A Blessed Birthday Weekend

Can I just say how blessed I am? As much as I hate to admit it, I have a tendency to forget that and feel sorry for myself on many occasions. BUT, I have amazing friends and family, and with their help I had a wonderful birthday weekend.

Friday afternoon I had a late lunch with my best girlfriend at my favorite Chinese fast food joint, and afterwards we found this cute pastry shop. It was a brand new business, and we had fun trying out what they had to offer!

We both tried the strawberry cupcake with fresh strawberries baked into the cupcake, and topped with a delicious cream cheese icing.

It was pretty yummy. :)

After lunch I went to her house, where she (bless her) helped me sew together my circle garland for the dinner party I was having that evening. She's a dear, because it took a little longer than we had expected. BUT, we got it done! (Check back later in the week for a short tutorial.)

After we finally got the garland done, I rushed home to get the dining room decorated for dinner with Bestie #2, and it turned out just like I wanted! Simple, but fun.

On the way home I stopped and bought a bouquet of fresh flowers for my vases. The colors worked perfectly with my decor, and the entire bouquet was only $7!

I was really happy with how the whole thing came together at the last minute. The day before (Thursday) I had gone to Hobby Lobby with all my girlfriends *wink* and purchased my "place mats" and had them laminated.

I also snagged the two smaller vases (yellow & purple) to go with the two larger ones I already had, as well as the adorable straws. I just love those straws. I think I'm going to use them all the time now. They are made of plastic, so they are completely re-usable!

The place mats worked great and I loved them. I also picked up the mason jars, used as cups, from a dear friend who still has 5 dozen left in his garage. (Anyone need cups??)

And see those gorgeous green bowls? Those are my first Anthropologie purchase ever. I went with the bestie last summer and they had these half price. I just couldn't pass them up! And now I wish I'd gotten 6 instead of 4.

And here's the garland! It looked super cute in our huge window. However, there were some complications with it. But that can be saved for later. =)

Father fixed some ah-mazing steaks (on my request) and we had fresh salad and baked potato to go along. It was deeeee-licious!

And to top it all of, my phenomenally talented friend Dustin, from The Frosted Bowl made me this adorable cake!! He even made sure to put the 2nd N in my name. (See how he accented it? I just loved it!) My silly mother wanted me to have a candle to "blow out" so she stuck this one on there. She's a mess!

So see...I'm a blessed bird! (As my bestest friend would say.) Friday night was so much fun with my bestie and her hubby and baby. We talked, laughed, shared funny stories and jokes, attempted to play a game, and just had a wonderful time together.

I can't wait to see what this next year has to offer. I'm ready, so bring it on!!

-Jenn (With 2 N's)