The Party's OOOOVER

I used to hate when my mom would sing that to me after birthdays or vacations but, sadly, the party(ies) really is over. It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks and they have been totally awesome.

Saturday morning my mom treated myself, my sister, and D to mani/pedis at our favorite spot. I've never been one for "girl time" or "girls days" but I think I may be changing my mind. Hanging out with your mom, sister and best friend? Rules.

The woman I used to live with (over the summer) and I share a birthday so Saturday evening my mother, D and I headed over there for happy hour. It was...alright. She had a few of her friends and family there and they are all very high society. I think my mother was beside herself. They can be very unwelcoming and judgmental. We lasted about 45 minutes and got the HELL out of there.

Coming to visit in Connecticut can be overwhelming for my mom. It really is completely different than where we live in Vermont and there is just a much different approach to EVERYTHING down here. She's a really great sport but sometimes the way things go here just DO NOT MESH with her.

For example: It was POURING rain Saturday evening so we decided to pay to park in a lot next to the bar we were going to in SoNo. We pulled up to attendant booth and he asked how long we were staying. He said to just leave the car.

As in- - leave the car so he can park it.

My mother has a new vehicle and did NOT like that idea at all. She hesitated for about TWO MINUTES and then, as the attendant was parking the car, walked toward the car and WATCHED EVERY MOVE. With narration for the sake of D and I.

It went something like this:

"Oh you guys. Are you WATCHING THIS? Oh my god. What's he doing? That's not going to fit there! No wonder HE wanted to drive it. OHMYGOD. IS HE BACKING IN?!?!??! Jeez. I can't believe it. I feel ridiculous watching him, but I swear to GOD IF THERE IS ONE SCRATCH ON IT WHEN WE GET IT BACK... I'm calling THE POLICE."

I felt really badly because I know how stressful it is having a new car and how you worry about it, but at the same time... I did suggest we just take my car so we don't need to worry about anything. :)

The three of us went to dinner and had the BEST time. We ordered appetizers, got drinks (got some wine in my mom) and just visited for a couple of hours. It was everything a birthday celebration should be.

I am so lucky.

It's Almost Here

Seriously you guys, this week just keeps getting better. My mom arrived last night with tons of baked good for me to bring to the kids at school (my annual birthday favorite- - pumpkin muffins and HER famous chocolate chip cookies), I got the sweetest birthday gift in the mail from Jax (didn't he already get my flowers? YES! Did he still send something for my birthday?!?!? YES!!!!!), and today because my mom is here, the teacher that I work with said I should just head out during our specials and spend time with her.

I am surrounded by awesome people- - it's really incredible. (Although, my sister did find a spider while she was laying in bed this morning and did yell for me to come "Get it" but.. I WON'T GO THERE TODAY. POSITIVITY PEOPLE.)

The weekend line-up is totally awesome and I can't wait to get it started.

Woop! Woop!

Aaaand the Celebration Continues

With Tuesday afternoon card and gift in the mail and evening Crumbs cupcakes (Caramel Apple and Peanut Butter Cup. YES PLEASE!), and a Patagonia gift card to get a new jacket that I've been eye-ing from my sisters. (!!!!!!!!!)

THEN my mom called and said that she was thinking about taking a ride down for the weekend! SO... my mom arrives TODAY for a weekend of birthday celebration! I have to (lamely) babysit Friday night, but other than that it's a no-holds-barred kind of weekend! We're going to head to Jazzercise Saturday morning with D, then meet up with my sister and get mani-pedis, we've got happy hour(s) and dinners planned...SHOPPING!

AND, I've got the treats all baked and ready to go for my classes.

This birthday? Totally rocks.

The Longest Celebration

In five days I will turn 25 years old. I always thought by 25 I would be, in a word, settled. I’m not even close to that, but we won’t dwell on that right now. There are more exciting things to discuss like… how I’ve been celebrating my birthday for over a week now and it just keeps getting better!

It started with the flowers from Jax. Then I went to my aunt and uncles’ for happy hour and my aunt (who always goes WAY above and beyond) got me a new jacket (SO CUTE), wine chiller, wine glass identifiers, and a portable wine opener. THEN, before I headed back to Connecticut my parents gave me presents from them because I wouldn’t see them on my actual birthday. I got a new Crock Pot and recipe book, (you should SEE what I’ve been cooking while I’m at work!) mascara, new sheets, a pair of dress pants for work, 6 bottles of wine, AND THE BEST PART?!?!? My mom took me to Costco and Shaw’s and BOUGHT MY GROCERIES. Seriously, she hooked me (and my sister who lives with me) UP. It was awesome.

I never thought I’d be so excited for groceries. At 25? I guess it’s the little things.

I came back to CT and had a quiet week with plans on having a Karaoke Party with D Friday night. Just the two of us. Really. I was actually looking forward to it and had my dad ship us my karaoke mics from home. Call me crazy.

Fridays are tough for me usually though. I’m always exhausted from the week and it takes a while to get motivated. I wanted to head over to D’s house in sweats but I knew that we would probably end up going out for at least one drink so I got (half-assed) dressed. I got to D’s house, knocked on the door, and stumbled in with my mics and box of liquor (long story). As soon as I walked into the dining room, the lights came on and there were horns blowing and everyone yelled “SURPRISE!”

I’m not even kidding. My sister and D threw me a surprise party. The best part was? I was COMPLETELY surprised. I HAD NO IDEA they had been planning this for weeks. My other sister came down from NH with her boyfriend, my friend S came up from the city, my co-workers were there… It was the best night EVER. I TOTALLY felt like the star of the show. It’s so nice to feel like you have friends thinking about you and planning things for you without you even knowing. I really do have the best family and friends.

My official birthday is this Saturday and I’ve had so many celebrations thus far I’m not exactly sure WHAT the plans will be but I think that the day will start with a Jazzercise class (or two) with D and heading to get our nails done.

I'm not even 25 yet and I already love it.

Birthdays

It was my mom's birthday on Saturday and while my sisters were visiting last weekend we got a wild idea- - we would all surprise her and come home for the weekend.

Friday night surprise her we did. We all walked in the door with birthday cake and cards (conveniently) as dinner was being put on the table. :) It was awesome. We spent the weekend hanging out, and I came home with a month of dinner that my mom made for me. On HER birthday.

She's awesome.

Birthday

I had the most wonderful birthday and birthday weekend. I have lots of stories to share but grad school is kicking my butt at the moment and I don't have a lot of time to share. I wanted to share with you though, a beautiful bracelet I received as a gift.

Opals and diamonds... love it.

What a Day

First, this is my 200th post! Fun!

What a great birthday! I stopped at my aunt's on the way home from work and she bought me an entire new outfit (skirt, belt, shirt) that I LOVE, went straight to Jazz where my boyfriend had had flowers delivered... (sigh, long distance relationships are NOT fun). At home we had a nice dinner with my family and a few friends and had cake and presents!

I'm not sure if I've told you all or not, but I *love* all things pumpkin. Even as a kid, for my birthday, I would bring in pumpkin cupcakes to school. (Yea, I was TOTALLY not everyone's favorite!) So we made pumpkin cupcakes yesterday and for my cake- - get this- - my mom got a pumpkin cake recipe. It was unbelievable. and SUPER easy to make! I didn't get any pictures of dinner or a great one of the cake, I should have, but I do have a few other pics to share!

My sister got me this great shirt:My parents got me a heart rate monitor (for jazz) and a GORGEOUS jewelry armoire.

Some other presents include pink peep-toe heels, a navy blue cable-knit polo sweater, and a tennis coat. Love, love, love.

It's My Party

I can cry if I want to! :) Kidding. I'm sure there will be no tears today as it's my BIRTHDAY and I *love* birthdays. They are just so fun. Even when nothing really exciting happens, you feel like you know about this secret no one else does and spend the whole day just waiting for someone to let you know that, yes, they know too. Tell me you do this too. No? Okay... I'm officially crazy. :)

Tonight's celebration will be slightly shortened as I am teaching Jazz until 6:45 and the Red Sox start at 8:30. Once that game starts, everyone will be glued to the tv!

I don't usually share pictures, but... here's a pic from my birthday last year!

(that's my dad holding his phone out on speakerphone so my boyfriend could sing too)

Birthdays...

I think I thought of the PERFECT birthday present for my boyfriend. I'm still working out the details and I don't want to say anything too specifc on here just IN CASE (I know he doesn't, but) JUST IN CASE he reads this. His birthday is Nov. 13, if everything works out, I'll let you know then what I got him! :)