Fill-in-the-Blank Friday!

This week's topic: Birthdays!! (Which I love!)

As always, if you want to play along, go visit Lauren at the little things we do.

1. Birthdays are:       not often enough! I love love love birthdays.

2.  My favorite birthday memory was      honestly, I think this year's. They're getting better as I get older. I got to see my family, I watched my sister play in a really awesome concert, I got a new set of china, and Elissa came to visit me after we came home from my parents' house. I'm not sure how a birthday can get much better than that :)   .

3.  A birthday tradition I (or my family) has is       well, I've sort of declared a birthday month, which is sort of vain and selfish, I guess... My mom always always bakes and decorates a cake for everybody's birthday. I've never in my life had a store-bought cake for my birthday, and I'd like to keep it that way (unless said cake was from Pastry Art Bake Shoppe. I'd take one of those.) I'm keeping with that tradition in my own family as well  .

4.  If I had to choose one birthday meal to eat for the rest of my birthdays hence forward, I would choose       Mmmm... that's a tough decision. I'm going to say one of the Surin restaurants around here - they're Thai, and AMAZING  .

5.  My birthday is on     March 23rd. I'm a spring baby :) .

6.  If I could take a birthday trip I would go       to Italy! And stay for my entire birthday month :)  .

7.  The best gift I've ever received for my birthday was       this is also tough, as I've received quite a few nice gifts. My china this last year was pretty amazing. I got a trip one year, when I was in high school. It was a school trip, but it was a pretty amazing school trip, so I still count it as a good present :) And Mark gave me a Tiffany necklace a couple years ago - that was pretty nice :)     .

 

 

And now an update on me ... this week has been crazy. I can't believe it's already Friday! My car should be fixed this morning. I miss it so. I love that little Jetta... 

Also, I was going to go to Nashville on an impromptu visit with Lissa, but since my car wasn't fixed, that plan changed. Back and forth and back and forth my week has been, it seems like.

I do get to see Kelly today - we're going to lunch somewhere before she goes home to Chattanooga.

And Mark, after he gets back from the library, is going to Griffin today to visit poor Thomas. I'll be by myself this weekend - wish I had some company :(

And then on Monday, my momma's coming to visit! I'm so excited - we will have such fun :)

And that's about it. 

Happy Friday!

It's already Wednesday again!!!

My weeks are passing in a blur. I can't believe we are this close to cruising!!!

First of all, because I promised: a picture of my quiche!!



It was really yummy :)

This week, I'm at my parents' house through tomorrow. Elissa is here too. It is our last hurrah before she starts dayshift.

What you've missed since Friday's Fill-in-the-Blanks:

Saturday and Sunday, I worked. They were good, slow days. I'm ready to pick up the pace a bit again, but it appears that everybody's census is down (and when I mean everybody, I mean the entire Southeast... any NICU nurses out there? Is this true?) So maybe I'll just have to be a bit more patient, and enjoy these slower days while I can.

Monday morning, I headed out - arrived in Chattanooga around noon-ish. We had a pleasant, slow day. Elissa got here that afternoon, and we talked and caught up and looked at pictures, and then we played Speed Scrabble with my mom that evening. Fun times!

And yesterday was my Daddy's birthday. Happy birthday to him! We went to the aquarium, and then Kelly and Colton came over and we had dinner at a hibachi grill. Yummmy!!

Pictures of yesterday:

We started at the Ocean Adventure side, with the butterflies, which is my very, very favorite part of the aquarium :)


I thought this butterfly was GORGEOUS!


Hibiscus :)


Me and Lissa!


Lissa made a friend while we were there... and carried him around for quite a while.


My Mommy and Daddy


Pretty blue butterfly - my favorite! I spent the whole time trying to get a picture of these, and they didn't want to land on anything.





We moved on - to the penguins!!


And then we saw jellies. I love to look at them ... they're so other-worldly, and ethereal





Can you find the tiny sea horse?


Mr. Alligator thought I looked tasty


After a long day at the aquarium, we went to Shogun for dinner! So yummy!
My dad, mom, and grandma


Me and Lissa


So glad Kelly and Colton got to come too!


Back home, for cake and birthday presents!


Unwrapping gifts


He likes the polo shirt from Mark and me!


Kelly's present was the best of all, though. She wrote and performed a Birthday Rap (with Colton's assistance) ... it is worth watching. My sister is amazing :)



So today, I'm not sure what's in store. We might take a little field trip to my mom's friend's house and see her chickens (who lay green eggs! they're soooo pretty - and yummy, too.) And I think Lissa and I might venture downtown to coolidge park and the carousel ... hopefully it'll be a bit warmer today. We shall see...

Hope everybody has a happy Wednesday!

Birthday Recap

Today is Elissa's last day here with me :( So sad.

(We've already planned a Nashville trip for me and a visit to Chattanooga for both of us, though... We like to plot. We're like Lucy and Ethel. Or Lucy and Lucy, as Lissa's boyfriend likes to say...)

Anywho...

My birthday (days) in pictures!!


March 23rd: I turned 25!

We went to lunch with Andy and Suzie at Surin West - SO yummy! Here's me and Mark outside the restaurant after lunch


Mark had to go back to the library and do some reading/work, and we all headed home to eat cake. Yummy! It was a strawberry cake with cream cheese icing. (I changed shirts, because it was hot.)

Looking cheesy...


We finally got patio chairs! Now we can eat outside!


Andy and Suzie


Me and my BFF :)


Then Lissa and I headed into downtown Homewood to wander and look around. She might kill me for posting this picture, but I don't care :)


One of the places we went was Penzy's - an AMAZING spice store. If you have one in your area, you should totally check it out. I got some curry powder, some spice du provence, and some AMAZING cocoa powder. Like, God might serve it in heaven. Or make things with it. Or something. Next on my list to get there: extracts! Double strength vanilla (I DIE), almond, orange, lemon, oh my yummy goodness...



And then, that night (curses to me for not making pictures - do you guys ever do that? Not make pictures, because you're too busy actually DOING whatever you're doing to get your camera, then totally, totally regret it later?)... Matthew (Lissa's boyfriend) came over and we ate dinner together. Lissa and I made yummy pasta - we dubbed it April's Birthday Pasta, per Matthew's request for a name. It was angel hair pasta, asparagus, mushrooms, grilled chicken, and sundried tomatoes in a white wine cream sauce (complete with garlic and my new spice du provence!)

We ate outside. By candlelight. On my gorgeous patio table. With Frank Sinatra playing in the background. It seemed like something out of a movie. It was perfect.

WHY DID I NOT TAKE PICTURES OF THIS????

Anyway, nothing I can do about it now, so moving on.

My birthday presents from Mark came a day late. TOTALLY worth the wait. A pretty, breezy, precious sundress from J. Crew - quintessential summer!


And a close-up of the lovely fabric. I love it! It's so pretty!


And - I finally have some cute black flip-flops! (That actually go with the dress quite well.) Aren't they cute? Thank you, dear husband, for feeding my new J. Crew addiction :)


Our plan was to go see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. That kind of didn't happen... because we shopped all day long!!

(I think I might be able to get away with posting this picture because it's worse of me than of Lissa.... squinty squinty!)


I totally said "Screw you!" to winter and wore a sweet cotton-knit sundress. And it was perfect. Perfect sun, perfect weather, perfect company :)

I bought another one of those favorite-ever bras from VS. And some jewelry from Charming Charlie's, which may or may not become my new cheap jewelry obsession... And then we went on an intense search to find Elissa a spring dress to wear on her date with the boy.

After much searching, we finally found one (PERFECT - white seersucker, looked amazing on her) only to realize that there was a tear in the seam. The nice lady (rather talkative with a rather annoying voice, but hey, if she's helpful...) gave Lissa a discount on the cute sweater she found to wear with it, and found another store close-by which had 2 of those same dresses in her size.

So I headed home to eat, and Lissa ran out and picked the other dress up.

She got home, and it wouldn't zip. Absolutely. would. not. zip. The same dress in the same size at the other store fit PERFECTLY and zipped with no problem. The new dress was mislabeled. And Matthew was on his way. Elissa had NO other appropriate clothes...

So, in a frantic scurry, I called Matthew and told him that we were having a wardrobe crisis, that Lissa had to leave and fix it and she would be back. She dashed out the door, and was leaving as Matthew pulled in. He is a good sport (I think he thinks we're funny) and she came back a little later in her cute pretty new dress (this one fit - thank GOD they had another) and looked adorable! Crisis averted!

Aren't they cute?


My friend is so pretty!


Yay for friends!


So today, I'm not sure what we'll do. I want to go to Cantina since we didn't get to go on Monday night, and I'm sad that Lissa has to leave :( But what a good birthday it has been! And, to make it even better, next week my best friend from college, Kristine, is coming to visit! Happy day! I love my friends :)

(And my sweet, sweet hubby who I get to see all the time. So glad at least he's not far away from me!)

Happy Birthday to ME!!

source

That's right, blog world - I'm 25 today! Happy happy! (Or sad? Cause I'm getting older? Faster than I thought it would feel like? I've been an "adult" - out of school and with a real job - for nearly 3 years now. Crazy!)

In other news, Elissa arrived last night about the time Mark got home from class. We made chicken enchiladas (that were more cream cheese and whipping cream than enchilada - really the only reason they're called that is that they're baked and they're rolled up in tortillas. And with cheese on top. So, so bad.) We ate really late. We made yummy mojitos. Elissa and I watched Julie & Julia (one of my very favorite movies - LOVE Meryl Streep!)

And today I will make breakfast, and then make my birthday cake with my best friend (I know, I'm making my own birthday cake - but it will be good! Strawberry cake - from scratch - with cream cheese frosting! Yum!) And we will go to Surin for lunch with Andy and Suzie (also yum!) and have cake for dessert and Matthew will come for dinner and I'm making DELISH pasta tonight.

Um. Is it bad that my birthday (and possibly every day?) revolves around food?

Pictures of my lovely day to come! I hope it warms up...

Birthday #1

Be warned: this post is really picture-heavy!

Last night was my first birthday party/celebration of this year (I know, I sound really spoiled, having like 4 or so...) with my parents, my grandma, Mark, my sister, and her boyfriend Colton. It was so much fun!!

Kelly and Colton came over that evening after their classes were done. We talked and looked at Ninny's old pictures from the 1940's and 50's. Very cool.


My mom made me a really fabulous birthday cake, as always, and we had poppyseed chicken and green beans for dinner. Yummy! (That's strawberry buttercream icing on the cake - my favorite!)


I love my family. We laugh a lot :)


My mom very graciously did not put all 25 candles on the cake, just 7 ... two on top and five on bottom. She handed Colton (who is a really great photographer) her camera and he took pictures all evening, cause he's awesome like that.


the Birthday Girl! (a week early...)


After our cake festivities, it was time for presents. I opened the little box, and it had some buttons in it (so it would rattle - my mother thinks of everything) and a note, saying that I would be playing Ninny's favorite game - Wheel of Fortune! - to find clues that would lead me to my present.


We do creative celebrations :)


Playing the game... I started out sort of slowly, but then did pretty well


The three phrases I had to solve ended up saying: "Three boxes, in plain view, in the storage closet."


So into the storage closet I went, followed by my posse.


After looking at all the WRONG boxes, I finally found the right ones...


And was so, so surprised by my present!!


Back story: when Mark and I registered for china, we registered in Birmingham. A lot of our wedding guests lived in Chattanooga (where the wedding was held), and unfortunately the stores in Chattanooga did not carry the pattern that we picked out. You can see it here. Although my mom asked, the stores wouldn't order any ahead - they wanted to wait for people to place the order. And the people from my church who WOULD have bought the china were all little old ladies who didn't want to order it - they wanted to be able to put their hands and eyes on it and buy it straight from the store.

Anyway, long story short, we got a grand total of 3 place settings, plus a saucer. Not very helpful for entertaining...

So. Around Christmas, my mom and I were shopping around this neat home goods consignment boutique near my parents' house. And they had this GORGEOUS set of china - a complete set. For cheap cheap. (I mean, as an 8 place-setting of china goes...) It was ivory china, with this pretty black design around the borders - very classy looking. And I made the comment to my mom that I would love to someday be able to have a complete set of china like that.

Little did I know, she talked to my family that night, and they all pitched in, and she went back the next day and bought the whole thing for my birthday.


Amazing!!


My mom is the best :) What an awesome birthday present for my 25th birthday!!


Here's a picture of what it looks like - I can't get the picture to turn around the right way, but this is one of the serving pieces with the salt and pepper shakers. Isn't it so pretty? I ended up with 8 dinner plates, 8 salad plates, 8 soup bowls, 12 saucers, 10 cups, a large round serving platter, a large serving bowl, this little oblong serving plate, a butter dish, a soup tureen, a sugar bowl, a gravy boat, and the salt and pepper shakers. Seriously, fantastically awesome. I love it!!



And THEN, as if that wasn't good enough - Kelly gave me her present :) I love having artsy family members/friends, because neither Mark or I are very good at drawing/painting/photog-ing/etc, etc. I get a lot of really cool presents from Kelly, because she's poor, it's less expensive to make stuff, and she's amazing.


So she did me this cool pastel (Art Deco? or something?) drawing of me and Mark from a picture I made of us, and wrote some creative and funny things about us above it. I can't wait to put it in a poster frame and figure out where I'm going to put it :)


Some of the descriptions up close :)


The upper part of it, where you can read it - so funny :) And, Colton helped!


They are so, so precious. It makes me happy :)


And then, me and Kelly and Colton and my mom played a rousing game of Taboo, at which my mom and I were pretty much crushed by Kelly and Colton :) We're usually pretty good, but they were just on a roll last night - they're on the same wavelength :) Also makes me happy!

So, I consider phase 1 of my 25th birthday to be a complete success! I was so, so surprised by the china. Now I just need a china cabinet to put it in! I love getting to spend time with my family - we are so very good at loving and laughing and celebrating, and it is so much fun.

Tonight, Mark is taking me out on a date in Chattanooga - I'm getting dressed up, so hopefully I can post a picture or two on here. Then tomorrow, we're heading to Dayton to double-date with Kelly and Colton at a Mexican place, and Kelly and I are going to trade dresses. We'll head back to Chattanooga for dinner, then head home. And next week: Elissa comes!!

My life is so good. I'm such a lucky girl :)