2 Weeks of Birthday Celebration 2 Weeks Later!

As I previously mentioned, my 30th birthday celebration lasted 2 weeks. It was a big one, so I guess it warranted 2 weeks focused on yours truly. I'm realizing February was a very self-absorbed month for me, with all the birthday stuff and then the sickness and surgery. It definitely reflects in my recent blog posts which have all been ME. And this one is probably the worst of all, just to warn you!

It all started the week before my birthday when I went to Utah to visit my dear friend, Erin. We had so much fun hanging out, talking, doing pedicures, going to Cafe Rio, seeing a movie, and making this amazing 5 layer chocolate "cake" which was mostly frosting with a tiny bit of cake (didn't stop me from eating more than my fair share). Oh, and when I say we made the cake, I mostly mean Erin made it, while I watched and occasionally gave my advice on what she should do (it was her first time making it), some of which wasn't the best (notice how the frosting is sweating -- that was from the salt we added to the frosting made with unsalted butter. Long, funny story, but I'll spare you the details, this is going to be a long enough post already - did I mention it was 2 weeks of celebrating?)

Anyway, this is Erin and me.

Here is our friend Anika, who was also having a birthday. And that is the cake (frosting). Sunday night, before heading back to CO, I had dinner with Nate's family. Faith made me this yummy pound cake. I thought the candles were really cute! On the actual day of my birth I met some friends for breakfast, but unfortunately forgot to take pictures until it was just sweet Julie and I left. So here we are in front of the little French cafe where we ate very yummy food. I got an omelet with champagne sauce. I figured, it's my birthday, we might as well get this party started early! (Relax people, the alcohol cooks out). I did joke that I was going to request the sauce be cooked as little as possible, but of course I didn't do that. I do have some morals. Here's a picture of my darling Lizzie and me. She had fallen outside the restaurant and gotten a bloody lip. I got to help out at Harrison's Valentine's Party at school. It was so fun to be there and watch him in his school environment. I was supposed to be helping all the kids, but I accidentally spent all my time with Harrison. He kept saying, "Mom, thanks so much for coming to my party." What a sweetie! I wish you could see his pants in the picture. They were red too. He said, "Miss Kristie said you have to wear red or pink, and you can't wear any blue." As much as I doubted the part about the blue, we went with it. That night Nate had big plans to take me out to dinner to a surprise restaurant. It was so fun that he had a plan and I didn't know what was going on. We went to a place called Trappers. It was one of those nice, dimly-lit places with live music. Very romantic. The other special thing about this place was that you cook your own steak on a 700 degree lava stone. We got a kick out that and it was also very delicious. They brought out three sauces to dip the meat in. I am a saucy kind of girl, so I loved switching back and forth between all the sauces. For the record, the chipotle remoulade (fancy word for mayo, I think), was our favorite. I love that Nate tipped the musician on our way out. He's always cool like that. And in the elevator on the way down, a tall, dark and handsome man complemented me on my heels. Never hurts to get compliments from random strangers.

After we got back from dinner I went over to my friend Shauna's for my first-ever facial. She's an esthetician. I'm kinda sad we didn't take a picture. It was so nice of her and I really appreciated it. I was surprised how intense it was. My face was the softest it's ever been after that. As my dad said when I told him that, I've always had a really soft face, so that was impressive. Unfortunately, Shauna taught me another word to describe my face. Congested. As in, the pores. Maybe has something to do with the fact that I don't wash it at night and when I do wash it in the shower it's with stuff from Wally's. Maybe sometime in my 30th year I'll grow up and start treating my skin the way it deserves to be treated. As Shauna, 28, also pointed out, I'm getting older and so is my skin.

A week after the big day my sweet friend, Mina, threw me the funnest party. Unfortunately, I was very sick, but I still had a great time and thought it was such a thoughtful idea. We went to "Arts on Fire" (a Color Me Mine type place). And each person made a plate for me, so that I will have a set of hand-painted plates made by my friends. They also each brought very yummy food. I tasted about one bite of each thing, which was still way too much for my sick tummy, but I could tell it was delicious. Here's the beautiful chocolate mint cake that Mina made for me. Wow, that's a lot of candles.
Here's some actions shots of the plate painting. I picked the color scheme of black, white, and red because I think I'll always like those colors. It was so fun to observe how everyone's personality effected the way they went about making their plate and how their plate ended up looking. I always enjoy analyzing people and this was a great opportunity for that. The plates all looked very cute, but I can't wait to see them once they're all done. I'm planning on having everyone over to eat off of the plates, so they can all enjoy the fruits of their labors. Plus, it'll be fun. And I'll enjoy getting to spend time with the same group when I'm feeling more myself. And eating when I'm feeling more myself. I felt very special. Thank you everyone. Your thank you notes are in the process of being written. I didn't want to blow my horrible germs all over the cake, so Mina blew out the candles for me. I think I made a wish, and if I did, it's the same wish I always make (since at 15 my other standby wish that I'd made for over a year on every candle, eyelash, repeated #'s on a clock, etc. that I'd get to kiss my biggest crush finally came true. And yes, I kissed a boy shortly before I was 16, and I liked it (sing to tune of that naughty, yet very catchy song)). But don't tell my children that. Wait, isn't the point of this blog to keep a record for posterity? Oh well, I've gotta keep it real. But I digress. Since then I've been wishing that I could lose weight without any effort, and what do you know after 15 years, that one finally came true too. (Actually that came true when nursing both of my children as well, so I guess it has come true 3 times and only took 10 years to come true the first time). Come to think of it, that night I may have also wished to get better, and that came true too. Maybe I'll always have a friend do the blowing out while I do the wishing. The other key to the wishes coming true might be to actually have all the candles. I'm usually a cheapskate/lazy bum, when it comes to candle accuracy for adults. Thank you, Mina, for being neither of those. I think I've mentioned before that I think pictures of people genuinely laughing are very special. So even though there are already of 150 pictures of you-know-who in the post, I had to include this one too. Thanks for taking it, Tamara.

So that's the recap of 2 weeks of celebration. I think it's safe to say that I brought in my 4th decade on this earth in proper style and merriment. Thank you to everyone who made it so special. I really did feel the love. And I love you too.