The Big 3-0!

Well, my 30th birthday was wonderful indeed! I feel very thankful for the 30 years I've been given so far and had a great time celebrating.

The first celebration was a pre-birthday family dinner with Mom, Dad, and Daniel on January 27th. My restaurant of choice was La Foresta here in Wake Forest. I've thought for years now that they have the best bruschetta around, and I also loooove their rum cake. So, we had bruschetta to start, then I ordered salad and pizza for my meal, and we shared rum cake and tiramisu (another of my favorites) for dessert! So, so yummy. 

Me and my man

A birthday kiss

An attempt at a family picture...

Charlie loved his penne pasta and meatball!

And Daniel loved his pizza! This was the first piece he had eaten since March 2011.

Happy grandparents and happy grandson!

After dinner we came back to our apartment to visit and open presents. Mom and Dad gave me a fire-proof lock box for our important documents and Daniel gave me black trouser socks (both of which I had asked for!). Mom and Dad also surprised me with a Target gift card! I had fun spending that on some decor for the house!

Getting a snuggle at home from my little man!

The night before my birthday Jimmy brought home my cake! I had asked him to pick out a small one from Lowe's, and this is what he ordered:

It was delicious, and I loved it!

We reasoned that if I went ahead and blew out my candles the night before my birthday, we could have cake for dessert that night AND on my birthday... no, it didn't really take much for us to talk ourselves into having cake two nights in a row. Charlie was excited too- he got a little sliver and thoroughly enjoyed it!

The morning of my birthday the three of us had cinnamon rolls before Jimmy headed to work, and I got to open my presents. I had just asked for Jimmy to surprise me with another Charles Dickens book from our local used bookstore, but he saved up some tips and got me TWO Dickens books and then another gift! Here's my stash of presents:

Jimmy didn't want to wrap my gifts in baby wrapping paper, so the only other choice was Christmas paper!

My new books, Great Expectations and The Pickwick Papers

I've been reading Great Expectations and love it so far!

My man did a great job picking out two new shirts for me!!! I love to get surprises from him!

I was so excited that I didn't have to work on the night of my birthday. I spent the evening just how I wanted to- at home with my family. I wanted to cook for my boys, and then after dinner and Charlie went to bed I was able to soak in the tub, finish the book I had been reading, and paint my fingernails! I finished the night with a cup of hot tea watching a movie with Jimmy. And we both fell asleep not even halfway through...

The last celebration I had was with my small group girls at The Olde English Tea Room on Feb. 4th! It was a really dreamy afternoon with friends- I felt like I had some great conversations, and we all enjoyed tea and some other treats. I had English Garden tea, the chicken divan platter, and magnificent coconut cake (I guess it's obvious from this post that I love cake... I don't eat cake this often under normal circumstances....). And I got an orange cranberry scone to go that I ate that night after work! It was a really sweet afternoon, and oh how I wish I had brought my camera and taken pictures!

Finally, I received a really nice birthday package in the mail from Bettra, Granny, and Marilyn. We do a lot of celebrating via the postal system since we are separated by 12ish hours. It's always fun to open their boxes- we got a big one for Christmas and Jimmy's birthday, Charlie got one for his birthday, and then I got one for mine! My birthday box this year came with some pretty jewelry, a Willow Tree figurine, a Cracker Barrel gift card, some chocolate (which I might have demolished as I opened the package), and some other goodies.

Obviously 30 is treating me well so far!