yep, I'm twenty-nine today

seriously everly, you don't need to cry about it

your mom loves the number twenty-nine

it sounds about right for a career woman of seven years

married for five years

mama to the most amazing baby girl ever for almost ten months

in check with her pyrex obsession [pretty stable at 98 pieces]

still doing the happy dance her master's is done [major pay raise please and thank you]

and who has a bed time of ten p.m. because the alarm clock is set way too early

yes, twenty-nine it is

happy birthday to me

oh, and the husband and I have some fun "special" plans this afternoon

I'll be sharing here soon!

birthday celebration

today miss everly mae helped me celebrate 

miss jessica mae's birthday

and yes, my little E does share a name with this awesome lady on purpose

we had a simple lunch and a short shopping trip

but it was really a great way to spend the day

it is crazy to think about how grown up we have become

we are no longer the 18 year old college freshman just looking for someone to 

eat dinner with at the dining commons

now we spend our days chatting it up at cafes 

and trying to nurse everly in public with no "oops" moments

and shopping at stores our mom's would love

and holding babies, kissing babies, 

and protecting our favorite baby from crazy strangers

and changing diapers in cars

and you get the picture

and just so we don't take turning twenty-nine too seriously

here is how we used to spend birthday celebrations, maybe six years ago or so

happy birthday miss jessica mae

happy birthday to the mr.

well the husband turned 31 today

and unfortunately he has to work late

so we will be celebrating this weekend

and instead I'm spending the evening with this little one

and yes, Luna is in E's crib

and no she shouldn't be

and yes I probably should be getting her out ASAP and not taking pictures

but she is SO cute, I just couldn't help myself

and the funniest part is she completely ignored the crib for months

still wasn't having it when the mattress was put in

but as soon as we put these cute little sheets on

she found her way in very fast

so we will keep working on it

and no, she is not in there right now, but being a good girl and sitting with me

on the sofa, just like a good fur baby should

green new dots

mmmmmkay

if I had to stop collecting pyrex today, I officially could do it

[wouldn't want to, but I could]

because the ONE piece I've been desiring

needing

loving

wanting

drooling over

searching

hunting

and so on

is finally mine

thanks to the mr. who knows exactly what this birthday girl wanted

the green new dots bowl has found a home with me

 and yes, I could have taken a thousand photos of this set

sharing only three was challenging!

a good reason to get together

in my family we love celebrating birthdays

as I've gotten older I realize that not everyone still celebrates "grown-up" birthdays

but now I just think that is silly

because no matter how many times you have gotten to celebrate another year

bottom line, you deserve a special day

and a birthday in my family is just a good reason to get together

1. meg is 23  2. flowers in mason jars, always  3. just another reason why I love target  4. the balcony, their new favorite place  5. unicorns & cat donuts  6. I think the cupcakes were a hit  7. good end to the day

so yeah, I'm not one to buy birthday gifts at the mall...

in December my best friend celebrated her birthday

(yes, I realize I'm a tad late on this post)

and I knew that I wanted to have my ridiculously creative friend to help me with her gift

so I helped with the concept

but the rest was all miss Jaymee Srp from Retro Menagerie

I was SO happy with the final product & how perfect it was for my friend

seeing as how she has a thing for books, the way I do about pyrex

I knew exactly the direction we were going to go with the print

and it seems like she liked it too - you can see here where she posted about it on her blog

Confessions of a Book Hoarder

so yeah for spreading the love - it's a pretty good thing

thanks again to...

vintage birthday gifts are the best

last night we celebrated mom's birthday

before I went I snapped a few shots of her gift

now she will have two Enid Collins for her vintage purse collection

these purses are amazing - period.

birthday celebrations

happiest birthday to my youngest cousin!

I'm glad all of your sweet sixteen celebrations were filled with awesomeness

wonderful weekend

it was busy - but pretty awesome
here's a peek into our final birthday celebration for the husband's 30th
such good times with such good people

things were starting out great.  the first cake was already on the stand, iced and ready to go when the second layer decided to make me remember why I don't bake cakes - strictly cupcakes.  it broke in two, and then three, and then four.  as things really started to crumble, thankfully the husband came into the kitchen before I started to cry too bad.  so, instead of starting over, I made due.  

sorry for the shaky photo - like I said, I was trying not to panic

but apparently still couldn't keep the camera still!

so what's a girl to do when her cake breaks into tiny pieces?  well, shove it in a casserole dish of course.  my pretty little blue delphite casserole did the trick.

I think this next image will get its own post soon.  but for now, yes, they are pages from a harry potter book wrapping my present that showed up at the party!

for the record - chocolate fondue rocks the socks off of cheese fondue, just saying

and for the next little birthday mishap - no candles

so instead, this lighter did the trick

so - there you go

happy birthday to that husband of mine

time to get back to life without party planning

at least until halloween!

i'm going to call this my happy place post

the first week of school can be draining

and I'm thinking my attitude might not be quite in the right place for school #4

I'm trying - but I'm tired of starting over

I keep calling things like the spanish classes preps, and then with very confused faces

reminded they are sections, not preps in middle school

to that, I say whatever, I'm doing my best here people

I'm not going to lie, I thought this transition would be easier

the good news - my kids were better today

and besides the fact that one period has zero reading comprehension

we're looking pretty good

so far...27 has been a tad overwhelming

(yes, all 24 hours of it)

new grade, new school, apparently being the head of the 8th grade history department

master's program looming, taking a week off in a week

seriously, I'm panicking just thinking about it all

so instead...

let's just go to my happy place

twenty-seven did bring this to me

which is more awesomeness than I can explain

and I know that as I get a grip on the rest of my life

this will continue to shine even brighter

our families have caught on to our obsession

and so this year we got some gift certificates to our favorite place

and you better believe the day after our party I was there buying our hutch

SO in LOVE with it

However, bringing this beauty in meant the disposal of two ikea storage containers

not sad to see them go (one to the closet, the other to my mom's garage)

but trying to go through and relocate has been quite the job

and no, I can't take much credit - or any credit

it was all the husband

hopefully I haven't been too cranky while the house was in transition

I can gladly say - things are back together

and I'm a happy camper about that

27 & 30

This week the husband and I are celebrating being one year older.  Yesterday, we had fun with our families, ate way too much food, and are looking forward to doing it all over again next weekend with our friends!

dinner consisted of beef stroganoff, mac n'cheese, cheesy vegetables, raspberry jello salad, and fruit salad.  Yum.  For dessert, homemade chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls, and yellow birthday cake with chocolate frosting.  Double yum. 

 thanks to our families for helping me pull this dinner party off.  

It was not an easy task by an means!