flirty thirty

a couple of saturdays back, T and i drove up to tulsa to celebrate our friend candace's 30th birthday. her rockstar of a husband decided to surprise her with a party bus filled with her closest friends to take us all out to some of her favorite watering holes. the look on her face when they pulled up to the parking lot...priceless!

[party favors]

[group shot]

[two of my favorites]

once we surprised the birthday girl, it was time to crank the tunes, pour some cocktails, and get to boogieing!  

[not the best photo, but the bday girl with her bff and her husband aka the party planners]

we drove around in the party bus for awhile before getting to our first stop: she theatre (a burlesque club). the group had such a great time dancing between sets, and watching the amazingly talented dancers. 

our second stop i forgot to snap a photo at/note the name of since i was too busy dancing (read: sweating) my little tail off ;) 

but, their 90s dance mix was pretty dynamite. then, our third and final stop, the majestic (aka my favorite t-town gay bar). cue more dancing, more singing, and more cheering to the birthday girl. 

[happy 30th!]

it was such a great night celebrating my fiery, dancing queen darling. welcome to the thirties! 

pregnancy gifting diy

 

first off, i should start with, i am not pregnant. i didn't want to give off the wrong impression to anyone reading this thinking it was me hinting at something. but, T's sister kim, is, and we are so excited for her since we just found out she is having a baby girl!! and while this gift can be given in the first trimester, i felt it would be more fun to personalize it once we knew the sex of the baby.

 

preparing for a new little one can be so exciting, as well as nerve-racking. lots to bring in and change around to make it just right. however, this can mean that the pregnant momma puts her own needs to the side and forgets to treat herself. so, i thought this care package would be the perfect boost to make kim feel loved, comforted, and just a bit spoiled. she is after all going through quite the transformation, so she deserves something just for her. upon delivering it, i received the greatest reaction i could've hoped for, tears and all. since it meant so much to her, i thought it would be great to share for any of you out there wanting to shower your loved ones who are expecting, a little extra love...just for them.

 



here's what i included:

• a congrats card (color-coordinated according to gender) - for sweet notes and to share excitement
• pink (or blue) nail polish - to pretty up those amazing looking nails
• thick, extra soft socks with aloe - to soothe her tired feet after a long day
• burt's bees foot cream - to further treat those toes to extra love and ease the swelling
• burt's bees mama bee vitamin e oil - to help nourish the skin and help healing
• burt's bees mama bee belly butter - for preventing stretch marks
• great with child by beth fennelly - to empower her, comfort her, and give advice from one mother to another. i figured this would be helpful since a lot of expecting books can overwhelm, or cause panic with too much information. you are a momma warrior and should feel nothing less than :)

here's to hoping whomever you gift this to loves it just as much as my future sil (sis-in-law) did!

25 balloons to the 25th year

i meant to post this last monday but was so caught up in birthday celebrations i had forgotten..strange right?! but last monday i came home to a sweet surprise from T of 25 balloons for my 25th birthday. T's idea was that instead of blowing out the candles, i could set free my balloons to make my wish. it was so sweet and unique plus these photos are such a great way to capture the moment we shared together :)

i love how sets of photos can perfectly illustrate a moment with little effort...kind of like a  mini story book. and this will definetly be a favorite of mine to look back on.

yay to 25 and beyond!

the exception

the saying goes for every rule there's an exception to that rule and i suppose the same goes for me on occasion because i recently broke one of mine. eep! which you may ask? my 'no cream cheese frosting rule'. i know for any of you who are major fans you are gasping in shock and thinking of how much you love it but for some reason i was never on the band wagon. i love an occasion that calls for cake but the one thing that quickly turns me away is that frosting. agh, we just do not click. but, i suppose i found the exception to this one rule recently. for one of T's valentine's day gifts i baked him (and some of my co-workers) valentine's day themed cupcakes. the cake base was strawberry which as much as i love can be a little much. normally i would whip up some buttercream frosting to go with it but it seemed it would make these utterly unedible past the first bite from being too sweet. SO upon further searching the plethera of options, i finally decided (with dispair) to make cream cheese frosting. boo. i was so upset with myself even as i put them on each cupcake but then something amazing happened as i took a bite. it was pretty great and kind of the perfect compliment to the sweet strawberry....i loved it! now i wouldn't say that i have completely changed my mind but at least for a moment i've become a mini fan :)

happy monday!

surprise birthday visit

so you may not know but my 25th birthday is tomorrow! i've been spending the whole weekend so far celebrating with friends (family visit home to celebrate is upcoming) and it has been so amazingly wonderful. but today has certainly taken the cake! what i thought would be a sweet birthday brunch with T and my brother turned out to be so much more when....

my parents surprised me at the restaurant!!! i'm pretty sure i squealed when i saw them sitting at the table i was so happy. i beyond love surprises plus it doesn't hurt that i am so gullible so i never know when i'm being set up. after yummy food and gifts we thought of stopping by the art museum to look at the new glass pieces by chihuly...i of course took some snapshots along the way :)

the day was absolutely perfect and if you hadn't noticed, my family and i are going to destin later this year! eep, happy birthday gift indeed! i can't wait.

right now T is prepping some birthday shenanigans as i prep dinner and i have to say i'm so excited for my silvery year. i'm sure it will bring loads of new adventures, surprises and new ways to 'make lemonade'. either way i am so happy just having such great family and friends...and T + pup :)