Because I love birthday's I sort of turned the whole weekend into my birthday! :) Friday night I made some cupcakes while we watched some of the NCAA basketball games. We ended the evening by watching This is 40, which was pretty funny!
Saturday morning I had a few sweet friends come over for a delicious brunch. It was fun to have a slow and relaxing breakfast and visit with friends. I made a yummy quiche-recipe coming soon! My friends brought delicious food too like monkey bread, donuts and fruit salad. We ate and drank coffee and just took a few moments out from our hectic lives to share some time together. It was lovely.
Once they had left, Pat and I packed up and dropped Lucy off at my parents before heading to Fort Wayne for a few hours. Pat and I went shopping around town at all the places that we never have time for with a toddler in tow. Then we headed to my favorite restaurant, Granite City for a late lunch. We sat in the bar and enjoyed a pitcher of beer while watching the MSU game. Then Pat talked me into ordering their big Cookie Pie dessert. It was HUGE! And yes, we polished that puppy off. I'm not sure I have words to describe how good it actually was. Of course, we should NOT have eaten the entire thing....but....that's what birthday's are for, right?!?!
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| Amazing shrimp tacos! |
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| Death of a cookie :) |
We shopped a bit more in Fort Wayne and then headed home to my parents house where we had another small birthday celebration. Lucy sang Happy Birthday to me and it was the sweetest thing ever :) We stayed for a few hours and then put Lucy in her jammies and headed home where I received the sweetest birthday surprise ever.
We grabbed the mail on the way in and I saw I had a small package from my sweet friend Andrea. Andrea is a friend I have had since the second grade. We took dance class together from my mom, celebrated birthdays, commiserated over terrible teachers (Mrs. K), cried together over break-ups, and celebrated achievements in one anther's lives. She is one of those friends where time and distance make no difference, which is good since we live 3 hours away from each other and don't get too see each other often. She even took me in and let me stay with her while I attended the Influence Conference this past October and was the most wonderful hostess ever. It was so fun and relaxing waking up to coffee already made each morning, playing with her sweet kids, and then staying up way too late into the night chatting over glasses of wine.
So when I saw a small package from her in the mail I was intrigued and super excited. I opened it up and read her card to me and began crying a river of tears. Oh, my sweet friend knew just what my heart needed this birthday. She wrote me the most beautiful message of love, hope and prayers. It was one of those cards you have to read twice because it is so good, so thoughtful. She had also included a beautiful handmade clutch for me (that she made herself!!!), a Starbucks gift card and some adorable stickers for Lucy, along with a note to Pat that beer just wouldn't fit in the envelope :)
It was one of the most thoughtful and surprising gifts I have received in a long time and it gave me the opportunity to realize how truly blessed I am. Even though I feel like I am in this lingering and murky season of loss and pain, I really am blessed beyond measure. I have a husband who would do anything for me, a daughter who makes me laugh and find joy in each day. I have my health, a job and a beautiful home. A health coaching business I am slowly but surely putting together.
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| My sweet girl! |
And friends. Friends like Andrea who brighten my day and remind me to smile and know just when to send the perfect birthday surprise. Thank you sweet friend! You are one in a million!
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