30 something

Even though I am a week overdue, I had to blog about my awesome birthday weekend!! I am officially no longer a 20 something, and now joined the club of 30 somethings!!

My weekend started off by Brandon and I meeting my parents at Chop House for dinner. Much to my SURPRISE my brother was waiting for us at the table!! He flew in from California to surprise me for my birthday!! I must admit I did feel better when I heard he actually had to be in Virginia on business all week, so at least he didn't come to the east coast just for me, but he said he had bought his plane ticket even before he knew he would have to be over on business. He is such a good brother!! And spending the weekend with him reminded me of how close we were growing up, and I loved having him here.

Saturday started off with some girl time at the pool with Sarah and then she treated me to a pedicure!! It was awesome. Saturday night, Brandon, Sarah, Andrew and I headed out for a night on the town. We started at East Coast Wings to watch the All-Star Race, and then migrated over to The Mix to enjoy some after dinner drinks, dancing and all around fun times. The highlight of the evening was the awesome strawberries we ate on the car ride home that my mom had sent with my bro......nothing tastes better at 2am!!

Sunday was my actual birthday. My wonderful husband planned a surprise party for me (ok, so maybe I knew something was going on, but I had no idea where, what and who was coming, so it was still a surprise!). He left the house late morning and just told me to be ready by 12:15pm, as my fashion consultant would be arriving then. Sarah arrived and made sure my outfit was appropriate for the day's activities, and then she and my brother helped me get started on a scavenger hunt that Brandon laid out at the house before he left. I am not so good at scavenger hunts.....so I had a lot of hints and help from Andrew and Sarah, but it was still a lot of fun! In my last clue I was told I would be blindfolded and needed to trust my kidnappers as they took me to get ready for my high dive.

After 45 minutes of driving around blindfolded, I had no idea where we were, and they proceeded to lead me up to the 3rd floor of Natty Greene's where my party took place in the Loft. I was excited, but also nervous from being blind folded and a little carsick. When I arrived at the top of the stairs and they had led me into the room full of my friends and family, everyone yelled surprise and blew noise makers. I took off my blindfold, but since I also didn't have my glasses on yet, I couldn't see who all was there!! It was kinda funny. So, when I retrieved my glasses, everyone yelled surprise again :)

The rain ruined the 2nd part of the day's plans, which was a Grasshoppers game, but we had a wonderful afternoon just hanging out in the Loft. I was so touched to have so many people there that I care about and to help me celebrate!! I am truly blessed by having so many wonderful people in my life, those both near and far.

Brandon had yet another surprise for me at the party. He had put together a slideshow of pictures set to music for which he played for everyone. My parents had helped him collect pictures to document all 3o years of my life. It was the sweetest thing ever, and I have been wearing out the DVD ever since just watching it over and over and over again!!

There are so many wonderful pictures from my wonderful wonderful birthday weekend, so thought it best to just include a slideshow for all to enjoy. Thank you again to everyone for making me feel so special!!