a bit more special.

photography by Kate LeSueur


Most board rooms don’t have fresh flowers on the table, but our meeting table almost always does. Camille scored this glowing bunch of roses for an extra special centerpiece.

We kicked things off the same way we start every meeting – coffee. Our team has always loved Nespresso, but their new VertuoPlus machine is a total upgrade. It’s streamlined, simple, and super quiet.

This machine is so easy and only requires one touch to get extraordinary coffee. Simply pop in a capsule, press a button and presto — your morning brew in a flash. After that, send back the used capsules in the pre-paid UPS bag Nespresso offers at no cost for an easy recycling solution.

Once we each got our fix, we grabbed our computers and pulled up a seat. The line between work and play becomes dangerously blurred when the office space is this beautiful!

First order of business: go through the editorial calendar and talk through all the upcoming blog projects.

Camille opted for a freshly brewed cup of coffee, while the birthday girl Carmen went for traditional espresso. Both are topped with that silky layer of crema, which is actually a sign of quality coffee.

Once we made it through the official orders of business, we got to the real heart of the matter: breakfast tacos.

Scrambled eggs, veggies, herbs and lots of hot sauce came together to make everyone’s favorite breakfast food.

Click here to recreate this build-your-own breakfast taco spread in time your next brunch gathering.


We made sure to set out plenty of lime wedges for the perfect acidic addition to our tacos.

Is there any better combination than fresh coffee and tacos?

With our colorful table linen and gorgeous weather, we couldn’t help but capture the moment to commemorate Carmen’s 24th birthday.

Last but certainly not least, a few small gifts (including her very own VertuoPlus machine) and a blueberry lemon cupcake for the guest of honor.

Happy birthday, Carmen! Thanks for giving us a reason to make our weekly meeting extra special. Now we just might have to make this a regular thing…